Pack It Up, Pack It In

It's hard to relax, never mind think with a clear head, when your home is higgledy piggledy. It's time to sort out the chaos: do some decluttering, decide what you really need and find the perfect storage solutions to help you get your house in order.

• Be ruthless about your possessions and put anything that you don't use into a recycling bag or bring it to a charity shop: if you keep things that aren't used then they will just take up space that could be put to far better use now and in the future.
• Do an audit of all of your rooms, taking note of what each one is used for and what is stored where. What you are trying to do is to optimise not only the tidiness and organisation of each room but also ease of access to your possessions.
• Make use of spaces that are currently unemployed: run your bookshelves right up your walls, create a cupboard out of that nook under the stairs and fit hangers on the back of your wardrobe door.
• If you need to buy furniture then make sure that you're buying items that will store your bits and pieces, be it beds with drawers built in underneath or a coffee table with handy storage space inside it. If your furniture isn't multi-tasking then it's just not earning its keep.
• Invest in bespoke, fitted furniture. It's a smart way to address your storage needs, because it means that you are getting a personal, tailor-made solution that is fitting your rooms hand in glove.
• Think beyond the larger units and pay attention to smaller storage like letter racks and magazine files that will ensure everything has a home and won't be floating around making a mess.

 
The Kitchen: The hub of the home should be clutter-free if you want to have all of your cooking and dining essentials within easy reach.
House and Home talks to interior designer Una Broderick and shares great kitchen storage tips:

• Open shelves always look good and are a great way to show off some funky mismatched crockery.
• Hooks under the shelves for your mug and jugs.
• An eclectic array of storage jars also look great displayed on work surfaces, and it is an exciting past time rummaging through jumble sales for the one-off jars!
• Covered shoe boxes in fabric or wallpaper for all the household bills and post.
• Get your ironing board fitted into one of your kitchen presses so it slides away neatly when not in use.
• Again use jars within your units as it does save space-half boxes of cereal take up far too much valuable room.
• Pots and pans can be stored overhead using a narrow pole and some "S" hooks. Very simple, effective and inexpensive!
• A magnetic strip fitted on your wall for all your knives.
• Use the back of your unit doors to the max with hooks for drying towels. Narrow racks for spice jars, cling film etc...

If space is really vital, utilise the area beneath the units behind the kicker board for storing roasting tins or narrow baskets of vegetables. Charles Newhaven, Castledermot, Co Kildare. Tel: 059 916 2882.