6 Interior Design Tips on Decluttering Your Home in 2024

As lifestyles speed up and our days get consumed by creating a healthy balance between work and play, it’s easy to let our home spaces slip into mayhem. So, with the new year fast approaching, we thought we’d let you in on some of our top decluttering tips to help restore your sanity.

From curious toddlers and untidy teens to boisterous pets and everything in between, there are a myriad of things that make managing our mess tricky. And, while it’s ok to let things get out of hand occasionally, living in a constant state of upheaval can have a negative effect on our wellbeing. Not to mention the havoc it causes when friends pop in unannounced!

So let’s start 2024 off on a clean slate and look at some ingenious ways to keep things buttoned up beautifully.

Why clutter is disruptive

You may not realise it, but living in a disorganised environment is bad for your health. Here’s why:

• Visual confusion: When our line of sight is obstructed by things that shouldn’t be there, we lose our ability to focus, making it difficult to relax and concentrate. 
• Excess tension: Scientists will tell you that there is a direct link between clutter and stress, leading to feelings of anxiety, helplessness and disempowerment.
• Impaired functionality: Countertops that are chock-a-block with heaps of junk reduce our ability to cook, work or perform activities, diminishing the practicality of our living spaces.
• Emotional strain: From feeling guilty about being disorganised to experiencing bouts of irritability or frustration, continual disorder eventually wears us down.
• Lower productivity: Spending hours trying to find items in a congested area can lead to inefficiency and time loss, which exacerbates worry. 
• Bad vibes: If you aspire to the philosophy of Feng Shui, you’ll know that mess obstructs the natural flow of energy, bringing negativity to our spaces and impacting our mood.
• Compromised safety: From slipping and tripping to treading on sharp or hard objects, mess can create a hazard zone, especially if you have youngsters around.
• Poor aesthetics: Let’s face it, clutter isn’t attractive. So if you love beautiful spaces, make sure that you have solutions in place to mitigate it. As professional designers, it’s our number one rule!
• Bad cleaning protocols: Keeping things sanitary when everything is everywhere is no easy task and will inevitably create a build-up of dirt and grime, leading to possible wellness risks. 

Now that the cards are on the table, let’s focus on some fabulous ways to reset your bad habits.

Optimising your decluttering project

Before you begin, understand that thinking you’ll achieve order in half a day is a pipe dream, so look at this as a long-term project and stick to these guidelines:

How to Declutter Your Home? Ingenious Ways to Mitigate the Mess

Now For the fun part! Here are 6 trending ideas that will help keep your home spick and span.

1 - Commission an appliance garage

Now all the rage, this clever kitchen feature will enable you to hide all of your everyday appliances without placing them out of reach. So, if you’re an enthusiastic foodie with every gadget known to man, you can store them in one designated place and access them, hassle-free, when needed.

This will clear up your counter space, making your kitchen look spacious and neat.

2 - Find furniture with built-in storage

Contemporary furniture designers have taken cognizance of confinement issues in the modern home and now produce a whole slew of products that include built-in or hidden storage.

Here are a few great examples:

• Dall’Agnese’s Every double bed is just one of many that boast enough base space to house your linen, pillows, blankets and towels, giving you extra room in your wardrobes. 
• Eliminate the need for side tables with the Argo modular sofa by Porada. It comes with customised pieces that provide a surface for glasses and snacks and even has a sliding door compartment for books.
• The Yari footstool by Nexus Collection has a tilt-up top that reveals an inner cabinet, making it ideal for families who are constantly tripping over heaps of unruly toys.
• While umpteen coffee tables now come standard with a lower shelf, Naos has taken this concept a step further. Their “no fixed ideas” protocol has inspired them to create units with movable parts that can be folded away when not in use. Take a look at their Barrique collection for inspiration.
• Simplify your WFH space with the multipurpose Wall Street writing desk by Cattelan Italia. With numerous storage compartments featured around its front and sides, you’ll be able to pack away your paperwork with ease.

3 - Combine your mudroom and laundry space

One of the hottest new concepts this year involves converting your front room into somewhere you can discard your dirty outdoor clothing and pop it directly into the wash.

If you live in a colder climate and aren’t keen for mud to be tracked through your home, this is truly a revolutionary idea. Deck it out with the latest in washing machines and tumble dryers and then add cubbies, hooks and cabinets to help organise it all. 

4 - Create a bar area

We all love gathering friends together for an evening tipple, but having bottles strewn around our living spaces is not a pretty sight. So we suggest that you look into building a bar area or finding the right cabinetry to keep them in. 

From freestanding counters like the Bolton by Eichholtz to dainty trolleys (we love the Miss Marple by Reflex Angelo) and state-of-the-art Gaggenau wine coolers, there are choices aplenty.

5 - Install floating shelves

Floating shelving has become very popular in the realm of good interior design and can be easily installed in kitchens, bathrooms and living rooms. Ideal for books, ornaments and even pots and pans, they’re absolute space ninjas.

If you’re worried about how they’ll look, don’t. They’re available in many different shapes and sizes, so you’ll be able to find something that suits your style. Some even come with built-in drawers, like the Lineas 58 series by Porada.

6 - Customise your cabinetry

Tailor-made cabinets and wardrobes are one of the most effective ways of controlling clutter and can be fitted just about anywhere. So take advantage of that wasted space under your stairs or convert an awkward alcove into a cool display area designed to specifically suit your needs. 

From beautiful corner units to full-size walk-ins, we’ll create the storage solutions of your dreams, giving you a wide range of materials, finishes and features to choose from. 

And, if you’re after bespoke features like jewellery drawers, integrated lighting, peninsulas and shoe carousels, rest assured, we can do it all.

In conclusion

Minimalism, both the style and the mindset, is something to strive towards, so don’t overcrowd your spaces with things that serve no purpose.

Instead, focus on furniture that brings a sense of order to your aesthetics and practice letting go of what you don’t need. 

2024 is the year to start healthy new habits, so if you need help, book a free showroom consultation with one of our expert designers today and let’s help you create a floor plan that really works for you.