A photo of a smiling Simon Glanville on the left and a graphic saying A Place for Everything in white writing on a dark background on the right

Episode 224 – What are the latest storage trends with Simon Glanville from A Place for Everything

The final step in decluttering and organising your home is finding the right storage solutions that will work for your home. In today’s podcast we’re delighted to be speaking with Simon from A Place for Everything about different storage options and the trends for 2023.

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Transcript of this podcast episode

[00:00:00] Ingrid: The final step in decluttering and organising your home is finding the right storage solutions that will work for your home. In today's podcast, we're delighted to be speaking with Simon from a place for everything about different storage options and the trends for 2023.

[00:00:19] Hello and welcome listeners. Welcome to episode 224. I'm Ingrid If you're new to the Declutter Hub podcast. You are so welcome here. What you will find here is reality, empathy, and advice by the bucket loads. And if you've been listening in for a while, we appreciate you so much listening in week in, week out.

[00:00:39] And just to remind everyone, you can also watch this podcast on our YouTube channel. Go and have a look there. And if you want to know where we are, go to the show notes of this podcast on the clutter Hub dot com slash 2 24. Now today I'm delighted to welcome Simon Glenville. He is a self comvest storage geek, and after visiting the Container store in the US he set up his own store called A Place For Everything in Chester, here in the uk.

[00:01:10] Now Simon, thank you so much for being our guest in today's podcast. 

[00:01:15] Simon: Good morning, Ingrid. It's really lovely to see you and thank you ever so much for having me. 

[00:01:19] Ingrid: We have known each other for a very, very long time, haven't we? 

[00:01:24] Simon: Longer than I'd care to remember. I think my beard and hair were a little, uh, little darker than they are now.

[00:01:31] Ingrid: Well, we of course met through APDO, the Association of Professional Declutters and organisers. Um, Leslie got originally in contact with you way back when. You've always been a fantastic supporter of APDO. Um, when I was president, Leslie was, um, head of mentoring and head of website. We were in contact with each other.

[00:01:52] And we have actually seen each other several times over the year, and it's such a pleasure to have you here on the podcast. Finally. 

[00:01:59] Simon: It's great to see you too. And, and I, I admired the work that you guys are doing for a long time. I'm, uh, I'm very flattered that you, uh, you've asked me to come along, so thank you ever so 

[00:02:09] Ingrid: much.

[00:02:09] Oh, it was lovely to see you. And of course we saw each other at the Clean and Tidy Home Show back in October in the London Excel, and that's kind of was like, yeah, let's, let's get you on the podcast. I dunno, I don't even know why, how could we have done three years without asking you? I'm, I'm like, I'm a bit embarrassed, Simon, to be honest.

[00:02:26] I'm very smart, but I'm glad you're here now. 

[00:02:29] Simon: It was a great show, wasn't it? The Clean and Tidy Home Show for those that are are in the UK and, and, and, and didn't go to it. You must go next year. 2023 I think is going to be an exciting year for that show, but we, we had some fun, didn't we? Yeah, 

[00:02:41] Ingrid: definitely, definitely.

[00:02:43] Now, um, we're going to talk about some storage trends for 2023, but I want to kind of start at the beginning a little bit because. How does one go from being a gold mining geologist to owning a shop that is all about storage? And that's been going for 20 years. I mean, that's interesting. How did that happen?

[00:03:06] Simon: It's, uh, it's a little bit of an interesting one, isn't it? Um, I was, I was working as a, as a geologist in, in South America in. In Venezuela, and, and it's a fascinating profession, um, but it takes you away from home an awful lot. And I used to spend 6, 9, 12 months away from the family. And, and at the time I had a really young family.

[00:03:27] Um, and, and I, I wasn't really seeing the children grow up. Um, and I managed to wangle myself into a post in, in, in, in Texas, a desk based job in Texas. And, uh, Came across in, in a small town called Houston. Um, this organiser's Maca, uh, which is called the Container Store. And I just couldn't stop visiting every, every time I drove past it, I just couldn't stop visiting and, and I started thinking to myself, this is something that we don't have over in Europe.

[00:03:56] And of course, this is 20 years ago. And I thought, wouldn't it be great to do something similar in the uk, something similar to the Container Store, but albeit with a little bit more of a European flavor to it. So back in two, 2003, um, we founded the business, um, which of course was originally called store.

[00:04:18] Um, and we had a name change about two years ago to a place for everything, which made it a little bit easier for people to, to, to find us. Um, And, and, and in that sort of 20 odd years, things have come full circle to be honest, Ingrid, because we now distribute for the Container Store. We sell their alpha shelving brand Alpha's a a, a very popular modular shelving brand, uh, used across the world.

[00:04:44] Um, we sell that both in our own store and in, um, uh, uh, and and to other retailers. Um, but owning a place for everything just means I get to go home every night rather than once every nine months. 

[00:04:58] Ingrid: Well, that may sounds like the, the right decision for you. So did you immediately start with, when you set up, um, a place for everything, did you immediately start with kind of, I want to copy everything.

[00:05:08] What did you, I mean, I know you wanted a European flavor, but was there anything in particular? What kind of, what kicked you off? What was like. Those are the basics that I want to do. What kind of were the brands and the flavor and the feel of what you wanted to offer? Yeah, I, I mean, I 

[00:05:22] Simon: think, as I already already mentioned, I think the Container Store 20 years ago were a, a a, a beautiful brand selling some very utilitarian storage products.

