Clean Sweep: Woman’s simple $2.80 kitchen sink storage fix
A Gold Coast mum was inspired to de-clutter her home after having three children, now her full-time job is helping others do the same.
Welcome to Clean Sweep, news.com.au’s home organisation series featuring exclusive advice on how to de-clutter your home direct from Aussies who have spruced their way to success.
It’s rare to hear someone say their favourite part of their home is underneath their kitchen sink.
But Instagram influencer Kat Springer is delighted with the job she has done organising this area of her home.
“Under the sink is always a place where people chuck things,” the Gold Coast mum-of-three explained.
“It got so annoying that I had to create a system to store everything and use the space — the pipes tend to make it really hard.”
The home organisation expert, who started blogging as The Organised Housewife in 2010, discovered an ingenious solution for her storage problem.
“I found this rod at Daiso,” she said, referencing the Japanese chain store that is something of an untapped home organisation mecca.
“I think it cost around $2.80 … It’s great because it uses the top of the cupboard, which is an area that tends to be wasted for storage.
“I hang all of my storage bottles on the rod.”
She also found a range of long baskets from Kmart that are perfect for storing extra items in deep cupboards.
The photos of Springer’s under sink situation have been some of her most popular with her 74.4K Instagram followers and 514K Facebook fans.
People have also marvelled at her pantry layout, especially one particularly clever storage hack she discovered, with some help from Kmart.
“I used Kmart shoe racks at the top of my pantry, because again — my pantry has this enormous amount of space at the top that is this wasted space,” she explained.
“I use those shoe racks to store all the platters and plastic Tupperware that you don’t use that often”.
STRUCTURE AND ROUTINES
The 41-year-old mum said she hasn’t always been neat and tidy.
The birth of her twins when she was 25-years-old, and then the arrival of another child, two years later, caused chaos in her home.
“I was a struggling mum … I found my mindset and emotions were a mess when the house was a mess, but when the house was tidy I was much happier,” she said.
“So, for my sanity, I had to work out how to get things under control.”
She did this through “organising, structure and routines”, principles she has now mastered in her home.
“It’s just grown from that,” she said.
HELPING OTHERS
It was when Springer’s mother died a few years ago, that she was inspired to share her tips and tricks for de-cluttering with others.
“Towards the end of her life, mum became a hoarder,” Springer said.
“We didn’t really know the extent of it until she died.”
According to Springer, it took her family six months to sort through her mother’s belongings just to get her home ready for sale.
“I wished I had been able to help her with it when she was alive,” she said.
“I decided I wanted to help those that feel overwhelmed by their clutter, to step-by-step de-clutter their homes and enjoy the space they live in.”
Now, Springer shares everything from meal plans and storage hacks, to cleaning checklists and ways to keep kids entertained on her blog and social media platforms.
Her weekly de-cluttering task, “that helps people keep on top of their home” has over 13,000 subscribers.
Running The Organised Housewife business is now Springer’s full-time job and has even had to hire five staff to help her manage it.
Her most popular post on Facebook has been a breakdown on organising her children’s school papers.
“People loved how I organise the kids school papers, from prep through to year 12,” she said.
“That post went crazy at the beginning of the year, when all the mums want to get organised for back to school”.
To minimise clutter, Springer has one organiser for each child, which will run from kindergarten to year 12.
“All the kids bring home their certificates and school photos and exercise books — so I just rip out some pages that we think are special,” she explained.
“Maybe we’ll keep a particular story they wrote or an artwork and file that … then throw out the rest of the exercise book.”
RELATED: Woman’s simple $6 Kmart pantry hack that went viral
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MEAL PREP IS KEY
Springer also has some key tips for anyone wanting to maintain an organised home.
“I think meal planning is really good to help ensure the pantry won’t be fully stocked with food you aren’t going to be eating,” she said.
“I organise my fridge and use containers that not only keep everything fresh, but you can also easily see what you have, and you can use it up before you go grocery shopping next.
“That way you save money by minimising waste”.
THE LAUNDRY
For Springer, the laundry is one of her favourite places to organise.
“It’s a good idea to have a number of laundry baskets so your family can separate the laundry as you go,” she said.
“This means you don’t have piles of washing all over the floor … if you have separate baskets for whites, darks, colours and handwashing, you can easily see the biggest pile that needs doing first.”
THE WARDROBE
The blogger also has a trick for anyone wanting to overhaul their wardrobe.
“I have a method in the wardrobe where you turn all your coathangers around the wrong way,” she said.
“This is how you can identify the clothes you don’t actually use.”
According to Springer, as you wear something, put it back on the coathanger the right way around.
“After a couple of months, you purge the things that are still the wrong way around,” she explained.
“It’s such an easy method — I always use that when I need to do a clean out.”
She said the positive feedback she receives from followers about how she has helped them “turn chaos into calm” has meant the world to her.
“I want to help people who feel how I used to feel,” she said.
“I really struggled when I had my babies and I want to share all my tips and ideas and how I do things, so people can adapt it to their lives.”
By doing this, Springer is convinced other Aussies will be able to enjoy their homes, their family “and the time they have with them”.
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Share your home organisation story with the Clean Sweep team at cleansweep@news.com.au
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