15 May 2019

A match made in organising heaven

In a first for both APDO and IKEA UK, a line up of professional organisers and declutterers were on hand to help shoppers at IKEA Greenwich make the most of their home environment. Covering a range of topics, the speakers ran sessions throughout the day using the room sets on the shop floor at IKEA UK’s newest, and most sustainable store. Emily Wapples (Simply Sorted) was onsite to see the day unfold and report back on this landmark event.

Ingrid Jansen (Organise Your House) kicked off the event with a professional organiser’s guide to storage and organisation, in which she showcased some of her favourite IKEA products to a large audience of interested shoppers. Working room-by-room, Ingrid offered practical suggestions for keeping the home organised and highlighted the versatility of popular IKEA products.Next up was Isabelle Lamy (IDea for Your Space) with her guide to kitchen and meal planning. As people gathered around the kitchen counter, Isabelle discussed how the kitchen is much more than simply a place to cook, and offered advice on the best way to keep this multi-functional area organised. When it came to meal planning, Isabelle’s time-saving suggestion of creating a set of recipe cards to work from was a real hit.The lunchtime crowd of shoppers were treated to a talk by APDO President Katherine Blackler (SortMySpace Ltd) on how to organise their bedrooms and closets. Katherine encouraged people to be realistic about which clothes they want to keep when embarking on a wardrobe decluttering exercise, and offered tips on how to make the most of the prime space in their closet.

Rounding off the day was Filipa do Carmo (Khôra - Space . Sorted) and her guide to sustainable living, which featured an interactive discussion with shoppers about how to maintain a more environmentally conscious lifestyle. They shared stories of the difficulties they faced when trying to adopt a sustainable lifestyle and offered each other ideas for ways to deal with them. This was a fitting way to end the day in IKEA UK’s leading sustainable store.

 

A beautiful kitchen in the Ikea showroom

The presenters were supported by a team of fellow APDO members, who helped to make the event a great success, including Sarah Bickers (Free Your Space) and Karen Storey (Homespace).

After the event, Katherine Blackler, APDO President commented, “I’ve been dreaming of teaming up APDO and IKEA for a number of years so it was wonderful to see us come together especially in a store they’ve just built in my neighbourhood! The day itself flew by but I know APDO members are excited to team up for more events here in Greenwich, at IKEA stores across the UK and even beyond like Dubai or Hong Kongâ€