[00:05:34] Um, and, and actually I, I, I felt at the time that there was the need for. Storage that was stylish as well. That didn't cost a fortune, but that wasn't just basic and functional, but that was functional, served a purpose and had a little bit of style to it as well. I mean, I think the thing that really interested me at the Container Store was the Alpha shelving brand.

[00:06:02] I mean, it's such a versatile product. Originally used in wardrobes dressing rooms. El R just got thousands of different components now that almost in a, a Lego like way allow you to put something together, um, for any space that you can possibly think of, whether that's a utility room, a garage, um, a a a a wardrobe or if you're lucky to have a a, a room.

[00:06:30] For addressing ream and, and it fits any pocket as well, because it's modular. You can, you can choose to add and, and, and, and take away components to, to work, to, to your budget as well, which is a really lovely way of doing things. And, and the product can be bought either as individual components, as bestselling solutions or, or actually at a place for everything.

[00:06:52] We, we offer a free design service as well, um, to just give our customers an understanding of what we might. Think as, um, as professionals that they might need. But of course, you never really know until you, uh, until you delve into the, the, the, the depth of their storage requirements. 

[00:07:11] Ingrid: Amazing. So what other brands besides Alpha do you have in, in a place for everything?

[00:07:16] So we work with about 

[00:07:18] Simon: 120, um, makers now. Wow. Um, which is unusual for a retailer. Um, a lot of retailers will, will, will simply flick through manufacturer's catalogs and, and, and, and say that'll do. Um, but we, we are very much about, Not that'll do, but actually what will be best for our customers? So we buy a few number of products from a lot of different manufacturers, and we work with a number of niche, smaller manufacturers and, and, and, and makers who, who you'd never have heard of.

[00:07:53] Um, but also some big names that, that your listeners will know and love. We mentioned Alpha. Um, I design the, the, uh, American brands, of course are famous for their collaboration with. With the home edit. Uh, they make some beautiful kitchen, uh, utility room pantry, storage products, um, and a, and a favorite of mine.

[00:08:13] Um, big, so big, so boxes of Sweden. Um, they're probably world leaders in fiberboard storage for just about anywhere in the home. Lovely recycled products. Um, and, um, a, a real hit with, with our customers here. Um, and perhaps surprisingly people like Lego. Um, you may have seen the giant scaled up Lego, um, storage bricks, which are not just for toy storage.

[00:08:40] Um, you can store anything in them. So a lot of different manufacturers from all over the world. And I think at the last camp we were working with about 32 different countries. Um, so I need to, I, I, I need to practice my foreign languages a little bit. I, I mean, I can say hello in five or six languages, but I, I'm not quite there at 32 yet.

[00:09:01] Ingrid: Well, that sounds absolutely amazing and. Listeners, uh, I'm going to be honest with you, I, I had a little, um, I was looking around for a client yesterday and I was having a look on a place for everything dot code UK and, oh, your, my heart just kind of melted because it's like, oh, I like that and that's so nice and that will be great.

[00:09:21] And I send her like, Here you here are 12 links that you can, you know, have a look at and, and see what fits and measure and, and have a look at your own kitchen and see if she was looking for kitchen items. And of course we were looking at cutlery trays and we were looking at the spice rack that I thought was great.

[00:09:38] I was looking at some under synced storage. Um, we were looking at some baskets for in kitchen cupboards. I mean, you've got such an amazing range of items that I think our listeners would absolutely love. So, um, Uh, definitely. Yeah, it's absolutely fantastic. So, uh, I kind of mentioned a website, a place for Everything dot code at uk.

[00:09:59] That's right, isn't it? 

[00:10:00] Simon: That's all. Yeah. Yeah. We, uh, we're online at a place for everything.co.uk. We've also got a flagship store here in Chester, uh, which is, uh, a Roman medieval city in the, in the northwest of, of, of the uk. Um, for your overseas listeners, we're. Fairly close to Manchester and Liverpool, and you are all welcome to come and see us.

[00:10:20] And if you can't come and see us, then uh, you can certainly shop with us. Uh, certainly shop with us on, on online and, and, and, and actually, you know, give us a ring, give us a telephone call because you know, we're, we're, we're self, self-confessed storage geeks ourselves. And, and, and it, it's, it's more about finding a solution for people rather than giving them something that perhaps they think might work for them, but.

[00:10:44] Might not necessarily work. So we spend a lot of time talking to our clients on email, on the telephone, on live chat, um, and, and, and trying to find the best product for them currently. I, I think, wow, we're, we're, we're at about 4,000 SKUs, 4,000 products online now. Um, we, we test a lot. We take things home.

[00:11:05] We, we try things ourselves. Um, we get things wrong sometimes and there are things that come into the selection that, um, possibly we we're not happy with, but we soon try and wheel those out and, uh, and, and, and keep to decent quality storage solutions that won't cost you the earth. Um, but with that little bit of style, with that little bit of flare as well, just to, to make things exciting sometimes 

[00:11:28] Ingrid: as well.

[00:11:28] Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, absolutely. Fantastic. Now of course, um, this is the beginning of January. We have just, um, had, uh, uh, the holiday season behind us. Cliff, can we talk a little bit about how do people tidy away Christmas decorations? Mm-hmm. What kind of products would you recommend for that? 

