10 things you can use to organise your home.

When it comes to organisation, I’m your gal. I love sorting things out. It is probably the problem solver in me. I can spend so much of my time organising everything and anything. You name it, I’ll sort it.

My DVD’S are all in order of genre, my books have a shelf for each type of fiction/non-fiction, my clothes are colour coordinated as well as sorted by item and my kitchen... let’s just say there’s a drawer and a specific place for everything.

If you’re not that into organisation or tidying, keeping spaces clear and being able to find those things that seem to drop into black holes can be a tricky job.

We’ve all been there. That one drawer that you have which is full to the brim with cables and electrical devices or a makeup drawer that looks like a sales bucket. The idea of tipping those out and sorting them is my kinda heaven but can be someone else’s idea of hell. Let’s be honest with ourselves too. It is hard to find the time in our busy lives to sort it all...and for it to stay sorted!

Since moving into my new home a couple of months ago, I’ve acquired some cool things that make creating storage space and organising your stuff that much easier and easier to keep on top of.

So, I’ve come up with a list of my ten favourite items for storage and organisation that will make it much simpler to achieve great (organisational) things.

After seeing these genius items, I hope you won’t be tempted to ‘Just’ shove something in a drawer anymore!!!

1. Magnetic Clouds

Yep. You heard right... a magnetic cloud. So these incredible little things are amazing for keeping your keys in a place where you can find them and grab them easily.

Keys always seem to disappear. You can spend AGES looking for them, pulling your hair out and getting so frustrated you don’t even want to leave the house anymore. I saw these cute little clouds on TikTok. (Don’t judge me. TikTok is addictive).

They seemed like the perfect solution for our keys, as my fiancé and I have been looking for a key storage solution for a while. We could never find one that was simple, cute and looked good in our space.

These are so easy to use. I bought them off Amazon for around £8. They came quickly and all I had to do was peel the back off and stick them where I want them on the wall. They hold up to 3 sets of keys and we both have a cloud each so we know which keys to grab on the way out!

They look minimalistic and stylish. The best thing for me? They’re a little different to the normal key storage solutions you see.

2. Plastic Trays

Did that remind you of school? I can tell you now, these trays are much more sophisticated... kind of. They’re a set of 8 trays with two large, three medium and three small that connect together to create a cool, organised drawer.

I found the ones I use on eBay but so many places on the high street as well as online stock these bad boys. They arrived quickly and fitted super nicely into my small drawer unit in my dressing room.

I find these things great for helping to sort out all of my hair accessories. A tray for bobbles, pin curl clips, bobby pins, scrunchies, headbands... it goes on and on. It stops them from going walkabout and stops me from having to fiddle around in a chaotic bundle of clips before finding what I need.

The best thing about these trays? You can use them for whatever storage you like. Tools, bathroom items, kitchen utensils, office supplies. They fit into multiple variations and can be split between drawers too. £6 well spent!

3. Makeup Organiser

This really did change my life. I have always been organised with my makeup set up but this took that to a whole new, aesthetically pleasing level.

They come in all different shapes and sizes. Some spin round, some have drawers, some are clear, some in all sorts of colours... basically, there is a makeup tidy out there to fit into your space nicely and look Insta worthy too.

I actually found this idea on Pinterest! I was specifically looking at office spaces and for inspiration on how to turn my small bedroom into a mini sanctuary. I wanted a desk that housed my makeup and my office stuff without looking too cluttered and voila! In every picture, there was an organiser for makeup.

Like most people, I was on a budget and some of the finds on Pinterest and then amazon were gorgeous but a little too expensive. I found a beautiful medium sized white organiser on eBay for just over £10! It houses all of my essential makeup products, two drawers for sponges and applicators and a little shelf where I have a Disney-inspired faux cactus alongside my perfumes. It’s perfect!

My favourite aspect of this little tidy is that the majority of them are easily cleanable with an anti-bac wipe.

For those who don’t really use makeup? Simple. You can convert this makeup organiser to house whatever you like. Pens, notepads, chargers, cleaning products. It’s a multi-use product for sure!

