Clutter in Your Home...
I know you’ve been hearing about de-cluttering. It’s on TV, in
all the decorating magazines, and it’s getting kind of tiring. However,
it’s critically important. Getting rid of clutter will change your life.
Think about it. When you walk into a cluttered
room or look in that cluttered closet, your heart drops. Imperceptibly,
bit by bit, you are dealing with negativity in your own home. Isn’t
there enough of that out in the world? You just don’t need those kinds
of feelings in your home. Your home needs to be a place of refuge; a
place that makes you smile when you look around. It’s clean, it’s
harmonious, it flows, and you feel good when you’re in the rooms. If
there are any places in your home that make your heart sink, you need to
tackle them—right away.
Think about how you feel when your office desk is
cluttered. It’s hard to concentrate. Your thoughts are scattered
and you jump from one thing to another. That’s how clutter in your home
impacts you. Getting rid of it will help you focus. You will also feel
more calm and relaxed. Think of the energy that can generate!
Let’s define clutter. Clutter isn’t just
having a lot of things. If you have a lot of possessions that you love,
or that are useful, and they all have a place where they are stored or
displayed, then it’s not clutter.
Clutter is being surrounded by things you don’t love or don’t need. Look
at each item you own and ask yourself two questions:
1. Do I love it? If yes, keep it. If no, go on
to question two.
2. Do I need it? If you used it in the last
year or definitely plan to use it in the next six months, it can stay.
If not, it needs to go.
What about those of you who love everything?
You’re so sentimental that you can’t throw away the art your daughter
did in grades 3, 4, 5…..even though she’s married with three children of
her own now. Find a loving friend or a trained clutter professional to
help you let go.
At this point, you don’t own it, it owns you.
What if you think you’ll need it someday? Get rid of it. Chances are
you’ll forget you have it by the time you really do need it and you’ll
buy a new one anyway. Or it won’t work anymore, or you won’t be able to
find it because you have so much stuff.
Some of us have parents who were affected by the Depression or they
didn’t have a lot of money, and we were brought up never to throw
anything away. This kind of conditioning makes it difficult for us to
part with things. It’s important to really look at why you’re keeping
them and whether it makes sense for you now. I will never need 100
elastic bands or 200 twist ties or 300 plastic grocery bags. It’s okay
for me to get rid of most of them and just keep a few that I will need.
They are easy to acquire if I ever need more.
Maybe you love reading and can’t stand to get rid of
a book, newspaper, or magazine. Ask yourself if you’ll ever read
it again. Honestly. If yes, then keep it. If no, please give it to those
who don’t have access to books. Give your magazines to professionals you
know who have a waiting room—doctors, dentists, hair stylists,
hospitals.
For most women, clothes are an issue. We always think we’ll wear
them again one day. Or that the style will come back. I’ve caught myself
saying “But it’s a good wool suit. It’s a classic. I know I’ll wear it
one day.” I kept my suits for ten years based on that premise. The
reality is that if I did need a suit, I didn’t want to wear ‘that old
thing’ and I bought a new one anyway. So I finally gave them all away
and have never missed them. I also have the satisfaction of knowing that
perhaps someone out there is using them and loving them. I now go
through my closet every six months and give things away. It makes it
easy for me if I imagine someone with no money standing in front of me
lovingly looking at the item in my hand. Would I give it to them? If the
answer is yes, it goes in the donation bag. Also, whenever I buy
anything new I try to give away one or two items so that the overall
number doesn’t increase. This works for everything in your home—not just
clothing.
Finally, there are those items that are expensive. It’s hard to
sell or give away items that we know cost a lot. However, if we don’t
love them or need them, it’s better to give them to someone who does.
This not only helps someone else, but frees up space in our lives for
new things that we do love or can use.
Start with your new, redesigned place in mind
This will help you organize items into your three useful categories:
keep, sell/donate, and throw away.
As you handle each item in your home, from old clothing to tabletop
collections, ask yourself if you can picture that item in your ‘new’
home. Is there a place for it? Isn't this a perfect excuse to get rid of
Aunt Hilda’s cross-stitch sampler?
Start with your least favorite or messiest room. Make a list that
you can go through systematically, with categories such as tabletops,
closets, and under the bed. That way each one can be checked off with a
satisfying flourish as you make progress.
Clear all tabletops first, using your keep, sell/donate, or throw-away
rule. Next, clean out the closets, and so on. Throw away as you go along
by actually taking bags of trash to the dumpster. That way you won't be
tempted to keep things that should be ditched.
I know, I know, those crystal decanters your great aunt left you are
very expensive. But if you don’t love them, they’ll only make you
feel bad every time you look at them. Why keep something in your home
that doesn’t give you joy? Much better to let someone else love them.
You can buy something you’ll love instead.
Follow the one-year rule
It's hard to predict what you are going to need, but it's very safe to
assume that if you haven't worn an article of clothing, or read that
paperback in a year, that it’s pretty safe to sell it, give it away, or
throw it out. You don’t need to display everything you own all at once
Sometimes even after you get rid of all the clutter, you just have too
many possessions. The home will look cluttered if you use them
all. In that case, you need to make some decisions about what is used in
the redesign and what is ‘left over.’ Many of the items that you don’t
use can be saved and swapped with something at a later date. Perhaps you
use a number of collections or items during the summer and then swap
them for other items or collections in the winter months. Or perhaps you
just wait till you get tired of seeing certain things. At that time you
can give yourself a fresh new look with the items you stored away. You
can do the same thing with your art if you have too much art to display
all at once.
Now clear the space
This step is imperative before moving on. I know it seems like a
lot of work, but take heart. It can be done. And it goes faster than you
would think.
Written by Val Sharp founder and past president of the Canadian
Re-designers Association and the author of “The Art of Redesign – 5
Simple Steps to No-Cost Redecorating”.
www.sharpredesigns.com
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