[00:11:48] Simon: Sure. Yeah. I mean it's uh, it's, it's a busy time of year for tidying away the festive clutter and, and, and, and I think there are lots and lots and lots of plastic organisers out there for, for, for ball balls, et cetera.

[00:12:02] Um, but we, we tend to favor the cardboard versions, Rob. Rather than the plastic ones. I mean, many of our customers talk about special decorations, ball balls that perhaps hold a special place in the, the, the family's heart. Um, card's a lot more forgiving for, for, for delicate ball balls, absolutely. Some of our plastic containers have their place, but I'm always keen to advocate perhaps a plastic box with a cardboard interior just to give things that little bit of extra cushioning.

[00:12:36] Um, the, the other thing that's very popular fold flat decoration storage boxes. And, and I'm a big fan of those too, because the problem when you're getting the decorations out, and of course we're past that now, but the problem when you're getting the decorations out is what do you do with that big bulky box?

[00:12:49] Do you stick it back in the attic? Who wants to climb back into the loft again after they've just gone in there and taken everything out? So we, we, we sell a lot of. Full flat boxes, stuff that you can pop under the sofa, under the bed that you don't have to squeeze back into to, to the loft. And, and, and actually the, the third thing I'd say and the bane of my life are the, are the tangled fairy lights and, and, and tangled tinsel.

[00:13:14] Um, It, there's nothing worse is there than, than, than putting the festive decorations up, getting all excited about it, and then finding that you spend the next hour and a half arguing about fairy lights. Um, we, we've got some really reasonably priced winders for, for tinsel, for fairy lights on the, on, on the website.

[00:13:33] But you know what? If you don't want to buy them, a piece of rigid card is just as good and it's going to save you hours. Next time you're pulling those lights out next 

[00:13:42] Ingrid: season. Yeah, I love that and I love that you're giving some homemade solutions as well, Simon, but I have seen the products on your website and I totally adore them.

[00:13:52] And um, yes, I think you're absolutely right. Plastic containers are amazing. But indeed, especially with those very precious bubbles, and I have some of them, I have some bubbles that belonged to my grandmother from the 19. Oh yeah. I think there, there must be from the 19. Fifties or so. I mean, they're like really, really old.

[00:14:11] So I have to always be very careful with those. And they're indeed in cardboard and 

[00:14:16] Simon: that's a special thing to have, isn't it? And to, to hold onto and pass onto the family as well. And, and, and you know, these little. Traditions are so easily lost. And, and it, it, it, it's, it, it's a strange thing, isn't it? It never, never ceases to, to, to never cease to understand how things get damaged when they've just sat there for 12 months.

[00:14:37] Yes. Touching them. Um, but yeah, look after those ball balls, everyone. 

[00:14:41] Ingrid: Yes. And of course, uh, Christmas storage solution, Christmas tree storage solutions, uh, for wreaths. You've got solutions, I believe. So if you're thinking to yourself, actually, I need to upgrade it a little bit. I've taken it all down now, but there's stuff still lingering about.

[00:14:58] Upgrade some of your storage and see that you get organised before the next holiday season because you want to make sure that it's all stays protected because it's always either basements, garages, attics, lofts. That's where we keep all this stuff, don't we? So we want to make sure that we take care of it.

[00:15:15] Simon: Pop-up solutions are great as well for things like Christmas trees and when, when, when you're gift wrapping as well. Yeah. Um, we, we've got a great pop-up gift wrap range. Um, just to keep everything organised in, in one place during the, uh, during the festive season, but then what happens to it afterwards?

[00:15:32] Um, you know, it all has to get stored somewhere and, and it's nice to keep everything together. Um, you know, there's, there's, there's places, there are areas under the beds, a great spot. We've got some low profile, um, uh, solutions for, for gift wrap that, that, that go under the bed. Um, and, and that beautiful brand as well.

[00:15:52] Alpha. Some great gift wrapping, uh, uh, solutions for, for next year as well. And, and 

[00:15:57] Ingrid: those will do of course, year round because year round we are, you know, wrapping things and it's not, it's not only necessarily for the holiday season, but year round. Those solutions will work really well as well. Now, Simon, I wanted to talk to you about, Toy storage because of course probably a lot of households have had an influx of toys over, over this past holiday season, but where do you keep it all?

[00:16:26] It's, it 

[00:16:27] Simon: is, uh, another big subject at this time of year. And, and, and no matter certainly in our house, no matter how much over the years we've tried to keep the Christmas toy clutter to a minimum, there's always an aunt, your uncle or, or, or, or a kindhearted neighbor who brings something out. That, uh, that takes up precious floor space.

[00:16:50] Um, I mean, I always like to think vertically. Um, you know, if you're pushed for space, stacking units are great. They're really great for small spaces, especially open fronted units. Um, and they offer good visibility. Um, and, and, and, and perhaps, you know, just keeping things easy to hand for little ones as well.

[00:17:10] I've always found that often people come to see us thinking that they want sort of larger toy chests and, and the trouble with these big toy chests is they just get overfilled with clutter. Um, and, and the toys at the bottom never get played with. So, so we always advocate compartmentalizing using smaller containers.