4. A clothing rail

One of my pet hates is hanging coats on the back of doors. When my fiancé and I lived in a rented home we had over the door hooks for coats. Every time I looked over at the door in the living room I’d shudder. It looked hideous. Coats piled high on top of each other, it just looked so messy.

I always wanted a clear space that was minimalistic but homely and a bunch of coats shoved on the back of the door wasn’t in that vision. It was also a total nightmare if your coat was at the bottom of the pile. Having to risk your life holding multiple coats just to get the one you want?

I initially had this idea for my bedroom. I wanted something where I could hang the clothes I’d picked out for the next day, making my mornings easier. Unfortunately, the way we then decorated the house didn’t really leave space for that in the bedroom but I knew exactly how I would still use it.

We have a great cupboard under the stairs. We knew that was the only place the coats could go, but I wasn’t prepared to have hooks on the wall or behind the door again. So, I decided to pick up a clothing rail.

I searched everywhere for the perfect one. Ikea didn’t have the one I wanted, Amazon rails were expensive... I finally came across one on Argos’s website. £10! It was easy to order online and then pick up in store the next day.

Super simple to put together, it’s now home to all of our coats under the stairs! It looks great and is a fab thing to have when you have guests over (maybe not right now, but in the future) and you can hang their coat up without losing it or having to shove it on top of all the other coats you own.

If you don’t have a space for this under stairs or in a hallway, you can use this in any room for any clothes storage. It looks modern, chic and Pinterest ready!

5. A Blanket Basket

This one might seem a bit strange. I’d never thought of this solution until my parents re-did their living room. I came home to see they’d decorated it in a beautiful green with whites and yellows. I also noticed a little basket next to the sofa, filled to the brim with throws and blankets.

We have a dog, called Libby, who loves blankets and what better way to store them? I also love throws and snuggly, warm blankets. I’ve collected a few as presents over the past couple of years and they always ended up folded away in a cupboard or hanging over the back of the sofa.

Now? They’re in a lush, little fabric basket next to the sofa. In TK Maxx, I spotted one that was cream with a mustard coloured geometric pattern, which fitted in perfectly with our colour scheme. It was a sign... and a bargain for £12.99 too.

You can also use these little baskets for towels, sheets, comforters or toys. I can already see a beautiful grey one making it’s way into a nursery when that time comes!

The one I bought is out of stock just now, but here is another one I found for a couple of pounds extra and just as gorgeous!

6. Plate separaters

Who doesn’t love some kitchen accessories? I was determined to make my kitchen Mrs. Hinch approved when I moved into my new house. I wanted nothing on the kitchen tops except a few key items and I wanted each cupboard to have a purpose.

I’d set it up in the best way I could, sticking to my vision. It seemed perfect. Then came the nightmare of grabbing plates out of the cupboard and putting them back in after being washed. Each time came with a clatter and a potential disaster as I tried to carefully place the small plates on top of the bigger ones and then bowls too... it just wasn’t working.

Then I remembered (again, thanks Mum and Dad) when I was growing up, in the plate cupboard we had these metal racks that separated the plates. Meaning less clattering and a more visually appealing cupboard set up.

I managed to find them in home bargains. I only went in for some cleaning products and noticed they were exactly what I needed. Before I knew it I was checking out with the metal rack, a fruit bowl and some place mats. I forgot the cleaning stuff. You know what it’s like though, you go into home bargains for one thing and come out with a million home accessories you don’t really need.

At least I needed these.

The metal plate racks have made tidying the kitchen and utilising the cupboard space so much easier. The best thing? They’re small enough to allow extra cupboard space for other things such as mini casserole dishes or tapas bowls alongside the plates!

I only paid £2.99 for these and they are one of my storage staples.

7. Hanging Shoe Rack

Hi, I’m Hannah and I’m a shoeaholic. That’s right... I love shoes. I have crazy amounts of boots, heels, trainers, work shoes. It’s a problem. The biggest problem with it is finding places to put the shoes I wear most often.

My heels and fancy boots tend to stay in my wardrobe upstairs but my trainers and work boots, they end up on a rack at the front door. This is alongside my fiancé’s small collection of Adidas Gazelle’s.

