OCD Your House

I’m the proud owner of a label maker and if you stand still long enough I will label you. I wouldn’t say I have fully fledged OCD, or at least I’m not diagnosed, but I do have a certain way and standard of doing things. I don’t like to think of it as precious or uptight even, it’s just that I like things ‘just so’.

I’ve always known this about myself and I have made peace with it, indulging in it when it suits and at times keeping it under wraps in order to not make others’ lives a misery. Mainly my boyfriend’s really, who doesn’t exactly share my OCD ways. Cam was untidy when I met him but over the years he has curbed his habits of chucking everything he owns onto the floor in order to pacify me and I in return have learnt how to not fly off the handle when he leaves a sock hanging from the draw or a lone hanger on our bed.

But recently my OCD like ways have intensified. Cam and I have just moved into our first home together and the place is a hot bed for organisation. A brand new build the house is shiny and pristine; never lived in. And I intend to keep it that way. Now while I want our home to be just that, homely and I of course want our guests to be comfortable when they visit, I also take great pride in having things look almost show home like. So I have decided that it is only fair I share some of my top tips for OCD’ing your house Sophie style and today we talk the kitchen…

The kitchen is one of the best places to organise. With so many cupboards and cubby-holes you can really get creative. As I mentioned I champion the label maker and nowhere sees more label action than my kitchen. The fridge and my pantry are my main areas of interest. I use labels and clear baskets to separate the contents of my fridge so that I can ensure it is not only extremely user friendly but it also looks pristine.

The upper shelves of the fridge have the most consistent temperatures so place foods that don’t need to be cooked here. Pre-cooked meats, leftovers, drinks and ready-to-eat foods can all be kept on the upper shelves. I like to buy my drinks canned so they fit nicely and can be lined up neatly. For leftovers I use clear tupperware boxes which stack, I also make individual labels for each to make choosing leftovers a breeze.

Doors are the warmest part of the fridge so should be reserved for products with natural preservatives. Things like mayonnaise and orange juice do great here – eggs and dairy products? Not so much. Talking of eggs, its best to keep these out of the fridge due to their porous nature. Plus, think about it are eggs chilled at the supermarket?

Khloe Kardashian knows how to keep her kitchen just so

The lower the shelves, the colder it gets, so this is the best place for your dairy products, raw meats, and seafood. Make sure you keep meat and dairy sealed and placed away from each other to avoid contamination and unpleasant odours. I like to use clear plastic boxes or baskets to create two halves to my bottom shelf. One is used for dairy, the other for meat. The two draws at the very bottom are known as the crisper drawers, this is where you should store your fruits and veggies, just make sure they are in in separate drawers. Many fruits, including peaches, plums, and pears, emit a gas that accelerates rotting in vegetables.So there you have it. Come over to my house and I won’t ask you to take your shoes off, you are more than welcome to help yourself to anything on offer from my perfectly organised fridge, put your feet up on the sofa or a drink on the table without a coaster, but leave clutter around my house or mock my labelled fridge and we just might have a problem. I like things to have a place and I don’t see the problem in that. Like a lot of people I work hard to make sure my house is clean and tidy so I appreciate it when people respect that and try to maintain my standards. Cam’s getting there. He knows my quirks now and what drives me mad and I can see that he is trying. He still leaves socks everywhere, never wraps the cheese and will always be partial to my nemesis the ‘floordrobe’, but he does rinse the shower, and load the dishwasher and for me that is enough. To be honest I quite like tidying up after him and doing it myself anyway because as stupid as it sounds no one can do it quite like I can. Stay tuned for more organisation tips from me.