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Episode 229 – Decluttering and organising small spaces

Whether you have a six bedroom detached home, a studio flat, or one room the principles of decluttering are the same. But we have to make decisions based on the space we have. Today we are going to talk about decluttering small spaces and how to make sure the clutter doesn’t take over
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Transcript of this podcast episode
Ingrid: Whether you have a six bedroom detached house, a studio flat, or one room, the principles of decluttering are the same, but we have to make decisions based on the space that we have. So today we're going to be talking about decluttering and organizing small spaces and how to make sure the clutter doesn't take over. 

Voiceover: You are listening to the Declutter Hub podcast, bringing you tried and tested no nonsense tips and advice from the lead in experts in decluttering and organizing your home. Now here are your hosts, Ingrid Jansen and Lesley Spellman.

Ingrid: Hello and welcome listeners. I'm Ingrid. 

Lesley: And I'm Lesley. 

Ingrid: We're delighted you're here to join us as part of your decluttering journey. So whether you are brand new today or have been listening in for ages, we want to say a warm welcome and thank you. It means so much to us. You turn up every week to listen and support us while we talk all things decluttering and organising. 

Lesley: We'd love to help more people with their quest for a clutter free home, and our podcast is a fantastic way for people to be inspired to take action. We have a favor to ask. If you like what you hear, be sure to hit the follow or subscribe button on your podcast player and share us with your friends, or leave us a review. Go to declutterhub.com/review to see exactly how to do that.

Now, Lesley, today, small spaces, and this is actually quite a topic after my own heart because of course I come from one of the smallest countries in the world. With a lot of people in it, so we have to deal with very small spaces and a lot of people.

You know I never thought about that, Ingrid? Oh, I've just got this idea of you in a little shoebox somewhere in Old Amsterdam.

Ingrid: Well, I did live in Amsterdam in a shoebox. I think our flat was like 50 square meters.

Lesley: Are you gonna sing that song? Do you know that song? The Dutch song? 

Ingrid: Which song?

Lesley: I saw a house where around the...no? 

Ingrid: No. Oh, I, I think I've heard, I've heard it, but I don't, I can, I cannot recall this. I'm sorry. No singing from me on this podcast. 

Old Amsterdam. What is it? Someone needs to tell us. I'm not gonna sing the whole song cause my 

Lesley: voice is not quite so good as Ingrid's. But anyway, we digress. So you did not live in a shoebox in old Amsterdam, but you lived in a small flat in Amsterdam. 

Ingrid: Yep, yep, yep. 

Lesley: So you know how hard it is to keep on top of small spaces. Now this is something that gets talked about a lot in our communities, in our memberships, because some people are super lucky and they have nice big spaces that they can kind of breathe a little bit, you know, and they can expand.

They can make different decisions about their stuff, but sometimes people. You know, I've either got a really small space, they've only got, maybe got one room in a shared house, or, which happens quite a lot in our communities. People make a decision to downsize as well. So, and that involves shaking up the way that you've been doing it in the past and making different decisions about your stuff.

So we wanted to talk a little bit about the decision making and how it's different when you have got to think about spatial awareness. Ingrid, what is spatial awareness? 

Ingrid: I think that's something I've realized, Lesley, over the last kind of decade or so. For me, I think I've got spacial awareness, but I never realized that I had it until I started working as a professional organizer. So when I come into a room, I can kind of go, oh, are things in the right place in this room?

Or can we move things around differently? So it all, this whole room starts to flow better and things start to fit a little bit better in where they are. And sometimes it means moving things out of room and putting it somewhere else, but also sometimes it means putting stuff that's high up lower because it's bigger.

I think for me, the, the, the space that you're in needs to work really well. So I think. That's what I bring to a lot of my clients' homes and they're like, wow, I've never looked at it this way. I've never thought about putting that there, but it makes so much more sense. 

Lesley: Yeah, it's definitely about the placement of objects in a room and how to make the most of it.