[00:17:30] And the other great thing about smaller containers is that it's easier for them to move, easy for children to move them around. There's nothing worse than a big o than a big oversized box that the little ones can't actually lift or, or drag across the floor. Um, but we like to color code as well, and, and, and that's a great way to help kids identify where their favorite game or toy is, is stores.

[00:17:55] And make it fun. Make it fun. Make toy storage fun. Legos giant Lego bricks storage boxes. Um, and, and, and drawers are wonderful and, and, and it makes clearing up tidying up fun when it's time to, um, when it's time to go to bed at the end of the evening. And they come at a range of bright, funky Lego.

[00:18:17] Traditional colors, but also some more muted homely colors, some grays, some whites as well. So they, they fit in well with, with, with any decor. But make it fun and the kids will find tidying up and decluttering and cleaning it up at the end of the evening when it's time for bed a little bit more easier.

[00:18:36] Ingrid: It's absolutely, you're absolutely right, Simon. I think it's all about decluttering the toys that kids no longer play with that are broken, that are maybe past their age. It's just that gone beyond it. Clear that out. Create some space and then what you have and what they have and what they do want to play with, make sure that it, it's sorted out in a proper way.

[00:19:00] And indeed, if you've got smaller containers, you can then, Create zones for things. You can create a zone for trains or blocks or puzzles or games or Lego or Dulo or play mobile or whatever, animals or people you know, super superheroes. It doesn't really matter, but you want to divide it a little bit as soon as you through, put all of these things in one giant box.

[00:19:30] Kids just are confused and it's, they, they get an overload of what they want to play with. And if you have kind of a smaller books where it's all together, they go, ah, okay, I'm going to play with all my animals now and I'm going to create a farm and I'm going to, you know, take some empty lures and I'm going to create a fence and all of that thing.

[00:19:45] And the imagination starts to work. But when you've got one big kind of chest with everything, they just pick out a couple of bits and they don't even know where to start. Yeah. 

[00:19:54] Simon: That's fascinating, isn't it? And, and I think the other thing that, um, we're seeing a lot more of over the past sort of five or six years is as kids are growing up, it's more about technology as well.

[00:20:05] And with every piece of technology comes a peripheral, a cable that is unique to that particular rope. Bought dinosaur or games console or whatever it is, and, and, and the cable spaghetti, as I call it, is, is, is, is often nightmare-ish. And, and, you know, inevitably you pull out that toy or that piece of technology and the cable for that particular product has disappeared.

[00:20:31] So we we're selling a lot more, a lot more in the way of, of, of items to control that cable clutter. To parents who, who are wanting to keep the kids happy as well. Um, and that might be something as simple as a small sort of Velcro type strip to wrap cables up or to color code them or something that allows them to, to have the, the games console close to hand on a desk with storage space to storage.

[00:21:00] For, um, console handsets and keep the wires out of the way. But, but, but I think that the wonderful world of toys is a lot more digital and electronic than it was perhaps when you and I were, uh, um, uh, nippers. But, uh, it's certainly, it's certainly the cable clutter that's becoming a problem as well for older kids.

[00:21:20] Ingrid: Yeah. Yeah. All right. Well, very, very, very good advice, Simon. Thank you so much. Let's go for a break and, uh, we'll be back after break because I've got, Absolutely more questions. So see you soon.

[00:21:32] Hi everyone. Welcome back. We are with Simon from a Place for Everything, talking about storage and oh, I'm just absolutely buzzing here because I absolutely love it. And we've talked about storing Christmas decorations. We've talked about toys, we've talked about ca, cable clutter, but of course we're just at the start of a brand new year, so, People are probably thinking to themselves, okay, I've, last year was full of clutter.

[00:21:59] I was chaotic. I feel overwhelmed. This year. My resolution is I want to be more organised. But Simon, where do people start? You know, 

[00:22:12] Simon: it, it, it's fascinating because we hear this so much from our customers. They, they, they want to make it their New Year's resolution to, to, to be more organised and, and, You know, sometimes it's, it's not just about saving space, but it's about saving time as well.

[00:22:29] Um, and, and there are, there are often simple things that can make you a little bit more organised, save you a little bit of space and, and save you a little bit of time. So, for example, um, I have a, a, a weave tray on a, on a table in the hallway. And I put my car keys in it. Um, and on a, on a busy morning when I'm late for school, late for the, the school run or late for work, I just know where they are.

[00:22:53] So those simple things put to put the, the contents of my pockets in my car, keys, my change, my wallets, um, and, and, and it's, it's often the simple little things I think that are a good. Small way of, of making a change. Because let's face it, none of us are going to change overnight. And, and, and, and we know what happens with New Year's resolutions.

[00:23:17] We keep them for half a half an hour or half a day or half a week. And, and, and that it all goes back to, to the way it was. So try and make little changes. Don't, don't make these big changes. But I mean, it's very interesting because. You know, in, in, in these difficult times where we're all thinking about, uh, our energy bills and, and, and saving money as as, as well as thinking about our new New Year's resolutions, we, we've got some interesting products on the website and, and, and that, that might have.

[00:23:48] And one of my favorites is, is something called a five minute shower timer. Um, and I'm reliably for informed by the, the maker of that product that on average we all spend about eight minutes in the shower in the morning. Um, but this times you to five minutes, which gives you. The right amount of time without languishing in there.

