Creative use of spaces

Organised world

Tidying the house is sometimes considered a therapeutic experience but what if you don’t like the mess and you don’t like to clean but want an organised surrounding?

For those who love to keep their space organised but often can’t (for various reasons), here are some do-it-yourself (DIY) ways to stay orderly. With minimal investment and large doses of creativity, you can decorate your house in such a way that everything stays where it belongs.

Sonia Jalali, an architect by profession and crafter by hobby, comes her eye for design with upcycling methods to keep her home more organised. Calling herself a “cleanliness freak”, she says that she doesn’t like things out of place, which is why she uses things around her to make organisers. Her speciality is making framed jewellery hangers.

“You can hang all your earrings, neck pieces and clips on it so that they don’t get lost or break. It’s much easier than hunting for them in the last moment,” she says.

They are made from lace or strings. She even makes frames for kids to encourage them to keep their surroundings clean.

Sometimes, when the entire family loves to stay organised, they come up with innovative ways to help each other. This is the case with Reetika Vaish, a crafter, and her husband; while he puts in ideas for creating something new, she implements these ideas and makes the house more functional. “My husband wanted something to keep his wallet and keys in so that he doesn’t have to search for them in the morning. This is when I created my first organiser — a box that can accommodate small things. I also made him a watch box as he has many of them,” she says. 

 From jewellery boxes to clothes hangers, separators, drawers, pencil boxes and file organisers, one can make everything they want at home. All they need is some cardboard, wood, laces, ribbons and cloth.

Anandhi Rajan uses cereal boxes to make compartments for her clothes and plants by joining them.

“I also used floppy discs to make a beehive-like structure for my stationery items.

Shubhra Jain calls herself a “DIY person” and says that she prefers making organisers rather than buying them. “They are financially more feasible and can be customised according to your interior decorations. If you are buying something, you will have to go on a long hunt to find exactly what you want. Instead you can just make what you like.”

Sumana Kamath Bhat also enjoys giving her dry waste a new lease on life. After some online research, she finds designs and patterns she likes and turns an old cardboard box or a piece of wood into something utilitarian.

So if you like tidy surroundings, just pick up some paint and glue, and you could have a beautiful organiser that’ll save a lot of time.