Creating a home with less things will help to decrease the visual stimuli that you get when you have too many knick knacks, tchotchkes and just stuff surrounding you. By removing stuff on window sills, table tops and counters, you will feel a difference in the way you feel but also it will be easier to clean these areas. You can also move furniture and art work around, which I do myself when I get bored of my space every few months, and it will feel like it’s a totally different space. A space may be limited, but moving where tables or chairs face can feel like a new space without having to do any renovations.
What are some of the main reasons homes get too cluttered?
The home can be a reflection of a person’s life and what they are going through at the moment. Sometimes it’s hard to find the motivation to maintain the home when you don’t feel like it, which can lead to things getting cluttered or disorganized. When you accumulate many things, it gets more difficult to maintain and control and if you’re not in the mood, you won’t be focused on your home, but instead will be trying to find joy in other ways. When things get overwhelming, be gentle with yourself and do what you can.
January is the month for setting and then breaking resolutions. How can you get organized and stay organized this year?
The best thing to do to stay organized is to return items to where they belong and make it a habit every day. Once you organize your home in the first place, you want to maintain it by bringing things back to their designated spot or zone. If you take the time to do that, you will keep the mess and disorganization from creeping up on you. Remember the health benefits that come when you maintain your space and you will be sure to feel a difference as soon as you do it.
When it comes to the Marie Kondo method of “sparking joy,” what should you keep in mind when organizing?
Once you declutter your items, you will know what items spark joy that you want to keep, then you can organize them into your space. You want to organize “like” items together and create a home for everything. Use organizing items that spark joy or re-purpose items for organizing if you want to save money on what you contain things in. Vertical items in drawers make items easier to find and that will spark joy for you when you need to find and choose what you need.
