Was helping a client de-clutter her bedroom today. As an extremely busy woman with a husband and two children, she was overwhelmed by the task and just could not get started with it. It’s hard to find the time to work on clearing the clutter and getting rid of it as well. I asked her, “when, how and why did this stuff get on the floor of your bedroom?” She replied. “it’s been here since Christmas”. In addition, there were cluttered surfaces making it difficult to find things or to clearly see what was there?
Essential Questions To Ask Yourself:
- Are you blocking energy from flowing through your bedroom?
- Is your clutter issue affecting others?
- Do you share your bedroom with someone else thus sharing your clutter with him or her?
That’s a significant factor in organizing. When does it go over the “little bit messy” to the “out of control messy?”
Here’s What We Did:
- cleared the bureau top of all unnecessary items
- cleared the floor of toys
- moved mirror from in front of balcony door to the end of the walk-in closet, thus serving its purpose
- recycled clothing no longer in use
- opened up new space in closet
- brought currently used clothing into walk-in closet that was being stored elsewhere
- organized shoes all in the same area
- got rid of items that had negative emotions attached to them
- created a bedroom sanctuary
All of this done in 2.5 hours. Next time, we will empty her bureau and get all the clothing into the walk-in closet, remove the bureau and place a comfy chair or love seat in its place. More sanctuary, less clutter and stuff.
People have more household stuff these days and find it hard to keep it all organized: Do you ever feel like you just have too much stuff, don’t know where to put it all and don’t really have use for a lot of it?
- It’s hard to believe that we use only 20% of what we own: Just think about this one, when you go around your house and look at things with the perspective that you wish to keep only things you need, use and love. What can go?
- The average person spends at least 20 minutes a day looking for things: How many times do you look for things each day. It’s may be helpful to know that most people have this in common until they find a home for things and know where to find them.
- Cleaning professionals say that getting rid of excess clutter would eliminate 40% of their work: It’s easier to clean your home when there’s less stuff. There’s also satisfaction in eliminating stuff so you can have lower house cleaning bills.
These Clutter Facts are useful when we realize the simple fact that when we are in a hurry and we have to push our way through 40 jackets and coats in order to get the one we want out, it just isn’t worth it to have that much stuff. Free yourselves from the cloud of clutter. It feels wonderful!
Have you ever considered clearing out everything in your home and starting out fresh and clean? Let’s imagine: fresh new paint of calming colors, less and smaller furniture, less clutter and only the items that you enjoy for practical reasons, aesthetic reasons or they have intrinsic value, go back in your home. Is it hard to imagine? Why? Are you like all the rest of us, attached to your things? Of course, but it is fun to imagine and it’s fun to do. Give it a try the next time you decide to re-paint a room. What color will you choose, how will you design the “new” room. What will you keep, give away?
I love to start anew and re-create space. Shake things up a bit. Our priorities change, seasons change, we change. Start simply with a bathroom or even a closet. Bet you’ll find all sorts of unnecessary items in that closet you have stored away for many years. You might even find something you have been searching for for a long time. Or a great gift for a friend.
An inspiring quote by William Morris in 1882: “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or consider to be beautiful”. I would add to it, “and love”. Because don’t we want to be surrounded by the things we enjoy, love to look at, make us happy? I do. It is work, but it’s a lot less work when we work on having less stuff. It can be very gratifying to get to the bottom of the now empty closet and voila, it is transformed into a small office.
