Anthea Turner’s spring-cleaning guide
Anthea Turner takes time out to explain why spring cleaning is about a lot more than dusting away the cobwebs…
It’s that time of year again - and Queen Of Clean Anthea Turner, 57, is a bit of an authority on tackling mess and over-cluttered homes.
The former presenter of the successful Perfect
Housewife series is loving her life right now - in particular, her flat. ‘I enjoy coming back here,’ she explains. ‘It makes me happy to have a tidy home!’
Here, Anthea explains how we can all have a place that we love coming back to... Anthea, why is it important to ‘detox’ your home? Somebody once said to me, ‘ Your life is like a book – you should always be editing it,’ and the same goes for a home. You should always be assessing, sorting, tidying. If you don’t edit the bad stuff out of your life, things start to go wrong.
This isn’t about being a neat freak, is it?!
No! It’s about making life easier for yourself. I’m not preaching – I want people to enjoy their lives more. The tidier your base camp, the easier it is to find things, to be able to leave the house and get on with your life. The nicer your home is, the more you want to welcome people in and socialise there. Most of us spend more of our income on our house than anything else. It’s where we rest, laugh, cry, recharge. So why not enjoy it?
How does an uncluttered home boost your emotions?
Just imagine you’re staying in a lovely hotel, where everything’s clean, in its place,
‘If you don’t edit the bad stuff out of your life, things start to go wrong’
crisp sheets, whatever. You feel calm, right? When your home is messy, your brain feels cluttered. I’ve made myself very good at decluttering. Keeping my home tidy is the only way I can organise my dyslexic head. I bought some new underwear at the weekend. But, when I brought it back, I went through a few drawers and chucked out five old pairs of pants.
Is it important to give each room a defined role?
Yes, which is another reason why we can’t turn our homes into big dumping grounds for rubbish. Take the bedroom. I knew a lady who went to sleep with her ironing board up in her bedroom every night. How depressing – just put it away! It’s lovely when your kids pile into your bedroom with all their toys on a Sunday morning, but keep a basket by the bed to chuck all the bits in. Your bedroom is not a toy shop! And we all know what it’s like when we get a bad night’s sleep. About once a month, I have a bag for the charity shop.
Some of us are serial hoarders – where should we start?
The first thing is to declutter. If you feel overwhelmed, then, as Julie Andrews sang in The Sound Of Music, ‘Start at the very beginning – a very good place to start!’ If something isn’t beautiful, useful or seriously sentimental, it leaves your life. You’d be surprised at how much you don’t need. Once you’ve done it, you’ll be walking on air! Then you can clean – and without clutter, that’s easy.
Our homes are our refuge, right?
Absolutely. That’s why we should always be compassionate towards people who don’t have homes. I’ve worked with various homeless organisations. Going right back to the cavemen, having a home is part of who we are. We all need a nest to protect ourselves.
What’s your favourite room?
I’m a big fan of open-plan living, so I love my open dining room, kitchen and lounge. I like space. I live in an apartment overlooking the river. It’s not massive, but the layout gives it a feeling of space. And people always compliment me on my kitchen! I chose it in one stressful day. It’s from Ikea – people don’t believe it!
What would be your perfect night in?
With the kids, maybe cooking an easy, tasty supper together. Or a chilled-out girlie night with a bottle or two of wine as we chat and put the world to rights. I’m a bit lazy, socially. I have very busy days so, in the evening, I’m quite good now at being on my own.
Any plans for Easter?
I’m not sure if I’ll go anywhere yet. It was a big thing when my stepdaughters were small – an Easter egg hunt and things – but now they’re grown-up, it’s not something I think about as much. I’m looking forward to eating way too much chocolate, of course!