[00:24:07] And it saves a little bit of water, it saves a little bit of money, and it gives you those few precious extra minutes to help get organised, um, in, in, in, in the morning. And, and as I say, it's often these simple, small ideas that make. Change in, in small footsteps rather than big giant leaps that will will help you into the future rather than trying to change yourself overnight.

[00:24:32] But do you know what? We've got hundreds and thousands of organisational ideas on the website to assist customers with a new res new year resolutions. But you know, if anyone's struggling, As I mentioned earlier, give us a call. We're happy to talk and, and, and, and, you know, happy to help and, and, and, and certainly offer a little bit of 

[00:24:49] Ingrid: advice.

[00:24:50] Yeah, you know what? It's so fantastic and I, I so supported ideas. Well, Simon, because that's what Leslie and I are all about as well. You have to start small. You have to start with this, putting the small things in place. Where are my keys? Where's my bag? Where's my phone? Where do I leave the coats? Where do I want the shoes to go?

[00:25:10] Put a couple of these bits in place and, and reinforce that habit before trying to add on something else. That needs to be changed as well. You can't change a lifetime of collateral overnight. It takes a while. And of course, with the cluttering the same thing. You have to start with one drawer, one box, one shelf, one cupboard.

[00:25:31] Clear that out. Do that, and then do the next thing. So don't set yourself up for, I'm going to do my whole kitchen in, in, in a Saturday morning, or my whole spare bedroom, which has been a dumping ground over the last three months, and nobody could stay over, uh, during, during the holiday season because it was absolutely packed to the rafters and it's new year now.

[00:25:53] I'm going to tackle it. You have to start much smaller than that because it takes a while to get your head around what needs to be done and where do I start and how do I learn? And that's what we teach here in the Declutter Hub. We teach people the basics of decluttering, and once you know, people know the basics, it's like, okay, you need to start small and start in easier rooms, and we guide them through where that is and how you tackle that.

[00:26:21] And people then have success and they start to build on that success. So you can actually then work on longer time. Mm-hmm. To, to, to, to do something. But also because you get more and more, you build up your decluttering muscle. And of course then you get your storage solutions along the way. You're better off first decluttering some items.

[00:26:46] Finding out what's the right place and then what is the right storage solution for this. And then indeed it's like, and then they can look on your website and go, okay, I know exactly what I need, or I think I know what I need. I'm going to have a little look around and what kind of ideas are out there that I can use now.

[00:27:03] But what a lot of people do, they buy loads of storage solutions. That that end up co cluttering people's homes because they don't use it in the right room or in the right way. And what Leslie and I are saying, there are so many fantastic products out there, but you need to use them in the right place.

[00:27:19] Simon: And you'd be surprised, Ingrid, how many people we turn away in our store and say, go home. And in the nicest possible sense, Declutter first, and then come back to us and we'll, we'll have a chat about it. But absolutely that, that adage about walking before you can run. Um, I, I, I spent a, a very pleasant afternoon yesterday, um, decluttering in my utility room.

[00:27:43] Um, I didn't do the whole thing because it's a real mess. Perhaps I shouldn't admit to that. I just took one shelf. And had a look through all the cleaning products and tidied them up, got rid of the ones that were empty, the ones that were out of date where I'd got duplicates, I was putting them and containerizing them away.

[00:28:04] And it took about half an hour, but it's really satisfying. Starting off in small bite sized chunks is really satisfying and, and I don't mind admitting that. I stood back and thought, yeah, I did that. I did that. Um, But you, you, you, you, you'd probably come in and do a better job than, uh, than, than I would Leslie and yourself, but, uh, um, I try.

[00:28:26] Ingrid: Yeah, but you know what, I think that you're saying something very crucial there, Simon. It's about being proud of yourself, of what you've achieved. And it might not be perfect. This is not about perfect. This is being able to go, actually, what have I got? I can now find it. And when you can find it, you can use it.

[00:28:42] And when you can use it, you don't waste it. And you don't have to throw it away when it's no longer. In, in, in a good condition. So I, I totally love that. Now, of course, we're the start of the uni New year, but pretty soon we're going to be changing seasons. We're going to be changing. Wardrobes back into hopefully some more Sprinklr.

[00:29:03] So of course, if you're listening and you're in Australia, you've had your nice weather, now you're suddenly, you know, at some point you're going to be changing to the winter season. So that happens a couple of times a year, doesn't it? So have you got some advice for that? Yeah, 

[00:29:16] Simon: yeah. I'm, I'm hoping that, that, that spring is just around the.

[00:29:19] Corner in the, in the, the northern hemisphere here. But it's, uh, it's pretty cold out there at the moment. But, um, a absolutely, as you start to think about putting those winter wallies away and, and, and, and bringing out the, the, the, the, the spring wardrobe, it's, it's, it's really difficult, isn't it, because I'm, I'm sure your, your wardrobe in your house is the same as, as, as our Ingrid space is always at a premium.

[00:29:42] It's always very precious in a wardrobe. And inevitably we've always got those garments that we. We don't want to get rid of. Perhaps we thought we could still fit into them, but you know, we will next year, so we're not going to get rid of them. Um, but I'm, I'm, I'm a massive fan of vacuum bags. I, I, I absolutely love vacuum bags.

[00:30:03] They're so easy. Easy to use. They keep bugs and moths off. Um, we, we, we've got a, a wonderful range of, um, of underbed ones as well. Great, great place. I love underbed storage. It's a great place to store stuff when a, when a, when a wardrobe is, uh, is, is, is particularly filling to the brim. And I particularly like some of the, the divided under bed.

