so basically the key to a clean and tidy house is good storage...

[daisydee43]

you cant clean and tidy stuff that has no place to go. just wondered what great storage ideas or solutions you have in your home? i have a wall length tv unit with everything hidden behind doors (neatly), i have a hall cupboard just for paperwork and waiting for utility room to have new cupboards. i find kitchen storage impossible as only have 2 cupboards for food

I would say the key to a clean and tidy house is firstly ruthless decluttering and only keeping what you love and need, and then and only then, good storage. Everything has a place to live and returns there.

Check out the minimalism and Marie Kondo threads.

Yes to less stuff.

But I always prioritise good loft access/boarded loft space on moving to a new house.

i also have a decorative box in lounge where all opened mail goes waiting to be dealt with

Much easier to keep a kitchen tidy when verything has a place. I cook a lot and my kitchen is not huge so can't afford worktop clutter. I have one cupboard for condiments/spices, one for canned stuff, another for cereal/rice/pasta and one for tea, coffee/cocoa. Bulk stuff I keep in big plastic containers in the garage.

Yy, and, going through everything once in a whole to throw the 'crap' away that you've allowed to accumulate when your guard was down!

If you have a utility room (once the cupboards are done), but only two food cupboards in the kitchen, you need to reprioritise the kitchen. I bet you don't need all your crockery, pans, small appliances, bakeware etc in there. Less frequently used stuff can be moved to the dining room or utility room, leaving just the stuff you need to hand on a weekly basis... And that includes food!

If the key to a clean and tidy house is good storage, the key to good storage is managing it's contents. You have to keep it within the capacity of the storage, you have to put it back in there, and keep it organised. No storage can compensate for too much stuff.

We mix and match food with other stuff in our kitchen, it makes better use of the space. So we only have one dedicated food cupboard, but all the other cupboards have some food items in with the other stuff, either a shelf each of food / non-food, or in some cases a bit mixed in together.

Tea, coffee, sugar are in with the cups and glasses
Our plate cupboard is deep so the food processor accessories are behind the bowls on the top shelf and the gaps at the back of the bottom shelf have the less frequently used spices in them.
Bread is in a basket on the bottom shelf of the pan cupboard next to the mixing bowls and colanders.

It's the one room in the house where the storage works perfectly. I do agree that good storage is key, but you can have too much of it and if it all just fills with junk then that isn't working.

I've tried the minimalism and Marie Kondo and it definitely isn't for me, but I do think you need to be constantly re-evaluating space, storage and what you keep. We have a lot of stuff, but I know where pretty well everything is, we don't have junk drawers any longer (ok, still have a junk fruit bowl full of bits of lego etc), everything has its place.

Few things

Have a letter rack in the hall, key storage box

Hoover downstairs is a little goblin and is wall mounted behind kitchen curtain

I cut of appointment dates and reference numbers and stick to noticeboard rather than the whole letter

Trofast under stairs (white) so all toys out away out of sight

Kilner jars in kitchen and minimal amount of things on display

I take out freezer stuff from boxes and put into sealed bags to make more room

Laundry bin in all areas of house

Wicker chest in main room for 'stuff'

Shoe cupboard from ikea (white) in hall to blend in and it's as good as flush to the wall. Bottom drawer is for baby hats, blankets etc

Charity shop every month - I try and send a bag

Vacuum bag baby clothes once they grow out and label

Ikea floral bags in wardrobe of spare room for seasonal clothes

I have a minimalist wardrobe now. Got rid of excess shoe am scarves etc and its so much easier, same with tea towels, towels, cutlery etc

Sadly, I think the key to a clean tidy house is other people who notice what they've just dropped, rather than absentmindedly stepping over it.

Tempted to buy four giant 'storage boxes' to file the family away for a bit.

TwoKitties has the solution.

absolutely its less stuff.

it sounds like you are drowning in paperwork. a whole cupboard and a box of current! I've got a couple of box files of stored and about a dozen of current.

The problem with seeing storage as the "solution" is you can end up with a home fully of lots of lovely 'storage' - which is full of crap you don't really need/use/love.

And you end up buying basic items (pens, sellotape, hammers etc) again and again because you can't locate the ones you already have in all the 'storage'. Adding to the bulk that you need to 'store'.

