The festive season is almost upon us, indeed a quick jaunt around your local high street and you’d probably be forgiven for thinking it was Christmas Day next week. I’m afraid us retailers are always good and early at getting organised for Christmas but are you ready for the family and perhaps also a few unexpected guests descending on your space during the Christmas holidays?
Here’s our 5 minute guide to getting your home neat and organised for Christmas:
Deck the Halls…
…with shoe racks and overdoor hooks.
cost effective shoe storage at just £12
There’s nothing worse than tripping over piles of shoes to get to the front door. Invest in an inexpensive extendable shoe rack to temporarily store guests shoes and when they’ve finally gone (let’s hope it’s before the New Year!) you can pop it under the stairs or in the bottom of your wardrobe…no-one can have too much shoe storage.
Likewise a cost effective over the door hook is an ideal place to store guest’s coats and scarves if your hallway coat hook is already bulging with the family’s winter coats. It looks neater than hanging a huge pile of coats over the banister or even worse the sofa and can be removed in the New Year when your pad is returned to an oasis of calm and organisation.
Clear the Clutter when Company Calls
Picture the scene, it’s Boxing Day afternoon, several dozen of the kids new toys are carpeting the lounge floor, there’s extended Christmas TV guides and weighty Sunday newspapers all over the sofa and probably a box of chocolates that you want to keep to yourself and not offer to the unexpected guest who’s about to ring the door bell!
Lidded storage cubes make for a great clutter swallower when company calls and are great to use as temporary storage for toys, magazines etc. Keep one close to hand for extra storage and whilst we don’t advocate the ‘out of sight, out of mind’ mentality, if you’re after an instant clutter clearer then our faux leather or pandan storage cubes are ideal. Better still they make for attractive side-tables to rest all those additional glasses of wine, cups of tea and turkey sandwiches you’re about to make.
Guest’s Glad Rags
Your guests are going to need somewhere to hang their clothes in the spare room and if like many guest bedrooms we’ve seen, you’ve crammed the place to the gunnels with your own clothes then we think we have the answer. Forget garment rails and canvas wardrobes, you can even forget our fabulous elfa wardrobe internals, unless you’ve got the room they’ll just clutter the place-up even more. Instead opt for an over the door (no screws required) valet rail. Capable of holding a couple of suits, party dresses and other clothes from the weekend suitcase, this simple temporary solution is going to give you what you want (extra wardrobe storage space) without the hassle.
Great for guest bedrooms, our over door valet rail in a brushed silver finish is just £20
Bathroom Bliss
At only £10 this corner shelf makes for a great bathroom storage solution
If you’ve invited company for the festive season, chances are your bathroom is going end-up covered in lotions, potions, travel wash-bags and get really cluttered. The age old solution to a cluttered bathroom is to simply pile all the shampoos on the side of the bath but this tends to look messy and is not ideal when you’ve got guests.
Instead opt for a simple clutter-clearer like our Mesa Bath Organiser. Granted, it’s not the prettiest storage solution in our range but it will help keep your bathroom looking a wee bit tidier. Better still, this clever bathroom caddy is simply affixed with suckers so is quickly removed when life is returned to normal after 1st January.
Kitchen Nightmares
Too many cooks, too much booze and not enough worktop space. A common question asked by STORE customers is just how they can regain more kitchen work surface and clear the clutter. It’s an even bigger problem at Christmas with generous portions of extra food and bottles of plonk all over the place.
Simple storage solutions work best in the kitchen and the key is to think vertically. Try stacking shelves inside cupboards to free-up additional space for extra tined food or plate storage. You’re also going to be generating a lot more recycling with all those sweetie wrappers and gift wrapping paper, so go for a set of stacking recycle bins with a small footprint rather than a huge metal recycling bin.
It may sound bizarre but our range of bathroom storage caddies are ideal to stick to kitchen tiles for storing spices, salt and pepper etc. and keep the work surfaces clutter free
Finally, why not invest in a small additional wine rack to pop in a porch, garage or under the stairs for all those extra bottles that’ll be sunk over the festive period.
Oh, and it’s around 15-20 minutes per pound for cooking the turkey or around 45-50 minutes per kilo in modern money.
Have an organised Christmas!
For that bit of extra protection a lidded plastic storage box such as our robust crystal clear sweater storage box makes for an ideal container to pop on the top shelf of a wardrobe for seasonal storage. Alternatively, if space is at a premium STORE’s range of vacuum bags are a great alternative and ideal space saver.
Cedar wood offers a really effective and environmentally friendly solution to help protect your winter woollies from moths and bugs. Whilst the aromatic sent of cedar is pleasant to people and pets, months and bugs hate it! Our pack of six Cedar Rings offer another really cost effective solution to protect your winter clothes in the wardrobe and simply slip over a coat hanger or can be popped inside a storage box.