[00:30:26] Um, storage boxes as well. You know, it's that compartmentalizing again, isn't it? The, the keeping things a little bit more ordered and easier to hand when it's six months time. You, you need to open it up and find out what's in there. Um, but, um, I, I always, I, I always say ventilation is important too. Try and store your out of season garments in something that's got, uh, a little bit of vent.

[00:30:50] Insulation in it. Um, alpha's wire and mash baskets allow air to circulate. And, and the other thing with them, um, and clear storage as well, is you can see what's stored inside. So things are quick to hand when next season comes, or perhaps when the heat wave and you need to pull things out and put things away very quickly.

[00:31:11] Um, but under beds, Clear storage and ventilation. Uh, uh am I three, three 

[00:31:18] Ingrid: tips? Yeah, definitely the clear storage. I mean, and also then of course you can still work with a, an extra label on top of that from a label maker or a beautiful label, but clear storage is crucial. I think as soon as you. Tuck something away in a dark container.

[00:31:35] You, you miss that visibility, don't you? Yeah. You can still have that label on it, but ha, having the visibility and the label can really help. And I think as well, what we always say to, um, to our members and, and on our podcast and in our Facebook group, is that think about where it is stored. So if you are storing something in a garage, you need a sturdier.

[00:31:59] Books than when you store something indoors on top of a wardrobe. It's just because, you know, in a garage things are, you know, you've got lots of tools and other things that can damage books, so you need to have something more sturdier. You always want to work with lids as well, so you can indeed close things off and also then make things stackable.

[00:32:20] So that's really important as well. And if you have put, put stuff away either in a basement or an attic or loft, think about. Your access to it. How big is your loft Hedge? How big is, how big are the stairs to your basement? If you buy gigantic boxes, will they fit through? I mean, it wouldn't be the first time that I show up somewhere.

[00:32:43] They go, Ingrid, I've bought boxes for the loft and we're going to work on that today. And I'm like, These can't actually get up there because they're too big. So you need to think about a lot of things. It's all about the measuring, isn't it? 

[00:32:56] Simon: I think you're right. And, and, and you, you were almost gone full circle to the, the, the toy storage conversation we were having earlier, haven't we?

[00:33:03] Because if something's too heavy and too big to put in the loft, if you can't lift it up, then what? What good is it for the, for the future when you're trying to, to get it out again? Yeah. Um, and, and, and I, and I think, you know, you've hit upon something really interesting there with, with boxes being stored in different locations, a cold attic, a cold garage, and, and, and there's often a tendency with storage to go out and buy that plastic box that's the cheapest from the, the 99 cents store.

[00:33:35] But actually, like anything in life, Plastic boxes come in different qualities and, and if you think about spending just a little bit more money, there's some really interesting products on the marketplace. Frostproof, heatproof boxes that are going to last a lifetime, boxes that have got rubber gaskets on the lid.

[00:33:56] So if you live in a damp environment, things are going to. Be sealed in there. And the last thing you want, especially with clothes and other garments, is to open something up and fri find that there's, uh, there's some mildew or, or worse still the bugs and the moths have have got to them. Yeah. So whilst we're trying our best here at a place for everything to try and bring in, And we're not there yet, but to try and bring in a a, a range of fully recycled and fully recyclable plastic boxes, it's always worth thinking about that and thinking about whether something is going to be appropriate in size.

[00:34:38] And quality for the area you are, you are, you are stalling it, storing it in, um, and just a dollar a pound, a euro, or two more to buy something that's decent quality that will last is going to be good for you and it's going to be good for the environment as well. Ah, 

[00:34:55] Ingrid: Oh, that everything you say is is right up my street because I completely believe in that.

[00:35:01] I think if we buy a little bit better, it will last so much longer and it will pay back difference over time and, and I'm, I hear you. I totally love that now. Oh, what I would love to talk to you about Simon, is kind of the trends for 2023, because you've mentioned two things, and I'm absolutely fascinated by them.

[00:35:24] Um, because you've mentioned, um, fridge storage and kind of paning kitchen storage. Those are the big trends for 2023. What is it all about and why? Why are we doing this? Yeah. We're 

[00:35:37] Simon: seeing, we're seeing this. Fridge Scaping, as it's called, become really popular and, and I dunno why we haven't paid attention to our fridges in our freezers in the past.

[00:35:49] Um, I love that term, fridge scaping. I know, me too. It's brilliant. But, but basically in a nutshell, It's containerizing the contents of your fridge in mostly clear containers. Um, and there are all sorts out there. Um, and I, and I think the great thing about this is it's a nice. Simple and quick way of decluttering an area, a smaller area of your house, but that's going to give them really big impact on, on, on, on, on daily life.

[00:36:24] Um, the, the products that are out there are, are, are, are, are really good fun actually. And we've got everything from wine racks to, um, berry keepers that will keep your fruit and berries a little bit fresher longer. Because of the way the air circulates, because they're sitting on a mat rather than being placed directly onto the, the base of a, of, of a box meat keepers and fridge storage boxes as well.