But for me, I think it's also about looking at volumes of stuff in a room and working out the storage that you've got in there and whether it's all gonna go away. Or for me it's about if someone's downsizing, I'm always very keen to understand, to see a floor plan and to see what the possibilities are so that I can look at the stuff in a current situation and go. This needs to be taken down to a third of what it is, or half of what it is or whatever. So I think it's about an awareness of space, awareness of stuff. Awareness of volume. And I think it's really critical and it's something that we definitely as professional organizers have to have because that's our job to understand.

Whether things are gonna fit, basically, if we're, if we're taking it down to the, to the basics and also to be able to implement that with people. It's something that a lot of people really struggle with, you know? And, and it's not essential but I think it's fair to say that it's something that a lot of people do struggle with, particularly when they're downsizing. So what we wanted to talk about, Ingrid, really we wanted to talk about, is decluttering any different when you have got a small space to work with? 

Ingrid: No, I think the principles of decluttering are the same. You decide if you want an item or not, if it enhances your life, if it fits in with your current lifestyle, if you're using it, if you're loving it. And if that's not the case, the item can be decluttered. And I think those, the, the thought processes of the decluttering are the same whether you are in a big house or small house. You have to go through the same emotions when you're doing your decluttering.

Lesley: Yeah, and I think, you know, you raised a very valid point there, Ingrid. You know the crux of it is whether it fits into your current lifestyle and the place that you live dictates your current lifestyle, and that's what it's about. So you can't make the the same decisions as you would if you're in a six bedroom house because you haven't got the space to put it, but that's what your lifestyle is. In the same way, if you no longer have a corporate job and you stay at home all day, that impacts on your current lifestyle. And so we really have to factor that in when we're making those decisions. So the decisions in terms of. , the emotional connection to stuff is exactly the same. And the way that we Declutter, the way that we organize is exactly the same, but we have to go a little bit deeper and a little bit harder than perhaps we would. So I think when we are downsizing or live in a small space, perhaps we need to challenge that comfort zone a little bit more than we would ordinarily.

Ingrid: Mm-hmm. . Yeah, I think so too. I mean, of course, if you've got a small space to work in, you just can't keep as many items as somebody who lives in a larger house. It's as simple as that. I mean, that's the harsh reality. If you don't have the space, you cannot try and squeeze a six bedroom house into a one bedroom house.

And I think that's where people who downsize, they just don't realize that because they've been living with their own items for their whole lives and they kind of go, well, I'm now I'm downsizing to a ground floor flat, or to an accommodation with more help or whatever. But what they don't realize is actually they're going from a house that might have four bedrooms and a garage and a loft or a basement or an outbuilding or whatever, and they might go to a three bedroom house and they're gonna go, well, I'm just gonna take everything with me. It's just not possible to squeeze a six bedroom house into a three bedroom flat. It's just not possible. So you have to really challenge yourself when you're downsizing to go. But what are the items that I really, really want and that are going to fit in the house that I'm going to live in? 

Lesley: You know, in some ways Ingrid. What I've found in the past is that when people are downsizing or when people do live in small spaces, in some ways the decision making is a little bit easier because you have to make certain decisions. Whereas when you've got a space to spread out a little bit you are allowed a little bit of leeway. Do you know what I mean? So in some ways, people who have small spaces can go for it more and they only have things in their homes that reflect their current lifestyle, whereas people in bigger homes are allowed that surplus a little bit, aren't they? Yeah. 

Ingrid: Yeah. And I think you can also, when you have a bigger property, you can have more items that you use a lot less frequently because you have a room and a place to store them.

Well, of course, if you're in a one or two bedroom flat or in a studio or in a smaller house, you probably have to be a bit more creative in. Okay, this is an item I might only use once a year for one day for a certain occasion. Can I rent it? Hire it borrow it from somebody else. So I think you get creative because it's simple. The fact if you use a patio heater or a balcony heater one, one day a year, you can't have that in your flat. It's like making sure that you have the things in your home that actually work for you. It's the same. Another good example, it's the same, is what you talk a lot about is like, why would you have a spare bedroom if you only use that for somebody that comes over five nights a year while you've tried to squeeze everybody else into the other two bedrooms while they could actually.

