Aire continues its meetings! Discover the interior of Aurélie Malau and her family. She had her house built according to her storage needs. You'll discover all her design and storage tips to make your living space a warm and functional space.
Can you introduce yourself?
My name is Aurélie. I have lived with my two daughters and my partner in Vendée near Les Sables-d'Olonne for 9 years. We are on our second construction project.
Why did you decide to create a YouTube channel about tidying up? How did you come up with the idea?
My YouTube channel wasn't originally about tidying up. It was a channel where I talked about topics that interested me. With the construction of our second house, we focused our videos on interior design and tidying up. I thought it was fun to follow along as we were working on the project. These are the types of videos I like to watch on YouTube.
Our first house didn't fit our storage habits. That's why we decided to build a new one. The first house was purchased off-plan. The second was designed by an architect. It had to be adapted to the family's needs. Everything was carefully considered.
We feel much better in this house. We can organize ourselves better.
How did you come up with the design and decoration ideas? How did the process go?
This house was built based on what we were missing in the previous one . I knew we were missing an office. We needed a piece of furniture to store my computer equipment and papers. So we designed a large closet in the office when we were designing the house plans.
Where do you think you should start when you want to redesign your space?
We have a fairly minimalist lifestyle. We don't have a lot of furniture. We did a lot of sorting. The starting point was to tell ourselves that everything must have a place . We knew what we needed. So we found furniture based on the storage we needed.
There are storage solutions that can really make your life easier .
How do you choose between keeping and throwing away?
First of all, don't keep things in duplicate. There are a lot of clothes and toys in children's rooms. We need to get rid of them, recycle them, or donate them when they are no longer useful. We need to focus on what's essential.
What advice would you give to a family so that they don't get demotivated in the middle of their tidying up process?
I really feel like minimalism fits everything. We don't have to empty our house to become minimalist. To tidy up: don't do it room by room, but piece of furniture by piece . The workload will be lighter. Let's say that for a month, every week, we sort through one piece of furniture. We won't get discouraged.
I recommend making three piles:
- What we keep
- What we give
- What we want to throw away
We update the girls' closets as they grow up. I wait until the following week or month to sort the toys if necessary. We wait until they're home to sort. It's more enjoyable.
Devoting an entire weekend to tidying up isn't something anyone wants to do. So we spend three hours a day on it and then come back to it later. The important thing is that it's done well. It could take two months. It doesn't matter. What matters is that we manage to have a tidy and organized home.
What are your house rules?
I organize clothes by color. I don't have a lot of them, so it doesn't take much time.
I sort the clothes :
- I put strappy tops in the closet first, because they are the lightest.
- Then I put on the short-sleeved tops.
- Then the long-sleeved ones.
What are the hardest things for you to store? What's your trick?
Papers take up a lot of space in an office. The easiest way to organize them is to store them in binders and elasticated pockets.
Kitchen utensils are also difficult to store. Furniture isn't necessarily suitable. Shelves make organization complicated. I stored everything in plastic baskets. It's more practical and easier to wash.
I got some small bookcases for shoes. Each family member has 3 or 4 dedicated shelves. It's quite practical.
What space do you find most difficult to organize?
We don't have a lot of furniture in the bathroom . Apart from a few beauty products, we try to stick to the essentials. So we have two pieces of furniture. I've sorted my beauty items into dedicated baskets or jars.
Find the rest of Aurélie's interview by Aire in a week!
Interview by Imane Charkaoui
Formatted by Coralie Mottu
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