Five hacks to banish clutter in your home

We all have those spaces that just never look slick and styled and even if they do, it doesn’t last for more than a day before things start to pile up and become messy again. Try these five hacks to make your home look less cluttered and to keep it that way:

Introduce a drop zone

You need a spot to leave your keys, bags, take your shoes off and just drop random things you are carrying when walking into your home. Placing a couple of cute storage baskets for your shoes or the kids’ sport kits creates a dedicated drop zone that looks good too. A table with some pretty, little containers is great to store keys and smaller bits and bobs you need often.

Sort out those cables

Our homes are full of electronics and those dreaded cables that end up in a nasty-looking rats nest. Cable management might be a pain at first, but once you have it sorted, it will be well-worth it. If your electrical skills aren’t so hot, get a professional to run the cables along the wall at floor level or through the ceilings or cupboards to get them out of the way and neat. Not sure where to start? Check out the SweepSouth Connect app for some advice and help.

Downsize your furniture

Stuffing a home with oversized furniture makes it look overcrowded and uncomfortable, so opt for multi-function items such as sturdy pouffes that can be used both for seating and as side tables, coffee tables with storage for cables and TV remotes, and mirrors with shelving attached to them.

Open shelves call for minimalism

We love open shelves, but they can quickly look cluttered when filled with too many objects. You want items to have space to breathe, so leave open spaces between each decorative piece. If you don’t love the item, don’t display it. Group small items in a shallow bowl or a tray so that they don’t look lost or insignificant.

Use vertical space

Hang stuff from the ceiling or on the wall and make the vertical spaces in your home come alive.

For example, use wall-mounted shelves to arrange books and get rid of the bookshelf taking up some much-needed floor space. Using vertical space makes a huge difference in almost any room.