Hey guys, how’s everyone doing? Good, I hope. This post will be quite different from the usual (I told you I can be random), but I hope someone finds this helpful. So today’s post will be tips and tricks on how to organise a small bedroom- any size would do. You can also apply some of these pointers to your kitchen, bathroom or even living area if applicable. I call myself a master of organisation because I have had to do this so many times I have picked up a few tips and tricks along the way (trial and error is a fantastic way to learn). Let’s get started

The main goal is to create space, make use of every space available to you without making it look crammed and to create an illusion of a bigger bedroom.  This would mean clever storage, colours, shapes and patterns- although I am not too fussed about the later 3 because it may be out of your control and quite expensive to re paint your room or  buy certain things. By all means you can go ahead if you have the budget, but this guide is really budget friendly to no cost at all.

Who doesn’t love a walk-in closet like Carrie’s? A spacious walk-in closet full of the latest fashion! Unfortunately for most of us, the size of the wardrobe is not a factor to consider when looking for a new home.

The Wardrobe is probably one of the biggest areas in the room we tend to hoard stuff! You’re not a hoarder you say? Let’s see. Go through your clothes and pick up ones you haven’t worn in a long time- I’m talking 6 months to 1 year. I’ll wait. Most of us tend to hold onto clothing we don’t wear anymore. Go through your clothes, pick out stuff that you haven’t worn in 6 months to 1 year, ones that are in bad shape, clothes that are too big or too small (if you have to jump 150 times to wear your jeans and you look like a stuffed sausage in them then it’s time to let it go). Tip for jeans- if its faded really bad, I’m talking it was originally blue and now its white and you don’t want to let it go, put a few slits in it and boom! You have ripped jeans! Also pick out clothes that are out of your style. Divide these into

1. The charity pile- these are the clothes that are in good shape but you don’t wear anymore. Give them away to charity or to friends and family you think may like it
2. The bin pile- these clothes are in such bad shape that it won’t be nice to give to anyone so you have to bin them. Period. Subdivide these into a re-decoration pile but only ones with pretty patterns or colours, I will tell you why later.
3. The eBay/depop pile- if you’re short for cash, instead of giving the clothes away, sell them online. You will be surprised on how much you can make (this is now my side hustle).
4. The second chance pile- I know there will be some clothes you may want to give another chance, this is completely fine – raised eyebrows if you don’t (lol). Conduct the 4 week test. This essentially placing the clothing at the front of your wardrobe and plan an outfit around it or where to wear it to. If that event comes by and you completely forget about it or change your mind and this happens more than 3 times then chances are you won’t wear it any more. Your heart let it go lol and its time in your life is up.

Another tip is to use those ultra-thin velvet hangers (you can get them from amazon- JVL Black 50 pack thin velvet space saving non-slip coat hangers). Those are really good in getting a lot of things in your wardrobe. Also arrange clothes from short to longest i.e. tops to jeans/trousers, if you can. You will then be able to store shoes/bags maybe underneath the tops where you can see them (I’m a bit of an exhibitionist, I love to put things on display and I like to see all my stuff). You can also get a hanging storage thingy (lack of a better word atm) from ikea for all your bits and bobs- socks, tights, bras etc. Some of them come with as many as 10 sections so they do fit a bunch of stuff (I got mine from ikea for £4 I think).

If you have space between the top of your wardrobe and the ceiling, use that space for your bags or shoes. You can also get some pretty storage boxes and stack them there- with bits in of course or recycle old shoe boxes or containers and stack them up as well. This is where the redecoration pile comes in handy- you can use the material to cover the boxes if you want uniformity in your stacks (DIY lovers holla!).

Even the priciest of foundations cannot mask an ugly heart.

Makeup/Vanity. We are all guilty of hoarding makeup items that we no longer use or empties sitting on our vanities. Did you know makeup has an expiry date? Yes! The little container at the back of the product with an open lid with 12M written inside is the expiry date! Gurrll I didn’t know myself until recently, then proceeded to declutter my makeup! Obviously some makeup products don’t have that e.g. lipstick I think, but after 2 to 3 years, if it’s still as new as when you first got it, give it away because chances are you won’t use it! When it comes to storage, I love the acrylic trays you can get cheap from eBay/amazon (Glam Cosmetic Organiser) also repurpose certain containers e.g. candle glasses or pretty tins for storage. For instance, I once bought sweets in this cute cupcake container and loved it so much I decided it wash it and use that to store some lip balms- this container came all the way from Spain! Tip- go to the 99p store/Primark (surprisingly) or wilko, you will find cheap and pretty containers that you can use to store all kinds of stuff. Be creative though and recycle packaging where you can for instance, I am currently using a watch box (yes, a watch box and no don’t ask me why or how lol) to store my bobby pins (the ones I can still find smh) and hairbands. I also have an old marshmallow jar I use to hold all my combs.

If you can, you can elevate some products e.g. perfumes or nail polish (especially if you have a lot) on shelves. This will then create space on the table which will come in handy if it’s the same table you use for your work. If you’re sharing the worktable with your makeup but you really want to maximise space, reach for your shoe boxes (it helps if you love buying shoes lol) and use them as pull out drawers if the table has shelves. You can also use them to divide any other stuff you may want to store underneath. If you don’t have a bookshelf but still want to show of your book collection like me, use a bigger and slightly deeper shoe box to store them. Arrange them shortest to tallest with the backbone/spine clearly visible like how libraries arrange books. Mini library on fleek!

So guys, I think I am going to end here for part one. I am by no means the tidiest, I have just found ways to organise my chaos lol. I wanted to do a very short post but as I started writing I realised I had so much more tips in store so I have now decided to split this into two parts or more. I hope someone found this useful and can incorporate some of the tips for their own room. Feel free to adapt as and where necessary and drop me an email or comment to let me know how it went. You can also tell me your tips and tricks when organising a small area, it will be fun to get other people opinions! Look out for part 2 where I will be going into much detail about the use of shoe box (does anyone notice a trend here? Lol, am I encouraging you to buy more shoes? Lol) and what they can be used for and also how to declutter hair and skin products! Yikes!

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Until next time, love

Sarah