Your, your guests could either go into a local, you know, hostel or hotel or whatever, or they can, you can get a, a, a sofa or an airbed. You know, you have to work with what you have.

Lesley: I think that's really important is making those different decisions. I mean, there was an example of it a little while back now at Christmas where one of our members downsized from a larger house into a kind of retirement property, and she had loved Christmas and all of the decorations that come with that, but she knew, and she said she had something like eight, 10 boxes of Christmas stuff, which is not unusual for people who have larger homes. She went into retirement property. She's got everything in one box. But she's still enjoying it just as much, you know, so you, you have to make those decisions and those decisions come easily because you have no choice. You can't have 16 boxes of Christmas decorations when you have only got one under-stairs cupboard, or one storage cupboard in your retirement flat.

So I think in some ways it is a little bit easier. But it takes a while to get there, particularly if you're going from a larger property and downsizing into a smaller property. So decluttering is absolutely critical. If you live in a small space, you have to take it down to the wire. So you really only have to have those things that are truly serving you, and that's gonna involve quite a lot of decluttering and keeping on top of things.

If you want your small space to work well for you, you really need to think about what is it? What am I gonna prioritize in my home? So decluttering is absolutely critical, and the emotions that sit behind that and the decisions that you make are absolutely same. But as we, as we've talked about, perhaps it is about challenging that comfort zone a little bit more, there's a couple of things that you could do as well that we've seen before in terms of things like photographs, sentimental items, paperwork. You can use digitization to take a lot of that out, can't you? Ingrid as well. So one of the things that we certainly recommend when it comes to paperwork decluttering because that's can take up a lot of space, is go digital and then, you know, it's not taking up valuable space in your home it's taking up space in the cloud instead.

So digitization is a big one. So what we can't do is we can't talk. How to declutter because it's gonna be very dependent on the small space that you've got and what kinds of things are important to you. But just know that you're gonna have to just push yourself out of that comfort zone just a little bit more than you would ordinarily.

Ingrid: Yeah. I think digitization is key. I mean, you can't probably bring, you know, three or four door filing cabinets with you to a much smaller space. You're gonna have to get creative and, you know, getting, maybe instead of having bank statements in paper, get them online in your email. Do all of those kinds of things switch.

Switch really to emails and digital. Another good thing that can really help you is a one in one out policy. If you have a small space, if you buy something new, probably something else has got to go because there's just not the room for it. So you have to really think about. , if you see new items, do I have the space for this item? Where am I going to put it? Where am I gonna store it? Do I already have something similar that I can use? So I don't, you know, I don't need to replace that yet. Or, yes, this is really an upgrade of the current item that I've got, so I am willing to let the other item go. So, yeah, it, it also involves, you know, harder decisions when you're shopping and acquiring new things if you live in a smaller home.

Lesley: Definitely. So we've talked a little bit about how to go about decluttering when you have in a small space and so what we wanna do is go to a break now, we're gonna come back in a moment and we're gonna talk about how to organize things that you need to think about carefully when you have a small space to organize. 

Voiceover: If you are ready for that clutter-free home you've been dreaming of and have been thinking about joining our membership for a while, we have good news. Until the end of February, we have opened up a 14 day access all areas trial of our membership. You can do one of our 30 courses, attend a success session, attend one of our Q&As, or get started on our roadmap. It's a great way to try before you buy and to see exactly what the membership can offer you. 14 days access for just $1, and it's all yours until the end of February. Go to declutterhub.com/trial for all the info.

Ingrid: Hi everyone. Welcome back to your Decluttering and Organising Small Spaces podcast. Before the break, we talked about digitizing, a one in one out policy, decluttering. So now let's talk a little bit more about organizing and some tips that we have for furniture as well, Lesley. 

Lesley: Yeah, I think, you know, we talked a little bit before about special awareness and, and the fact that we can kind of, you and I can kind of scan a room and see potential problems, things that are being done well, and, and look at things and how things could be done differently and how we can incorporate more storage, more suitable storage and things like that. So we wanted to talk a little bit about some of the furniture that you really need to focus on when you're thinking about kitting out a small space.

