Kirstie Allsopp reveals her top tips for decluttering your home on a budget – including one hack that will cost you nothing

Kirstie Allsopp has revealed her four top tips for decluttering your home and maximising space without doing any costly renovations.

The TV host, 53, is best known for her expert advice for homeowners alongside Phil Spencer in Channel 4’s Love It Or List It. 

In one episode, she helped a Cheshire couple, Sarah and Jabzz, and their two children whip their home into shape. 

Not wanting to spend thousands, Kirstie came up with some ingenious solutions for the couple to free up space on a budget and make their home look ‘sharp’. 

Rather than knocking down walls, the property guru, 53, recommended turning a small spare room into a dedicated dressing or storage room. 

She also advised homeowners who can afford to splash a bit of cash to bring in a carpenter who can create custom storage solutions – and add value to your home. 

Kirsie also recommended downsizing larger furniture items to regain valuable floor space as well as creating a ‘decluttering clinic’ to filter through your belongings as ruthlessly as possible. 

Here’s how to get started:  

1. TURN YOUR TINY SPARE ROOM INTO A GIANT CUPBOARD

‘If you’ve got a spare bedroom, turning it into a giant cupboard can really release the pressure in other parts of the house,’ Kirstie said. 

She transformed a ‘box’ bedroom into a stunning dressing room decked out with flat-pack furniture that Sarah and Jabzz built themselves. 

The sleek room featured rails, shelves and drawers for the whole family’s clothing, accessories and toiletries, and a dressing table that was moved from the bedroom.

The spacious new walk-in wardrobe freed up space in the bedrooms by providing a dedicated area for the couple to get dressed or put on makeup. 

‘When planning your storage, it’s always important to consider how you will actually use it,’ Kirstie added.  

2. DOWNSIZE YOUR FURNITURE 

Kirstie suggested those wanting to make their homes more roomy should consider scaling back certain furniture pieces. 

She had the Cheshire couple swap their super king-sized bed for a double to create space in their cramped main bedroom. 

The switch ultimately made room for a larger wardrobe that provided even more space for clothes and shoes. 

She said downsizing the bed made the room look ‘neater and better proportioned’ and regained almost ’30 per cent of their floor space’. 

3. CALL IN THE CARPENTERS 

While it might sound like a big expense, Kirstie said getting carpenters in to create storage that’s custom built to fit each room can not only keep clutter under control but even add value to your home. 

She said costs can be kept down by using affordable MDF boards which can be easily painted to your tastes. 

‘Carpenters have kept costs down by using MDF which can be painted to work with the colour scheme of the room,’ she said. 

Kirstie spent £4,700 on carpentry, which added an impressive £10,000 to the overall value of the family’s house. 

‘That is real lesson to us all, that what sells is something looking sharp,’ she said. 

4. SET UP A DECLUTTER CLINIC 

Kirstie also introduced a ‘declutter clinic’ to help Sarah and Jabzz work out what they really need and what can be tossed. 

She set up a clothing rail for the ‘keep’ clothes and anything that didn’t fit would either be donated or thrown out. 

‘The key here is to be ruthless, if you love something but never actually use it, then let it go,’ Kirstie said. 

‘Anything that isn’t suitable for the charity shops can go to fabric recycling, so nothing is wasted.’

It comes after the property guru revealed her easy and free trick to help get rid of black mould in homes.

Many British homeowners are confronted with the menace of mould, especially during the cold, damp autumn and winter months. 

The latest research from Uswitch has found that more than 60 per cent of people have experienced mould in their home, up from 58 per cent last year. 

Kirstie – who has more than 430,000 followers on X – is passionate about drawing attention to this issue and shared her personal tip on how she banishes black mould from her houses in Devon and Notting Hill.

Last month, she replied to a tweet recommending a German method called Lüften and said it is a good practice to try in your home.

It is a practice where people regularly open their windows for around ten minutes to let out the damp and ventilate the room with fresh air instead.

A woman wrote to Kirstie: ‘Our daughter lives in Germany and they open their windows every morning for a while. It’s called Lüften. They do it even when it’s really cold.’

She replied: ‘I cannot [retweet] this often enough. It is the way to deal with the majority of mould and damp problems. Lack of understanding of the science of this is a huge issue.’

Kirstie says people can open the windows while they are making their bed and clearing up the rooms.

She said that with bathrooms, homeowners and tenants should open the door as soon as they come out of the shower or bath and then fling open their windows as soon as possible to reduce the damp build up.

She also claimed that running cold water first before turning on the hot water tap would ‘reduce steam’.