12 Genius Decluttering Hacks

Here are 12 genius decluttering hacks for every room in your home, to help you make your dream of a clutter-free home a reality.

KITCHEN

1.    Reduce paper clutter by taking photos of takeaway menus or flyers from local businesses. Likewise, download user manuals, credit card agreements and health insurance policies, and save in a folder on your phone or computer.

2.    Who has time to rearrange the pantry or cupboards every time they want to reach something at the back? Invest in some lazy susans for instant access to your items in just a spin. They're also handy in the bathroom or laundry.

LIVING AND DINING

3.    Invest in double-duty furniture with hidden storage options. Think ottomans where you can hide throws and cushions, coffee tables with slide-out drawers for magazines, colouring books or puzzles, benchseats with shelving underneath or tall bookshelves with inbuilt cabinets for surplus vases and candles.

KIDS

4.   Not enough space for a bookshelf? Use picture ledges as floating shelves to display your kids books.

5.   Over-the-door shoe hangers can be repurposed for kids' belongings like soft toys, craft supplies, Barbies, action figures, cars and more. Reserve the higher pockets for any items that you'd like to keep out of little arms' reach.

BEDROOM

6.   Buy a pack of shower curtain rings – they're surprisingly useful! Loop onto a hanger or piece of dowel to hang belts, scarves, ties, handbags, hair elastics, baseball caps, necklaces and more!

7.   Instead of hanging onto unnecessary or bulky items for nostalgic reasons – for example, your mum bought it for you, or it reminds you of your childhood – take a photo of the keepsake and display the pic in an album or a frame.

8.   Attach floating shelves to a timber bedhead to hold miscellaneous belongings like reading glasses, books, a clock or framed photos.

9.   Cull your linen closet down to two sets of summer sheets and two sets of flannelette (if needed) per bed, plus two full sets of towels for every person in your home. That's seriously all you need – one set in use, one in the wash. Go one better and store each set of sheets in its matching pillow case, so you have complete sets at the ready when you need them.

WARDROBE

10.   Try this Oprah-approved trick: hang all the clothes in your wardrobe with the hangers facing inwards. When you wear an item, hang it the opposite way when you return it. Every six months, do an inventory of the items that haven't been worn, and sell or donate them.

BATHROOM

11.   Get creative with magazine holders! Secure to the inside of bathroom cabinets to store hairdryers, curlers and straighteners, under kitchen shelves to hold cookbooks, chopping boards or oven mitts, or suspend sideways as a shelf for TV remotes, keys and wallets.

12.   Install some shelving over your bathroom door to store everyday items for easy top-ups. Think spare toilet rolls, cleaning products, cakes of soap and towels.