The start of the year is full of plans to change your life. Gym memberships are bought, alcohol is eschewed, and cupboards are given a well deserved sort out. However, by the time February rolls around, often these habits have fallen by the wayside. If you want to keep at least one habit throughout the year, then tidy and organised cupboards is an easy one – if you know how to do it.
Adam Oakley, a storage expert at Door to Store, says the same pattern plays out every year. “People do a big January clear-out, feel very virtuous for a week or two, and then the system collapses.”
“Most storage advice assumes you’ll always put things away properly. Real life doesn’t work like that.”
Adam swears by his three zone storage method that works with your life to keep your cupboards clear of clutter. He said the most common reason cupboards get disorganised is because life gets in the way.
He said: “In reality, not everything in your wardrobe is used in the same way.” Some items are reached for constantly, whereas others languish at the back of the cupboard or bundled away in drawers.
Adam said: “So the system works until life gets busy.Coats pile up near the door, worn clothes end up on chairs, and suddenly the wardrobe feels chaotic again.”
To stop this pattern in its tracks, Adam recommends his three zone method.
In the first zone, keep your “active zone”. This doesn’t mean your trackpants and trainers necessarily – it means the items you wear constantly. Work trousers, your favourite jumper or your most comfortable shoes.
Adam said this zone needs to be easy to access. ““Eye level, front of the wardrobe, nothing buried.”
The second zone is your transition zone, where clothes that have been worn but aren’t dirty yet can live.
Adam said:“Most clutter comes from not knowing where to put clothes that aren’t clean enough for the wardrobe but not dirty enough for the wash.”
Rather than tossing these items on a chair or on the floor, he recommends a dedicated space.”A specific rail, hook or shelf means those items still have a home.”
The third and final zone is the storage zone. This is where your seasonal wardrobe, formal clothes and occasion wear can live. He said these can be put somewhere harder to access.
“High shelves, under-bed storage, or vacuum-sealed containers.”
Adam stresses that the zones must stay separate. “When everything lives in one place, chaos creeps back in.”