Now we realize that a lot of people have already got furniture in place and you can't suddenly go and change it all over. But when you are thinking about changing furniture over again, you are restricted to the types of things that are gonna work well within your space. So first things first, we wanted to talk about Ottoman beds. Ingrid.

Ingrid: Yes, an Ottoman bed, Lesley I have one here at my house. So in my master bedroom, , when we replaced our beds, we actually went for an Ottoman bed and I can indeed lift it up and I have got a storage place under it. So I am storing some extra bedding and pillows and duvets and out of season duvets and those kinds of things in my ultimate bed. So it can, that's really, really helpful.

Lesley: Yeah. And I, I got one for the flight in London. Now, whilst it's not necessarily a small space, I don't have loads of storage there. And so what I found I could put in there is I could put things like an extra airbed bulky things. I've got really bulky things like you've got your bedding in there. I've got an extra space for bedding, but what I put in there is like I put Christmas trees under there.

I've got little extra things, so kind of bulky because it's quite a big bed and it's quite an expansive space, isn't it, Ingrid?. So an Ottoman bed is fantastic for big, bulky items that you want to, put somewhere and then if you get a nice one, the kind of the kind of air, what do you call it, air. Air assisted or something where it's got like air pressure, I can't remember what that's called, you know, where it kind of lifts up quite easily. You really need to think about whether you've got space to do that and put stuff in, you know, so the size of the room is gonna impact on it, but, and, and also Ottoman is really quite useful as are drawer divan beds that we call them here in the UK. So a divan bed, which is one with a base and you can get drawers underneath them. But do again, think about whether you've got the space to open those drawers up and put stuff into itbecause quite often there might be a bedside table that means you can only have one drawer if it's a really small room. So you've really gotta think that through cuz you don't want to have to completely dismantle a whole bedroom to be able to put something in a drawer.

Ingrid: Yeah. 

Lesley: What I would. Would say about an auto bed is, I don't think it should be used for like everyday things. Mm-hmm. . So I think it should be used for things that you only need occasionally.

Ingrid: Yeah. Yeah. Things that you, or maybe seasonal things. You don't want to be pulling an Altman bed up and down every single time. You wanna get, you know, you don't wanna get your, your current shoes or your current t-shirts or your underwear in there because it's a little bit of a hassle, even if their air assisted to open up an ottoman bed. And of course, you want to be, you know, also think about, the type of stuff you put in there, you want to, you know it to be clean. You want it to be tidy, you want it to be, you just don't want to have a whole mess under there. But I mean, let's be realistic, Lesley, if I wouldn't need this space, I would not take an ottoman bed. But if you are in a small space and you don't have choice, then an ottoman that can really, really help. 

Lesley: Definitely. So if you've already got a bed and it's not an ottoman bed, and you're like, but I do have some space under the bed, what am I gonna do with that? Under bed storage boxes are really useful. Now, feng shui, if anybody practices feng shui, would say you should never put anything under your bed. Whether it's an ottoman bed, whether it's under storage bed people, there are issues with dust mites and things falling on top. So whatever you do put under a bed, whether it's in an ottoman, or whether it's in a drawer, make sure it's covered, make sure you know that it's not got space for kind of monkey things for your bed to fall on top of it.

So really important to keep that stuff covered. Keep it in plastic or if it's a, if it's a drawer, then it's fine anyway but use those divan beds. Don't waste that space by just having a divan that's got a base and nothing in it, you know? So next time you're thinking of buying a badge, you know, get one with drawers. Or alternatively utilize that space under your bed for under bed storage boxes. Again, they need to be covered. Lids on them. They need, you need to make sure that you can pull them out effectively because quite often they're quite bulky. And if you've only got very tight spaces at the side of your bed you can't get the whole box out because you've not got space to do that. And so it's quite tricky. But under bed storage boxes are quite useful as well, aren't they, Ingrid? And you can get some fantastic ones from loads of places. In particular IKEA do really good value versions of those and do loads and loads of different options.

If you are working with a small space, honestly, IKEA is fantastic. They have thoughts of everything in terms of maximizing the space in your homes. So IKEA is a fantastic space to start if you are struggling a little bit of a space. 

