I’m writing this on the first day of astrological spring here in the UK, and the weather is (no doubt temporarily) playing ball and serving up a day of bright sunshine with (whisper it) the faintest hint of warmth to it. It might be a little premature to be thinking about spring cleaning and sorting - although the state of my windows would suggest otherwise - but if, like me, you are, then I then I thought it might be of use to know about some of my favourite home organising solutions.

Living in a small house, as I do, I was mindful when I moved in (eleven years ago now, I can hardly believe it) to put in as much storage as I possibly could. And then to maximise that storage as much as I possibly could. A decade of experimentation and occasional error later, these are some of the organisation items I’ve found to be the most useful.

IN THE KITCHEN

Shelf inserts are a brilliant way to make maximum use of kitchen cupboards

Shelf inserts are an absolutely brilliant way to make use of every height inch in a cupboard, without stacking items in precarious piles. There are straightforward ones like these (above and below), which come in various sizes,

and then there are adjustable ones, which can be expanded to fit whatever size cupboard you have so as to double up the usable space. This one is usefully u-shaped and enables me to clearly see my collection of seasonings.

You can find the fixed shelf inserts in various sizes HERE. I can’t find a u-shaped one exactly like mine (I bought it many years ago) but THESE tiered, expandable ones could do the trick as well.

Another not remotely original (I promised these would be invaluable not revolutionary), but every bit as useful item, is the lazy susan turntable I use to give me easy access to all my sauce and oil bottles

THIS is the exact one in the pic. It’s been in daily use for over a decade and is still going strong.

I’d love to have had the foresight to install some kind of built-in wine rack when I was doing the house (I use the excuse that I’m a non-drinker, shamefully ignoring that not only my lovely fella, but 90% of any visitors I have enjoy an alcoholic drink of some sort), but I didn’t. So whilst some of the bottles are stacked away in a cupboard, a number had begun to accumulate on the kitchen counter. Now I store them in these bottle baskets, which at least makes them look more presentable/neater.

THIS is a lovely bottle basket, which also comes in a six-bottle size.

PS - Visiting a friend last weekend, I was mightily impressed by the huge lazy susan turntable she had on the island of her immaculate white kitchen (think surfaces empty save for a pair of giant glass vases and an elegant glass, domed cake stand complete with home-made Victoria sponge) absolutely groaning with drink bottles of every description and size. Wish I’d taken a pic of it.

These next ones are things which have proved their organisation/storage worth for several decades. Inside these two sets of quilted plate covers is all the beautiful china my late husband and I were given as a wedding present.

It’s true they look like something my grandmother would have used, but the fact that every plate, bowl, cup and saucer is still in immaculate condition over 40 years and several house moves later, is testament to how brilliantly practical and protective they are.

THIS set of two are on special offer at the time of writing.

IN THE LIVING ROOM

The only reason I’ve chosen to share this double organising solution, is as a reminder that an item doesn’t need to be tailor-made for storage to have organisational value.

Double decker organising on my living room footstool

Whilst the slim wicker basket sitting on my living room footstool, which I use to keep newspapers and magazines I’m in the middle of reading, certainly qualifies as a storage item, the dish on top of them belonged to my late mother-in-law. I’d always admired it and when she died I was touched that it was offered to me. I use it to keep my remote controls in and it serves as both a lovely and eminently useful reminder of her.

IN THE BEDROOM

I’ve written before, in THIS blog, about how invaluable getting the right storage solutions, especially for clothes, is and how that obviously varies depending what you’re putting in them and what space you need to fit them into. In my bedroom cupboards, I’ve found the ideal is a mix of open baskets and different drawer units to make best use of the very deep cupboard space I have.

A mix of baskets and drawers to store clothes

Bonus points to those of you who spot the difference between the cupboard organisation now and when that other blog was written. I’m always looking for the best way to maximise space and ease of access.

I got the storage baskets HERE, the three-tier felt drawers HERE and THESE are similar to the clear plastic drawers.

I’m a devotee of dividers of every kind in my bedroom drawers. Pretty much every one has THESE Ikea organisers in some combination of sizes in it. I honestly don’t think I’d find anything without them. Certainly not as easily.

And whilst my attention to painting my nails is spasmodic at best, my dedication to collecting nail varnishes isn’t. so, like several other drawers in my dressing table (which is made of two metal desk drawer units, yes, Ikea again, with a thick piece of painted MDF over the top of them), I at least keep my collection in order with THESE different size acrylic trays.

Different size plastic trays keep my nail varnish collection in order in my dressing table

IN THE BATHROOM

I loved THIS Joseph Joseph organiser so much I bought it twice

so I have one in my bathroom and one in my guest bathroom. The former is filled with all my everyday bathroom bits - toothbrush and toothpaste, soap, nail clippers, that sort of stuff. Hence why the pic is of the other one!

ON MY DESK

I realise this is likely to give any neat freaks amongst you palpitations, but it makes me inordinately happy. Of course I could find a container that stores all those bits and pieces you need to have to hand when you’re working, more neatly, but this last item on my list is a nod to the fact that storage can also be something that brings you joy, not just because of its functionality but also because of its personality.

Find a similar trolley organiser HERE

As always, I hope this has been useful. And as always, I’d love to hear from you in response. If you’ve found any invaluable storage solutions. Please do share them in the comments.