03 February 2023 , 13:42
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Since singing her way into the spotlight on The X Factor, Stacey Solomon has added many feathers to her celebrity cap - including presenting gigs, fashion lines and of course becoming Queen of the Jungle.
But now she's also becoming somewhat of a cleaning and organising guru alongside her pal Mrs Hinch, regularly showing fans inside her beautiful home - which she's dubbed Pickle Cottage.
Many fans have been wondering how she and hubby Joe Swash keep the place so clean and tidy with five kids running around and a sixth on the way. But wonder no more, as the 33-year-old has shared some of her favourite hacks as she launches her new Morning Meadow range with Air Wick.
Stacey said: "My home is my happy place and I love filling it with beautiful fragrances. Morning Meadow is inspired by some of my favourite memories like walking through the countryside and spending time with my family at home.
"Spring is the time of year when I get really excited about starting afresh. Especially with another little one, it's really important for me to get my home as ready as possible.
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Stacey and Joe at home (staceysolomon / Instagram)"My big tasks are putting away our winter things and getting out everything for spring and summer. After all that is done, the Morning Meadow reed diffuser in the living room will be a lovely finishing touch – the jasmine fragrance lasts for ages and really freshens up the place."
Interestingly, the star claims she's not a fan of doing one big household clean, but instead prefers to tackle chores by doing them in stages, little and often.
"In a busy home, I know all too well how jobs around the house can build up and feel overwhelming," Stacey says.
"I recommend tackling a few small tasks each day and not beating yourself up if you can’t finish everything you wanted to.
"You could even get the kids involved for a little extra helping hand."
She goes on to share an easy "therapeutic" trick to make your home feel nice and fresh without spending a penny, advising people to "bring the outside in".
"Adding touches of the outdoors in your home is a great way to make it feel fresher for longer. I love making my own floral and foliage displays from plants I find in the garden – it's so therapeutic."
Stacey loves to organise and declutter her own home
The star has a new home fragrance range, inspired by Spring mornings at Pickle Cottage (Air Wick)Stacey has also recently been helping others to get their homes in tip-top shape on her BBC show Sort Your Life Out, which is dedicated to decluttering homes across the UK.
And she's not the only one who recommends tackling tasks in stages, with the show's very own professional declutterer, Dilly Carter recently sharing similar advice.
Dilly told the BBC: "Pick one room at a time to focus on decluttering.
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"Each room needs function, purpose and identity and it's impossible to know what needs to be taken away if you are just looking at an overflowing space.
"So, before you tackle any room that you want to declutter, make sure you clear the space completely. Take everything away and look at the blank space as a canvas that can be whatever you want it to be."
The Sort Your Life Out Team have shared a number of handy cleaning hacks of late, including how to remove biro marks from your furniture and how to make old brass door knobs look good as new.
Stacey and the Sort Your Life Out team (BBC/Optomen TV/James Stack)In the most recent episode, the TV presenter and her team headed to Rotherham in South Yorkshire to the home of a young couple, who had been struggling with keeping on top of their home while living busy lives, looking after two kids as well as plenty of animals.
The pair admitted it was their dream home but they felt as if they had lost their way with it.
Stacey and the team tasked the family with cutting down their belongings, while cleaner Iwan Carrington started working on their furniture and he soon came across a wooden sideboard that had been drawn on by the kids and was covered in stubborn biro marks.
"Look at this, we've got some artwork going on on this sideboard," he said. "I'm going to go with some hairspray as that can be really effective at removing biro."
Iwan continued: "I just want to go on with some medium hold - no it doesn't really matter - and also take a lightly coloured cloth and you want to work quite fast with this. You can see it's coming off with the cloth. I think that is a big improvement."
And to shine up the dull-looking brass door knobs in the house, Iwan covered them with a solution of salt, white vinegar and bicarbonate of soda and after 10 minutes and some elbow grease, they looked sparkly and new.
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