[00:36:51] And again, in these uncertain times when we're all watching the pennies and, and, and, and trying to make, uh, uh, uh, funds. Go a little bit further. It's, it's really important to keep an eye on what's at the back of the fridge and, and, and using it before it goes out of date. Um, the other great thing with fridge escaping of course, is, is, is that, um, it, it enables you to just decant everything out of the fridge.

[00:37:18] Very quickly to give it a clean as well. Um, and and I, I, I love it. I love the term. I absolutely love the term fridge escaping. And I love the idea of just being able to open the fridge freezer and, and, and, and, and breathe at a sigh. And, and, and, and that comment we said earlier, I did that and it's a very small way of making a really big impact.

[00:37:39] And I wonder, How many times we're in and out of the fridge freezer every day in our house. It's dozens, you know, and normally it's, it's me telling the kids to wait for dinner kind of thing. But, uh, you could wait five minutes more. But, but, but actually those lovely lid containers, um, clear containers.

[00:37:58] We'll save you a bit of space as well. Um, 

[00:38:02] Ingrid: oh, sorry. Sorry. What I really like about it is for me is the, the, the, that people are really thinking about food waste. Sure. How much, and I think what, that's what I really like about it. Um, That you can actually put stuff in containers that last longer and it's more visible what it is.

[00:38:22] It doesn't disappear at the back of the fridge. It doesn't get wasted, or then it, it starts to kind of always dribble and leak and then you end up having to clean your whole fridge. So I think that's, I think maybe. That's the, the, the, not the first thing that people think about when they think about fridge scaling, because they probably think about beautiful storage containers and all that.

[00:38:41] But for me, I think having the less food waste is, for me, the important part of that. 

[00:38:47] Simon: Oh, and, and you're spot on. And that, that's sort of a nice segue into, um, pantry and, and, and cupboard storage as well. And, and the idea of decanting into containers, um, because of the issue of bags of rice, pasta, and flour.

[00:39:05] Cereal or whatever it is, languishing at the back of a cupboard and never getting used until the point that someone goes in there, reaches into the back of a dark cupboard and goes, ah, it's out of date. Yeah. Um, labeling, love it. Love a good labeler. Um, we've got them all over the building here. Everything, everything in our off offices, uh, uh, are labeled and everything in my houses as well.

[00:39:28] Um, But, um, China graph pencils or, um, or, or, or marker pens just to scribble the date as well. Um, beau labels look lovely and, and beautiful, but you know, they're obviously a little bit more permanent. Um, and, and you're refilling and using the same label, but. Scribble the date on the bottom with a China graph pencil or something like that.

[00:39:49] So you know what the sell by used by date of the, that the contents, um, uh, is, and, and, and actually, you know, it's as much about saving food waste. And money as it is about things looking good as well. I, I, I go back once more and I make no apology for it to, to, to talk about that ability to be able to open a cupboard door or a fridge and smile and say, I did that.

[00:40:18] And it's a bite size chunk. On the road to decluttering Organising and that new year, new start, make it your New Year's resolution to be more organised. Mm-hmm. Um, you don't have to do it all at once. Just one cupboard, do one shelf in the fridge. It's really satisfying. It's really satisfying 

[00:40:40] Ingrid: everyone.

[00:40:40] Yeah, and I think that's exactly what, because Leslie and I both are not fans of Decanting Rice and pastors into clear containers, because that is probably for very people who are very organised already. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. So if you're at the beginning of your decluttering journey, First look at, okay, I'm going to Declutter the food that's out of date or if it's out of date, but I still feel happy that I want to, um, to eat this.

[00:41:05] Finish up all those items that are around those used by and, and, and Best Buy dates. Make sure that what you have is visible and if you then are getting more and more organised and you want to then take that extra step. Then you can maybe start to do the containers and all of that. But I think the visibility, I mean, there's some fantastic shelf dividers on a place of everything.

[00:41:26] There's some fantastic, um, baskets to put in source packets. Uh, so you can see what you've got. You've got everything you have on your website, so you don't have to go there. Massive extra step in all the decanting if you think, I'm just glad if I can be able to find my cereal. But those could, those could all be the next steps that you then do later when you're getting more organised.

[00:41:49] But I hear you. I think it's fantastic that that food waste is so big on everybody's agenda and. How important it is for the environment and that we all save so much money as well by not throwing stuff away and eating it. And you know, the programs on television here in the UK eat well for less. I mean, they just show you that you know, what you can do with the leftovers and how long you can keep them and how creative you can be with the ingredients you have in your cupboard.

[00:42:17] So I love that. So if, if. The products, the fridge, caping and the pantry. Organising helps you with that. Fantastic. Because that's what we, of course, all are 

[00:42:29] Simon: behind and I think you're, you, you are right. Ingrid. There are some simple solutions to help clear. Kitchen cupboards and, and, and, you know, aside from the decanting, um, and one of my favorites is, is, is the vertical plate rack.

[00:42:43] It saves so much space. You know, stacking plates horizontally in the sort of traditional methods takes up so much more. Space than flipping them 90 degrees and putting them in a ver in a vertical plate rack and making that maximum use of, of, of, of that vertical space. Spice steppers do the same thing.

[00:43:04] They're great for looking at stuff in the back of the cupboard and making sure that you could see and identify where everything is as well, and unders, shelf baskets as, as well. I love an unders shelf basket for, for creating a, a little bit of additional space. 

[00:43:21] Ingrid: Fantastic. Well, I absolutely love it, Simon.