We both agreed that having a wooden shoe rack immediately inside the front door wasn’t a great look. Our hallway is pretty small and we wanted it to be clear of clutter.

It wasn’t a priority so we didn’t search for it in shops but we came across a perfect solution in Lidl, as you do. Down the middle aisle in the metal baskets full of an assortment of home items, we spotted an over the door metal shoe tidy. It was reduced to £16.99 and we grabbed it and made our way to the till.

It was easy to put together. It looked good and kept our shoes hidden from sight. We decided to hang it on the back of the door under the stairs. It houses our collection of shoes with spaces free for any new shoes that might make their way into our home.

I think shoe tidies/organisers are always a fab idea. Shoes can be a nightmare to store and can end up a mess in boxes or in wardrobes. This particular solution means a space for each shoe and nothing cluttering up floor space. Win win!

8. Garage Shelves

This may seem like an obvious solution for storage if you have a garage. What I didn’t know is that if you popped down to B&Q, you can pick up some wall brackets and screws, plus some made to measure wooden planks to make your own shelves?

You can probably tell I’m not a garage person. My fiancé however, has been working hard on his man cave and making sure he has space for every tool, bike accessory and whatever other things you keep in the garage.

He is always needing floor space as he works on his bike a lot which requires a lot of space to move around. We had some wall space unused and perfect for shelving. His Step-Dad came to help us in the house and thought of doing a bit of DIY by tailoring the shelves to the wall space so they were the perfect length.

What I love about these shelves in the garage is that it really does allow you to personalise the space without cluttering up the place with tool boxes and storage units.

It is simple and completely doable with a bit of help from the right drill and a second pair of hands.

Don’t need the shelves for tools? That’s cool. You can use the garage shelves for all sorts of things. Christmas decorations, gym gear, camping gear. You name it, it can go on the shelf.

It’s a great solution for the things you don’t want inside your house.

9. Drawer organisers (clothes)

Very similar to the plastic trays, these fabric boxes are just the thing to help you keep on top of your knicker drawer.

When I was a teenager, I would always shove my knickers and socks into the same drawer... then when bras came on the scene it was total chaos. You’d go into it looking for socks and pull out a sports bra. The same went for my T-shirt’s. I always seemed to want to wear the one at the bottom of the pile which consequently meant no more neat pile.

Now, I use these awesome boxes like a mini drawer inside the drawers. They help me to sort my clothes into neat rolls as well as giving me separate spaces for the smalls.

You can get these pretty much anywhere and they usually come in neutral colours. I actually bought 3 packs from IKEA costing £15, but I have completely overhauled my drawers.

My favourite thing about these is how versatile they are. They’re all over my house. One in my bedside table for my chargers, one for my belts inside my wardrobe and I’ve even organised my fiancé’s drawers with some!

10. File Wallet

You know all of those loose receipts and bits of paper you need to keep but they end up on the side with some other rubbish, and then get chucked out?

Well no more!

I have found having a file organiser out in my office reminds me to pop any receipts or important papers into there. This helps in keeping important documents safe and also reachable if you ever needed them on hand. There is nothing worse than when you’re filling out a form or application and you can’t find the document you need.

I bought mine from Tesco in the sale for around £2. It’s orange and pink with some leapord print on the front. (If that doesn't tell you much about me, I don’t know what will!)

Having something bright and colourful adds some vibrance to the office and makes storing those documents and bits of paper much more exciting.

You may already be living the dream on that front with a filing cabinet. The thought of having a filing cabinet to me really is quite exhilarating. If that’s you, maybe you could add a little receipts box in your kitchen or near your door so that you always remember to sort them into the appropriate places in your cabinet!

That’s me. My top ten items you can use to organise your home. There are so many different solutions for storage and organisation out there it can be kind of overwhelming to even think of doing it!

I would always recommend looking at Pinterest, Insta and actually TikTok for any decor and home ideas. There’s a whole side to TikTok that’s full of people giving tips and showing you how they do things in their homes.

I wish you luck with organising your home, and hope this provided some useful info.

Also, remember... different strokes for different folks. What works for me may not work for you and that’s cool. Be sure to let me know what kind of storage solutions you come up with or any tips!

Much love,

H

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