How to organise and declutter our homes in time for Christmas
I happen to have three, but not one is about lush, aspirational homes, the getaway cabin in the woods or beach house living in endless sunshine.Mine err firmly on the side of practicality, with tips on how to keep house, bring order and elimination to chaotic clutter, tackle spring cleaning, and stay on top of routine housework and laundry.Even if you were never born to be Downton Abbey’s Mrs Hughes, the nesting instinct is likely to trigger as the days start getting longer again in a mere two weeks from now, especially when Christmas decorations come down, and the house seems bare, and problem areas are exposed.Mary Berry First up is baker and TV celebrity Mary Berry. Her book Mary’s Household Tips & Tricks: Your Guide to Happiness in the Homedetails skills developed over decades, which started when she took a two-year course on catering and housewifery back in the 1950s, and learned, among other things, how to lay a table, make beds and clean loos.Now she’s teaching us how a cut onion absorbs fresh paint smells, using too much fabric conditioner can make a towel less absorbent, and greaseproof paper and an iron will get candlewax off fabric or a rug.The greater value in this book, though, is the details on how to set up a home for the uninitiated. If there’s someone in your life with their own place for the first time, and they can’t wait to play house, details of how to kit out your kitchen with basic utensils and organise your bathroom and hot press are practical and ultimately time-saving and invaluable.
Mary’s Household Tips & Tricks: Your Guide to Happiness in the Home by Mary Berry, Michael Joseph, €29
Cindy Harris “Just follow a few simple rules for establishing an orderly routine that will turn housekeeping into an art form,” says Cindy Harris, author of Keeping House, Hints and Tips for a Clean, Tidy and Well-Organised Home.The rules certainly are simple, but there are lots, so look away now unless you’re a fastidious housekeeper who loves nothing more than marathon cleaning equating to an extreme sport.Daily tasks include wiping clean the shower, toilet and sink. Weekly, it’s dusting, vacuuming and changing bed linens; quarterly, she urges us to pull out our cooker and other large appliances to clean behind. Clean towels and plant life give texture to what can be clinical surroundings in the bathroom. Picture: JyskI have to admit I’m years behind on that one and recall how intimidated I was when I first read it, thinking it unrealistic in its expectations for modern life, where the day job and family commitments absorb most of our waking hours. But over time, it became a well-thumbed reference book for what can sometimes feel like insurmountable tasks and rectifying fails caused by using the wrong products and cleaning methods.
Keeping House, Hints and Tips for a Clean, Tidy and Well-Organised Home, by Cindy Harris, Ryland Peters, €25
Helen James I have a homemade room spray I’ve been making for some time, liberally adding essential oils according to the season and what I think friends staying over might like.I had forgotten it’s a recipe from A Sense of Home by Helen James, a home-grown domestic goddess who’s been quietly influencing choices we make for our homes for a number of years now as designer of the Considered range of furniture and accessories for Dunnes Stores.Think of her as a gentle, wholesome Martha Stewart without the searing commercialism and jail sentence for insider trading. “A house is a building, a home is a living thing,” Helen says, and it sets the scene for ambling with her through each room where she focuses, not on cleaning it to within an inch of its life or getting a renovation project underway, but developing an appreciation of what you have right now, adding texture, colour and scent.Texture is a common theme, not surprisingly from someone who trained as a textile designer, so when she suggests every room should have a plant, a book and at least one natural object, these easy to apply additions work. So do some simple catering ideas, taking a novel approach beyond listing recipes to suggest a tea tray for one and breakfast in bed.
A Sense of Home, by Helen James, Hachette Books Ireland, €19.99