[00:43:25] I think it's great. I think you've got such an amazing company and I love your ethos behind it, and it's just been such a pleasure to talk to you. So remind us again, what if people are like, yes, I want to check out some of these products. Where do they go? 

[00:43:41] Simon: So they can either come and see us and we'll, we'll, we'll pop the kettle on for a nice cup of tea or coffee at a flagship store here in Chester, up in the northwest of the uk.

[00:43:49] But if you can't get to see us, then we are online at a place for everything.co.uk. Um, and uh, why not follow us on Instagram? We're at a place for everything.co uk on Instagram and slash a place for everything. Code UK If, um, you are on Facebook and, and I guess Ingrid, I, I, maybe I'm stealing your thunder here, but, uh, just before we came on air, I, I was handed a, a, a discount code, um, for, for your listeners to, uh, use throughout the month on our website, um, which will give, um, them 15% off and reliably informed that's 15% off everything.

[00:44:30] Um, and the code is Hub. H e b 15 Hub 15. Oh, 

[00:44:36] Ingrid: listeners. I'm, I'm feeling everybody going. Ooh. Um, this is interesting. So you got a discount code from Simon Hub. 15. Simon, thank you so much for being our guest, uh, on this podcast episode. And we will definitely put everything, you know, the links your, your Instagram, your website.

[00:44:54] In the show notes. So if you are like driving now or walking the dog and think, I can't do all of this, go to Declutter Hub dot com slash 2 24 and that's where you will find all the details. Thank you, Simon, for being here. 

[00:45:10] Simon: Ingrid, thank you. It's always a pleasure talking to you guys. Um, I love your podcast and, uh, I, I, I think you are always full of great tips and ideas and, and thank you for, uh, thank you for having me on.

[00:45:24] I've really enjoyed it. 

[00:45:25] Ingrid: Absolute pleasure. So listeners, do you want to tell us what is your favorite storage solution or have you got anything that you would like to share with us? Leave us a comment in the show notes. We would love to know. Next week's podcast is all about, it's another 10 things. We love a 10 things here at the Declutter Hub, and it's at 10 areas you need to organise regularly.

[00:45:49] So we'll see you then.

[00:45:55] Thanks so much for listening to the Declutter Hub 

[00:45:57] Simon: 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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SEASONAL STORAGE SOLUTIONS – A GUEST BLOG BY SIMON GLANVILLE M.D

Simon Glanville from a Place For Everything has shared some fantastic ideas for storage for the festive period in this blog.

Christmas Decoration Storage

It’s that time of the year when the festive decorations come-down and get packed away into the dog-eared old box for another 12-months, but it doesn’t have to be so awkward next holiday season. With a little planning and thought, next year’s Christmas decorating can be a little more organised.

Plastic storage boxes are great for storing baubles but are quite unforgiving for those precious glass tree decorations. Choose a fibreboard storage box as an alternative to protect your families favourite delicate decorations or even a plastic storage box with card dividers rather than plastic dividers to avoid damage.

Fold-flat decoration storage boxes are fantastic for popping in a cupboard or under the sofa whilst the decorations are up. Better still, they avoid the need to re-visit the attic or find a temporary home for a big and bulky box that you could do without hanging around when guests call and space is at a premium during the holidays.

Avoiding the tangle of fairly lights and tinsel might just avoid a festive argument too and simple light winders can save a lot of time and frustration next time you’re decorating. However, a piece of study cardboard is just as good and offers a simple alternative.

Toy Clutter

Despite many of our best intentions, children often get spoilt during the festive season and toy clutter is a problem plaguing many a household in the New Year.

If you’re pushed on space and wanting to clear the clutter of toys, think vertically to free-up precious floor-space. Modular cube storage offer a simple tailored storage solution and can be worked around your free-space. Bespoke with scooped open fronted baskets for easy access or simple storage cubes.

Re-purposing stacking recycle bins makes for a great way to containerize larger toys and offers good visibility and access without the need to unstack heavy oversized plastic storage boxes when toys at the bottom of the pile are wanted.

Colour coding and containerizing in smaller more manageable boxes can also be a useful way of encouraging play and tidying-up when play-time is over. LEGO’s fab. colourful oversized LEGO storage boxes and drawers in the shape of LEGO bricks make for both practical stackable storage and often make tidy-up time a lot more fun for little ones.

Happy New Year!

Many of us (try and) make it our New Year’s Resolution to be a little more organised but how many of us really stick to it throughout the year?!

Getting organised can be about saving time as well as space and the golden rule here is ‘Start Small’. Small changes and ‘quick wins’ can make you feel good and provide effective encouragement to keep going.

A simple weave or leather tray on a hallway console table to stash the car keys, sunglasses, purse or the content of your pockets provides an effective way to contain daily clutter and might just save you a few minutes in the morning when hunting for the car keys before the school-run or journey to work.

The average time spent in the shower each morning is 8 minutes but if you could make it 5, you could find precious extra time for the morning routine and save a little water plus cut down on the energy bill. This 5-minute shower timer offers a fun and effective solution that might just give you a few extra minutes and make all the difference when it comes to being a little more organised.

For more tips and hints on storing toys and Christmas Decoration storage, visit A Place For Everything’s blog page.

You can also check out our podcast with Simon where we discuss the latest storage trends.

Useful Links and Resources