Keep it Tidy
There is a real trend towards decluttering and home organisation and Carlie Wacker has discovered a local superstar stylist bringing the organisation closer to home.
Elodie Lyttek is the Marie Kondo of Noosa, an organisation guru with her heart set on keeping our homes stylish and tidy. With a degree from Central St Martins College of Art & Design in London, Elodie has worked in the fashion industry for many years including owning her own clothing boutique in Sydney; styling and organising was something that she always enjoyed, and it came very naturally to her.
On starting her styling business, she says, “It was one of those things that if I had a dollar for everyone who has said over the years ‘you should really do this professionally’ then I’d be a very wealthy lady already.”
After taking some time off to start a family, she launched Elodie Rose Styling last year.
“I absolutely love what I do and mostly I love seeing how happy a transformed, styled and organised space makes my clients,” she says.
The focus on a functional and aesthetically pleasing home have been bolstered by celebrity stylists and social media plus as Elodie says, the fact that so many of us were forced to spend significant amounts of time at home last year.
“We have started to look at what we really need to keep and how best to systemise the way we store things,” she says. “So often I hear people say ‘I don’t have time to be organised’ when in my mind, being organised is the very thing that creates free time.
“When things have a place and you only keep what you really need or love, then you are not aimlessly trying to find things you have misplaced and the less stuff you have, the less stuff to tidy up, fold, put away and maintain in my opinion.
“I find that people are overwhelmed with where to start in their own homes and need help creating functional orderliness.”
She is spot on – I opened my pantry door and shut it promptly. I am well and truly overwhelmed and have no idea where to start so I have picked Elodie’s brain to share her top tips for decluttering your pantry (or any room in your home for that matter).
ELODIES TOP 4 TIPS TO TIDY
1. DECLUTTER
The very first step when organising any space from your garage to your pantry, is to pull absolutely everything out and to decide what you need and want to keep. You will likely have to make a mess before you can make it better – organise on a day when you have a few solid hours to pull everything out without too many disruptions, put some music on to get you in the spirit, get some comfy clothes on and get stuck in!
2. MEASURE
Measure your space. I like to think of this step as a practical challenge ‘how best will these items fit into this space?’. I always draw my space/cupboard/shelves out on paper and measure it so that when you buy your storage baskets, containers, canisters etc you know exactly what will fit on each shelf and you are not buying unnecessary items.
3.PLAN
As above, plan a functional system. Group similar items together. Categorise.
4.ORGANISE
The last step is my favourite part, putting the items you need and want back in a functional, planned out system – everything has its place and the next time you go to look for it, it will be right there where you left it!
Try to maximise the space you have – if you have a large corner cupboard that you are not using efficiently, install a two-tier blind corner cupboard with a rotating shelf; use a lazy Susan in your pantry or fridge to allow you to use your space intelligently; use perspex steps in your pantry or cupboards to tier products allowing you to find them easily. Have fun and share your pics with us on INstagram for INspiration!