I do accept that this is a huge mind shift for most of us (me included) but once you 'get' it, the entire focus of your attitude to your home, possessions, cleaning etc changes.

We got a carpenter to build as much ceiling to floor storage as possible, such as bookshelves, CD shelves, wardrobes, larder. We stole a little of the garage space to make a boot room, where we store all the winter coats, school uni, shoes, school bags, paraphernalia.

When guest come, we sweep all the stuff off the surfaces into this room so we look "clutter-free".

The key to storage is not only that you have it but it must be accessible. Otherwise you end up with a situation like BeCool describes whereby you dread looking for your stuff and end up buying identical things rather than forage for your existing items.

Ruthlessly de-clutter on an ongoing basis.

I bet you have enough storage.
I bet you have too much stuff.

So as BeCool said check out Marie Kondo book and get rid of stuff.

Because you can't organise clutter!

Even if you have masses of storage I think you can still be messy and untidy if you don't keep putting things away. I never think we've got enough storage but we probably do. But I agree that you can't keep tidy when you've got more stuff than comfortably fits into the space you've got. Every time I have a clear out the house stays a bit tidier for a while.

I declutter on an ongoing basis, focussing on a different area at a time, either by subject (eg paperwork) or by space (eg sorting a drawer out). Whenever I find myself rooting around fruitlessly looking for something I know it's time for a clearout, I would say apart from the loft and shed every space in our house gets a good clearout at least once a year and I am always on the lookout for more efficient ways or organising things. We are unfortunately a house full of people who step over things, so the debris does pile up, but it does all have a home.

Lately I have been focussing on paperwork, I didn't think mine was in too bad a state, but I have reduced it by about 6 box files worth in the last couple of months and I feel so much more in control for doing so.

As others have said, I don't think the key is having good storage so much as not having more stuff than you can manage.

RE Kitchen

I have four yes four double cupboards. One wall cupboard is my "pantry" with sweet/baking stuff / bread on the left and savoury on the right. One is the under sink cupboard with bucket and cleaning materials. Base unit holding baking tins, processor, bowls etc Last wall unit holds glasses top shelf, bowls (cereal/pasta) and mugs on the middle and plates and tea/ coffee etc bottom.

I think the way to clean and tidy house is good storage AND getting rid of excess crap.

Sounds like you have more storage than most of us.

Why do you only have 2 cupboards for food? What's in the rest, can you move some stuff out or mix and match as others suggest?

Actually come to think of it I only have 2 cupboards for food plus a tiny 20cm one that hardly holds anything. But one of my food cupboards is a base unit which holds loads, and the potatoes and oils live in our plate cupboard.

Oh yes about stuff/storage. I only have what I need- no more. If "stuff" starts to collect then I cull and send to charity shops. Also keeping lots of opened duplicate packs or stuff out of date will simply fill good storage space. I keep very little. A few sentimental items, but I don't hoard.
I have a friend who is a bit of a hoarder- she lives in a beautiful Georgian city centre flat which is ruined by her compulsion to keep "stuff" Her OH is a keen DIYer and she has virtually ever wall encased with fitted cupboards, even her hall, which are jammed full of things she will be unlikely to ever use again. She has 10 time the storage that I do but her house is still full of clutter.

In my old house, I had a huge pantry. In my new house I have one single and one double cupboard for food. And do you know, I manage the same with this little cupboard as I did with my stuffed pantry. I just don't store shed loads of food and watch it going past its sell by date any more. I have stopped bulk buying. It isn't costing me oodles more really, because I throw a lot less out of date tins away. I look more regularly at what's in there and try to use things up before I buy a replacement. I think you adapt to the storage you have, or rather you have to adapt to the storage you have if you want a tidy house. You always fill the storage you buy, so less storage means more floor space, means less stuff. So really best thing is to just live with less storage and less stuff and your house will feel spacious and tidy.

Honestly the secret is de cluttering and doing housework every day. There isn't a magic secret, it's boring and mundane and monotonous but you have to do it every day and by 'you' I mean Dh or partner doing their fair share and the kids chipping in and doing more than just keeping their rooms clean.