4 forms of clutter you can do without in a city apartment

When you move into your first apartment in the city, the temptation is often to go out and start buying furniture, fittings and the latest appliances to fill all that lovely new space. Next, you may start focusing on the soft furnishings – such as picture frames, artificial flowers, lamps and scatter cushions. And all this before friends and family start coming round with housewarming gifts.

If you can resist the urge to splash all of your cash on items for your new luxury apartment, being that little bit more prudent may help you to save cash for more important items. Here’s our selection of the most common things that can threaten to add unwanted clutter to your home.

1) Shoe Boxes

They may come in handy as a way of transporting your trinkets, bits and bobs during a move, but it’s amazing how shoe boxes can take up unwanted space in the house.

 Many people like to keep hold of their shoe boxes “just in case”, but the reality is that they quickly begin to litter the space under beds, at the bottom of wardrobes and in cupboards where you should really be storing other things.

As the seasons tick by and you find yourself replacing old, worn footwear with new stylish shoes this problem only gets worse. So the golden rule in any home is” if you’re keeping a new pair of shoes, the box can go in the recycling!

2) A cleaning product for every room

Take a few minutes to peruse the shelves of your nearest supermarket and you will quickly find a cleaning product designed for every single surface in your house. From windows to worktops, flooring to fabrics and kitchen sinks to bathroom basins, you might well find yourself leaving the store with a dozen or more foams and sprays.

Look past the advertising blurb, however, and the contents of many of these items are remarkably similar. Yes, you may wish to use tougher stuff on the toilet than on your lovely new wood floor, but don’t be hoodwinked by antibacterial this and fast-action that! Boil down all of your lotions and potions into the basic requirements and you can easily halve the number of items you buy in your weekly shop.

3) Crockery for an army

If you intend to host friends and family members on the odd occasion, you may find it well worth buying a few extra bowls, plates and glasses to help make your guests feel at home in your luxury apartment. However, the temptation to buy more and more can often lead to kitchen cupboards that bulge at the seams unnecessarily.

Remember that for sit-down meals you can only invite enough people to sit at your table so buying extra crockery is often a pointless exercise. If you are more ambitious in your efforts at hosting and you plan to hold a party for 12 or more, you can always serve buffet food on recyclable paper plates (which also help to make light work of the clean up operation) and drinks in plastic cups. These are more than adequate when people are standing to snack or eating nibbles off their knees.

4) An armoury of appliances

Collecting appliances, utensils and little gadgets can be easily as addictive as buying bowls and plates. One of the prime causes of surface clutter in the home is appliances – many of which never get used and serve only to take over much-needed preparation space.

From Kitchen Aids to blenders, juicers to toasters and even fancy coffee machines, the golden rule is this: if you don’t use something on a weekly basis, store it out of sight rather than on the worktop. If you’ve stopped using something altogether, get rid of it. Selling on eBay couldn’t be easier, so why not make some money and reinvest your funds in something you will use on a regular basis.

If you’re looking to make the move over the coming months, look no further than the luxury new-build apartments here at Quartermile. Why not book a viewing today by calling 0845 000 2525?