Design Dilemmas

Episode 42: Editing, assessing and repurposing - my top tips for trying to be super organised and not be tempted to hoard bags of old teddies, dog cages or full size cardboard cut outs of Ant & Dec.

A new year can bring many an interior dilemma as we pull ourselves out of the festive break, look at our spaces and reassess. The urge for a fresh start, to tackle new projects, to create, well, CHANGE, is strong. I talked a lot in my post yesterday about how change can revive - it’s so easy to get stuck into a rut of same, same and not veer off. What you display on your shelves is always the classic example that I give but one that can make the BIGGEST difference; a simple switch up (how long have those same books been stacked? Do you even still hold love for that vase? Or in my house, when did you last clean this shelf? Answer: probably lockdown) can be mood transformative and give your room an uplift without much effort or any of your cash squandered. So simple, yet so effective. I am always here for the easy fix.

Last month, we moved house and it’s really brought home to me that much of what I own is surplus to requirements. I feel a strong want to edit hard, to get to a position where everything has its place and not stuffed into a drawer as I don’t know where to put it (see: 80% of my home). But yes, I know this is MUCH harder than it sounds. So many things that we own we feel attached to, but the reality is that we probably aren’t quite as attached as we think. Although discard with care - I had a terrible moment as I was throwing garage contents in a skip with abandon. God, it was good. Until I recommenced operations the next day to find Leo’s scan photos wafting around amongst the rubble. THE GUILT, I tell you.

Anyway, due to the fact that we didn’t exchange contracts until the moving day, I was loathe to pack prior but there were a few things that I did that made me feel as though I was getting a bit ahead. In fact, once I had done these things I wished that I had done them about five years ago so that I could have really reaped the benefit of being organised. So I thought it was worth a quick recap just in case you are looking to streamline or like, me, you’ve been in your current home for quite a while and panic at the idea of ever leaving and having to deal with it all at once. Top tip: rent a skip for the weekend. You can put pretty much anything into it and they sort it and recycle it at the other end (I learnt this to my peril after chucking paint pots in and they removed the lot and told me to take them to the tip). Here’s a little run down.

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