First Published in
I admire people who’s homes are well organised. I have a deep respect for those people who are able to systemically manage the things in their homes. I love when everything is boxed, filed, packaged and arranged. And, when everything is labeled, it really adds to my joy.
I strive to be one of those people but seem to only get it right when I have spare time. That being the irony of it all. Better home organisation will lead to more free time because you won’t be wasting time looking for things and organising things, or so the argument goes. It’s about creating a system that works for you. But more importantly, it’s about maintaining that system.
In his book Storage: Get Organized, published by Conran Octopus, Terence Conran shows you how to do just that. He offers storage ideas and solutions for every room in the house but also encourages you to analyse and re-evaluate the way you interact with your possessions. Conran highlights the positive aspects of de-cluttering and reorganisation and inspires one to action with beautiful images of particularly well-organised rooms. His frank approach helps to add a touch of humour to what could otherwise become quite a staid topic.
We all have different reasons for holding onto things we either don’t like or never use and this is what becomes clutter. “What we own and how and where we keep it arguably defines the appearance of our homes to a far greater extent than any other decorative element,” it says on the slipcover of the book. The way we organise these possessions therefore impacts significantly on the efficiency with which we perform tasks.
The book succeeds in its mission. It has inspired me to rush out and justifiably splurge on all kinds of fun storage products so that I can also get organised this weekend.
