Rumah Afra Easy tips to make your house look more tidy and organised

I don't like a cluttered house and a cluttered house is hard to keep
clean. Organising your home can be very boring and daunting job. Beside of getting rid of excess stuff, there are a few things I want to share with you guys that you can do on a daily base that will make your house look and feel less cluttered and more organised. 

\ Make the bed

Having a made bed, just makes a room seem more organised and cleaned up. There's less visual clutter so your bed instantly appears cleaner. 
'The Minimalist' said that to start the day to making your bed every morning is correlated with better productivity, a greater sense of well-being. 

\ Don't pass it up

Don't walk to another room empty handed - there's almost always something in a room that belongs some where else - don't pass it up, grab it on your way and put it where it goes. 

\ Put things back 

Avoid the mess in the first place by getting in the habit of putting away after they are used. 
For example, when I get ready in the bathroom, I get out my make up and hair dryer, styling etc, when I'm finished I put them all back in the drawers/cabinets I got them from. This only takes seconds, no matter how late I'm running. I take the time to put it all away before I leave the bathroom.

[If you don't have a place for it, you either need to make a place for it or toss/donate/giveaway it away.]

\ household while chatting 

Most days I chat with my girlfriends or mom on FaceTime. Instead of sitting on the couch, I will get up and dust a room while we chat! Since I've become a mother Multi tasking is my best friend. 

\ Letting go

Hanging on to stuff, the clutter, is only going to make your house look messier. LET go of the unnecessary stuff and keep only what is truly needed. 

\ Don't be lazy

This is probably my biggest household tip: "Don't be lazy"! Clean as you go. You'll be amazed that many things only take a few minutes to do if you clean as you go. Rather than hours of cleaning if you put it all off to do at once. If you stay on top of these things daily your house will look nice and you will be more organised and relaxed. 

Entryway / Welcome

Did you know that entryways are one of the most important rooms of the house? It’s the first room that you see when you enter a home and it sets the whole tone. It’s like that first impression you get when you meet someone. That first look or feeling, but when you get to know that person It has more layers/filters, in this case more 'interesting' rooms.                       

To be honest with you it's not finished yet, just like the other rooms in our house, it’s still a work in progress but for now: “Welcome”.

Floating rack : made by Rumah - Afra ( soon available online ) 
Transparant hangers : sponsored by danswinkel

Mirror: IKEA 

5 Minimal tips how Rumah Afra decorate a small living room

- Colour palet:
Keep it very simple when it comes to choosing colors in you little space. As I mentioned it before on a previous blogpost, white brings you a lot of light. This doesn't mean that u need to paint your whole place white but the challenge is to be creative. The most important thing is to see the big picture. Because what you need to avoid is too much contrast between the walls, floors and furniture. So choose wisely and choose the right colour for your little space and think about the big picture.

- Function of the room:
Start your process by asking the most important question. 
What is the function of your living room?
By answering this question you will have more focus or vision of what the room will be. 

- Choice of furniture:
The most important thing to answer the question here above is from YOUR perspective. For example, The first thing that a lot of people do is choose a big corner seat because we think, when people come over they have more space to sit on. Wrong! Don't forget who is gonna live in your house. A corner seat only works in big spaces. 
Second thing that is a must in a small space (and this I already said a couple of times) you need to have flexibility in you furniture. That means choose furniture that you can use in 10 different ways. 

- Be creative with the stuff you allready have:
When you decorate a small living room you need to pay attention to the stuff you already have. Nothing makes a room more interesting then when there is a lot of DIY in it or a focus on one subject. For example I can hang up in the middle of the room a drawing from Aoki that she made. Or books I already have and I wrap it with white wrapping-paper for more unity. What I'm trying to say is "think out of the box and don't be afraid to be different."

- And the most important thing, Start to declutter and organise your stuff:
This chapter I find the most important subject in any kind of house. Start decluttering and organizing your stuff. When all of your stuff has a place, you will have an overview.

What I like to share when people choose to live small is, by doing the small space lifestyle you are going to have to make choices and you end up becoming really conscious what you will bring into your life. 

And take a moment to think about what you have and start thinking about how it's serving you and what it means to you and if there is something you can get rid off right away, Just do it! 

Be conscious and choose for small living but a bigger life, enjoy your weekend guys.

A floating rack made by Rumah Afra

 A couple of my good friends know that I have always been a collector of the Dutch Vogue magazine. Just to let you know that it is a pile of magazines of over a period of five years.  
I know it’s not thé minimalist behaviour but I really love my Vogue. You could say that I'm that old-fashioned girl who still gets excited to sit down on a Sunday afternoon with a cup of tea and have something tangible, and turn a page one by one and not always scroll through the internet.

The first edition of this hanging rack was actually hanging in Aoki’s room for her clothes. But in our home it’s like fashion, it moves. 
And now I’m using this floating rack to show off my favourite magazines at the moment, Vogue day 1 and Vogue 5 years later ;)

                    Enjoy your weekend guys!

/ For the ones who are interested, this floating rack will be available soon on my online shop.

Hidden work space

If you live in a small space you must be creative on so many levels. Along the way, you will learn what works and what doesn't.
This blogpost is about our "hidden" work space.

In our small little living room we entertain, watch movies, dine with the family, create and we work, actually a lot these couple of days. So I find it’s very important to keep it light and moveable. 
Tip: "Don't forget to choose furniture that you can use in 10 different ways, which is very important in a small space." 

This is a little DIY desk my boyfriend built when we purchased an iMac. We wanted to have a little work space but we didn't want a desk that used up all the space. So in our living room we have a little dead corner that we use to storage all our books, DVDs and CDs.  
So we have transformed that little dead corner to a little hidden work space.

What I like the most about this work space is that when people come over I just can close the curtains and the work space is not there in your face. And the room gives you a different kind of feeling by only closing the curtains.

ps: 'who spotted me on one of the pictures?' 

Enjoy the weekend guys ;)