Ingrid: Yeah. And of course our friends at store, a place for everything, have got some fantastic solutions as well. So do check out a place for everything if you're here in the UK. Yes, definitely Lesley. Indeed. And you were talking about feng shui. Yes. Feng shui says Keep under your beds free. That is fantastic. Of course, if you've got space, but if you're living in a tiny flat, you're gonna have to find the compromise. And the compromise is probably going to be, I'm gonna need to put some extra stuff under my bed because otherwise I just don't have enough storage to put the things that I need and that are, I need to have accessible. So yes, underbed storage boxes definitely can help. Now another thing you might want to think about is when we're looking at mainly, especially the living areas, you want to have furniture that's not very bulky. You know, you probably can't have a big bulk, your armchair or a very big sofa that has a lot of kindof bulky arms on the side. You probably have to be really smart about the furniture you buy. The furniture itself. 

Lesley: Yeah, you know, we sometimes it's just about looking at furniture before you buy it and think about what's gonna serve me well, where can I maximize the space? And if you're working with a small space, it's important to have more sitting space than it is, than it is more arm space. And you know, things like Chesterfield sofas and things like that. They've got these huge arms on them, which take, you could literally, with the two arms together, you could fit another person on that sofa. And, and it's a mistake that I see a lot of people making cuz they look so lovely. Think about the space. You know, you could take those arms away, even if you don't have more sitting space, you might be able to fit another cupboard in down the side or something, you know, cupboard that you can put a lamp on or you, you know, with drawers underneath it. So really think that through, even though we really, really want the big, bulky, comfy looking sofa sometimes we can't always do that, and we have to think about that before we purchase them. 

Ingrid: Yeah, and it's the same as well for tables. I mean, you might need to get a table that you can make larger and smaller and you might not be able to go for that big table that you used to, you know, be able to fit 12 people around. You might have to go, okay, I'm gonna go for table that has a kind of a folding leaf in the middle and I can stand a little bit and I, if I'm gonna, might have to put the chairs in one of the chairs in my bedroom or in a hallway somewhere or in a corner somewhere. So, I have space to sit. You're gonna need to get creative, and there's loads of options out there. 

Lesley: Definitely. So yeah, sofas are a big one, but just look at your room with a fresh pair of eyes and go, where can I fit some additional storage in? That's what this is all about. Yeah, for an additional storage in, because you probably won't have enough if you've got a small space or you're really gonna have to go deep on that.

Another one, another space that we really need to get on top of is the bedroom. So wardrobes are critical in a bedroom or closet, as those other people would call them. And so it's about maximizing the wall space that you've. So people love a fitted wardrobe. If you are gonna put a fitted wardrobe in. Make sure you really thought about how to configure the space inside that fitted wardrobe, if you've got a flat wall without sloping ceilings and things like that, you don't always need to go for a fitted wardrobe, you can go for a standalone wardrobe, but really, Think about what's inside it. Have I got the maximum amount of hanging space in there? Have I got drawers inside it? Can I pull those drawers out. Can I use sliding doors? Can I go higher towards the ceiling to put some bulky things or do I need to put stuff on top of it? So really think all those things through to make sure that you get the maximum benefit from a wardrobe that you're going to put in. Again, IKEA is fantastic for fitted wardrobes. I mean, I've got a lot of design clients and nine times out of time we will use the IKEA pack system, which is so versatile and really good value for money.

Ingrid: Now, another thing you might want to consider if we're talking about bedrooms is getting bedside tables that have drawers. I have that in my own house as well, so I don't have a bedside table that is open in the bottom.

I actually have a bedside table that has two drawers, so I use those for some socks and some underwear and some tissues and things like that, so I don't have to give up one of my other drawers. Where I put my t-shirts and my swimwear and active wear and pajamas and those kinds of things. So I really try to be smart about what furniture I have where, and I can put something in it.

Lesley: How much active wear have you got? Ingrid? 

Ingrid: I've got a drawer. 

Lesley: And what's in your active wear draw? . 

Ingrid: Just some jogging bottoms and some t-shirts and my, my socks for my trainers and things like that. 

