Steph Pase’s home looks like something from a Pinterest page.
From her pantry to her wardrobe and even her linen cupboard, the 27-year-old mum-of-two has created an organisational dreamland of blush pink, grey and white. And everything – everything – is labelled.
The woman behind Just Another Mummy Blog (which has racked up a cool 31.7K followers on Instagram) shares how she transformed her home with Mamamia.
Steph says each area will take a day or two to organise (assuming you’re being interrupted by your kids/partner/life at regular intervals) – which is best to think of as an investment of time.
“The amazing thing about this is there no upkeep,” she says.
“Once you’ve done the job of organising once you will have an easy system that will essentially save you time and money in the long run.”
Pantry
Steph’s builder husband helped her design and build her custom walk-in pantry, but any cupboard can be transformed with a bit of effort.
“I would start by going through every item in your pantry first, check the expiry dates. You will be surprised how much you get rid of. You can also donate any excess items you have,” Steph says.
“Next is group items by category, for example, I have storage tubs labelled; Snacks, Kids Snacks, Cans, Cooking, Pasta Sauces, Meal Bases, Baby Food etc. This way everything has a place.
“Then I bought jars and containers to store food like; pasta, nuts, health foods, cereal, biscuits, flour etc. The trick with storing food in containers is to make sure you write the expiry date on the back with a whiteboard marker. This way you know how long everything lasts and you can simply wash the date off with warm water.”
And for those of us who have a habit of pushing items to the back out of our pantry only to discover them (several) years later, Steph has the best tip.
“Buy some lazy Susans to put sauces, spreads, oils, and vinegars. By doing this you will find the product you want much easier and it saves so much space,” she says, adding you can get these from Kmart and Ikea.
“Also using storage tubs keeps the pantry looking clean and everything is grouped together which means no more searching your pantry for one item.”
Steph explains that she created her pantry using products mainly from Kmart and Ikea. Here's a breakdown:
Top cork jars from Kmart
Airtight containers from The Organising Platform
Round cookie jars from Kmart
Spice Shelves from Kmart
Tall containers from Kmart
White tubs Ikea
Those incredibly cool looking labels (and those cute spice jars), though? They're from online lady startup, Little Label Co, run by a woman named Natalie. Steph explains the labels are made from vinyl and custom, so you can make them for just about everything.
"Using labels is especially handy so each member of the family knows exactly where everything goes and it looks amazing!"
Wardrobe
Like so many of us, Steph's faced the old "I have nothing to wear" despite staring at a wardrobe full of clothes crisis.
Her small wardrobe also meant she was packing clothes away, forgetting she had them and buying more.
"So obviously when we moved into our new home I wanted to be able to see everything I owned clearly."
"This is why I started grouping items together by hanging up my clothes in categories such as gym tops, t-shirts, jeans, knits etc."
When it came to the drawers, Steph used the method of vertical folding Marie Kondo fans will be familiar with.
"At first it can take a little bit to get used to but now it is just as fast as folding any other way. This way I can see everything I own and it creates so much more space in my drawers."
Steph's other trick to making her wardrobe look so neat is making the most of space with storage items like hanging shelves or tubs. And, of course: "Don’t be afraid to donate clothes you never wear."
Linen cupboard
On her blog, Steph explains how she transformed her linen cupboard - arguably everyone's least looked at corner of the house - into something worthy of Pinterest.
First, Steph says to go through your cupboard and throw away or donate all the old towels and bedding you don't need - saving a few to be turned into cleaning rags.
Next, Steph organised the items into piles of towels, pillowcases, sheets and further into categories, using storage cubes from Ikeas - and labels - to store the items.
Are you an organisational magician? What are your top tips?