At taking back beige, we are minimalists or at least we try hard to be by putting value into the things we bring into the home. Through considering what we need verse what we want & very purposefully choosing well made, high quality investment pieces over fast short-term cheapies, we’re able to mostly maintain a simple, clutter free home.
Over the years we’ve lived in many tiny spaces, each with their own quirks. Through three key methods, we’ve tackled decluttering head on by focussing on: precision of practical storage for kitchen ware, accessible but protective clothing shelves & stylish arrangements of ornamentals. Here are our tips for making a zen layout for your practical, minimalist home.
Pots, Pans, Crockery, Cutlery
The heart of any home, the kitchen is one of the easiest places to fill with clutter & mayhem. When organising your kitchen, especially one with few storage spaces, think logically about where your instinct looks for utensils, what implements you use most regularly & what display or storage surfaces are built in. If you don’t have storage, shelving added to wall space is a great way to access heavy-use items & to show off your pots & pans. Depending on the size of your kitchen, moveable island benches have many shelving or drawer options plus the added bonus of extra surface area & sitting space. Finally, keeping only what you need on hand & doing away with those extra pots you never use, the ugly cutlery someone gifted you one year & those tea stained mugs that have long expired is a rejuvenating way to adopt a needs-based, clutter free kitchen you can cook in.
Clothing, shoes, bags, linen
Having a capsule wardrobe is a guaranteed way to ensure calm instead of overflowing drawers & the dreaded floor-drobe. But even if you’re the loud statement piece type, these simple tips are sure to make choosing what to wear each day simpler. We adopt the Marie Kondo approach to drawers, keeping your items well folded & categorised by colour & type helps control the space, allows you to see what you have & protects your clothing. For bigger items, we recommend well made coat hangers like these wooden ones. Not only are they uniformed in style for displayed hanging but they hold weight meaning clothes hang in form & don’t easily damage.
Books, vases & essential keepsakes
Whether you have a large house or a small studio to work with, we just love the Tylko shelving system. Available in a range of styles, sizes & colours, Tylko is also fully customisable to odd & bespoke corners in your home. The key to displaying books, vases, picture frames & hiding boxes of junk is to regularly review what you have verses what you need & to design each box within the Tylko shelves as its own room, keeping things simple, minimal.
The key to decluttering is to look at your whole house as a blank canvas. By taking sections of a room at a time, you can create a uniformed, simple design that provides accessibility to everyday items, keeps your well made, carefully curated purchases well looked after & ensures a clean, organised space to live well.
taking back beige 