4 home organising tips to welcome the new year

The start of the Lunar New Year often encourages the tradition of getting the house ready to make way for good luck and fortune to come in the next 12 months. It is a common ritual in Chinese culture to tidy up the house and get your home organised for the new year to come, allowing us to ‘sweep out with the old to usher in the new’.

Image: Aaron & Carolyn's new home in Tai Hang

And believe us when we say we know how chaotic tidying a home can be, so we have invited our good friend, Certified Ultimate Professional Organiser (we are not kidding), over at Home Makeover HK, Marianna Obena, to give us some top tips to get started.

Image: Ashley, our home stylist, styling a children's bedroom.

“I’m passionate about helping people form new habits because it's such an important part of living a clutter-free life. When my clients come to me, they not only want to get organised quickly, but they also want to stay that way. I love helping them declutter, but if we don't spend time setting up systems and working on new habits, they can easily end up right back where they started.” - Marianna

I live by James Clear’s “4 Laws of Behaviour Change”. Ask these four questions when you wish to establish a habit to begin living an orderly life:

“How can I make it obvious?”

Labels! Labels create clarity on where things should go. No more shoving things where there is available space than forgetting they ever existed.

“How can I make it attractive?”

Curate an organising system that is visually appealing. It will encourage you to maintain the organisation when you develop a sense of pride in your space.

“How can I make it easy?”

Rather than focusing on hyper-organising everything to the smallest categories possible, make your systems easy to maintain so you’re more likely to follow through.

“How can I make it satisfying?”

Host that dinner party that you’ve been dreading because of the accumulated clutter. When you’re complimented by your family and friends, your mentality shifts to becoming “that person with an organised home”.

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