Sort Your Life Out: The four most common cluttering mistakes and how to fix them

Image caption, Tidying expert Dilly Carter started her profession while working as a personal assistant By George Sandeman Published 6 minutes ago Decluttering is Dilly Carter's love language. The tidying expert from BBC One's Sort Your Life Out once helped an ex-boyfriend clear up and organise his mother's home after she died. "It was a way that I could help him," Carter says. "And in doing that, we ended up getting back together." They're married now. Growing up in a chaotic home with two working parents, she learned early on that she preferred being tidy and organised. Carter worked as a PA for business executives and, as well as keeping their diaries in order, began making sure their homes were too. Sort Your Life Out Unpacked Tidying expert Dilly Carter chats to celebrity guests about their favourite objects at home and why they are so important to them. Listen on Sounds Watch on iPlayer In her new BBC video podcast, Sort Your Life Out Unpacked , she interviews famous faces, including Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Lorraine Kelly, about their favourites items and advises how they can best keep their homes free of clutter. I asked Carter what she thinks are the four most common cluttering mistakes - and how you can fix them. Kitchen counters are 'prime real estate' Bread maker? Air fryer? Blender? Juicer? Mandoline slicer with cut-resistant gloves and hand guard? The array of kitchen appliances promising to optimise your cooking experience and save you time is endless. But they need to go somewhere and often that's your kitchen counter top, which - thanks to such clutter- feels increasingly cramped. Image source, Getty Images "I like to think of kitchens as real estate," says Carter. "Everything in your kitchen has to earn its place in there." She commonly sees kitchens where infrequently used gadgets take up "prime real estate"; things which could be stored in drawers, cupboards or even the loft, if it's something really gathering dust. "Go through your kitchen regularly and check what you need, see what you use regularly and [what] you don't." Another tip is not to buy so many kitchen appliances to begin with but, if you do, make sure it's a "multi-use product". For example, blenders are more versatile than juicers. If you want to make juice instead of a smoothie, you can extract liquid from the blended pulp of fruits and vegetables using a sieve or cheesecloth - no need for a specific gadget only does one thing. Too many clothes, not enough drawers Rolling your T-shirts may be an efficient way of getting them into a drawer but you won't be able to see them all when you're picking your outfit for the day. File folding (where the pile is on its side instead of clothes being stacked on top of each other) ensures you can at least see the colour of the T-shirt even if you can't see the image or design on the front. Image source, Getty Images "We only roll or fold when we're trying to maximise the space of a drawer," says Carter, though you should be c