Lesley: But for your, for your gym sessions? 

Ingrid: Yes, for my, for my walking in the morning sessions. 

Lesley: active wear, that's so funny, I just imagine like this extensive collection gym wear or whatever.

Ingrid: I should Lesley. I should, I should. 

Lesley: Maybe that's a, yeah, yeah, something to, something to work on. Yeah, you need to ditch the drawer until you get active. Anyway, so loads of other things that we could talk about in terms of storage, but really look at it, you know, we, we had another member who is working with quite a small space and she was like, I've had this dressing table for years. But what I've realized is it's taken up valuable space and it'll be much better and it'll be much more useful for me to have a chest of drawers in there and to just put my makeup on or do what I need to do in the bathroom and not a dressing table. And so sometimes it's about making these hard decisions, isn't it?

Ingrid: Yeah. 

Lesley: Hooks on doors, use over door storage where you can, when you're struggling, there's loads of things that you can hook over doors. There's things that shoes go in. There's things that scarves go in and bags go in that you can use. And so there's some fantastic solutions out there that you can really utilize the space that you've got.

Ingrid: Yes. Yes. And I think lastly, of course, we love a kallax. A lot of you listening for a while know we love an IKEA kallax unit. So versatile, so much space, fantastic. Different types of boxes and containers. And I think that kind of brings us to the next thing, isn't it, Lesley? Maximize this, your, the size of your containers in your drawers, in your cupboards, on your shelve.

Lesley: Yeah, absolutely. And so don't have a big container that's half full. We really need to be making sure that those containers are kind of, well we don't need to make sure they're full , but we need to make sure that we've got, you know, that we think about things in a way that only uses one container for one type of stuff, really. It's important to get that cause some, so many people have got containers that they're just not using that much. And it's kind of wasted space, isn't it?

Ingrid: Yes, and I think as well take the, have the right size containers, the ones that fit the space properly, that you don't have a lot of, that you don't lose a lot of space at behind it or above it, or on the side if you are struggling for space the containers actually are quite important.

Lesley: Definitely. And you know, we've spoken about this before, Ingrid. We've talked about vertical storage, we've talked about using walls, shelves, hooks, anything that can hang on the wall, get it on the wall if you can in your kitchen. You know, make sure you use that space between your wall units and your base units to put magnetic strips for knives to use for utensils. All of those kind of things that are gonna help you when you've got a small space. So, Ingrid. Small space is covered. I mean, there's a lot to it. And you have to work out your own space, because every small space is completely different. Think about what you're doing. Think about your current lifestyle and whether you are prioritizing stuff over space. That's what it's all about. When you, you know, what's more important to you? Do you want to have this kind of calm space that you can find everything, that everything is organized? Or do you want to have more stuff?

And so you've got to work out what's really important for you. Utilize the space that you've go to maybe incorporate some of these additional storage or furniture ideas to just, it just turns the dial a little bit more. You know, you can just get an extra drawer here and an extra drawer there, or an ottoman bed here, and all of a sudden it can be a fantastic solution for you.

Ingrid: Yeah, absolutely. So we would love to know from you what have you done to make the most of the space that you have. Let us know in the comments on the show notes. Go to declutterhub.com/229 and we'll look forward to reading what you've done. Now, next week we're going to talk about the 10 things to Declutter from your makeup. So that's it for this episode. We appreciate you listening in. Lesley, we're back next week. 

Lesley: We are back next week. Looking forward to 10 things to declutter from your makeup, and I think I'm gonna practice what I preach in this podcast. All things that I need to do. 

Ingrid: Brilliant. So thanks everyone, and we'll see you next week. 

Voiceover: Thanks so much for listening to the Declutter Hub podcast. Don't forget to subscribe to us in your podcast player so you don't miss an episode, and we'll see you next week.
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Episode 229 – Decluttering and organising small spaces

Episode 389 – Overcoming mobility challenges when decluttering with member Rory

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Episode 387 – Our 2025 year in review – the big Declutter Hub round-up

Episode 386 – 10 Tell-Tale Signs that you need to Declutter your House

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