Yes. And no.
I have four kids. Two grown men, out of the house and living on their own. One son is living home, moving towards his next life step. My daughter is 17, living home, a junior in high school. There is so much STUFF in my house! The years when all four kids lived home were really insane, nothing was ever organized, ever. When I did organize something, you can be sure someone needed something from that drawer or closet five minutes later, and left it a rumpled mess.
Now there are two at home, and there's still a lot of stuff. I really had no choice for many years but to live amidst the chaos, but now I'm done with that. I moved back into my house last Memorial Day weekend after what turned out to be an "experiment", living with my then significant other. I was so happy to just have my house back, I plopped everything in the downstairs, made the bed, and was home.
This was really a new life for me, starting over with less stuff, and less people in the house. I found that the more clean and organized my living space was, the more peace I felt. I never really had the chance to have an organized living space before, and I'm loving it! In addition, as I was clearing my head of the craziness of my life, I was really able to see the energy around me. I was starting to see and feel the connection between my living space and my soul.
The biggest change was seen from my commitment to have less stuff. This is something you have to start slowly with, or you'll never do it. For instance, if you love fashion, don't start with your closet! You'll never get rid of anything. Start with the areas that you're less passionate about. I started with my kitchen cabinets. I do love my kitchen, as small as it is, but since it's so small, I really needed it to be more efficient. Did I really need the Pampered Chef apple/peeler/corer/slicer? Gone gone gone. I've had the thing for probably ten years, and still peel my apples with the old fashioned peeler. I was never going to let my future grandchildren use the grimy kids cups I was saving, and new ones cost a dollar. Gone gone gone. I have a long way to go in my kitchen to get it where I want it to be, but for now, it's got a lot less crap in it!
My bedroom. Again, not huge. The room is not huge, but the bed is, which of course is a challenge! I routinely have bruises on my legs that match up to some of the furniture in the room. I did a couple of things. The first thing I did was get an armoire. This can be a high priced item, but it doesn't have to be. You can get one cheap (Ikea), and be sure to check out Freecycle or Craigslist. The one I bought has two drawers on the bottom, and a huge open area above them with doors that close and hide it all. There's also a shelf in the open area. I LOVE it. I keep my scarves hanging on the rod that was meant to hang clothes from, I have my pocketbooks all lined up on the shelf. I have makeup/jewelry/pens/perfume/ hairspray/lotions/keys/belts/brushes/
combs/scrunchies/journals/ essential oils/loose change/ nailpolish and a million other things in the open area. It's usually pretty organized, but even when it's not, I close the doors, and everything is hidden. I've even started taping fun pictures to the inside of the doors, like I'm a little kid. I highly recommend getting yourself an armoire!
combs/scrunchies/journals/ essential oils/loose change/ nailpolish and a million other things in the open area. It's usually pretty organized, but even when it's not, I close the doors, and everything is hidden. I've even started taping fun pictures to the inside of the doors, like I'm a little kid. I highly recommend getting yourself an armoire!
A trip to the Container Store was helpful in clearing the space in my bedroom also. I bought a shoe tree for $40 that stands on the floor, spins, and holds 24 pairs of shoes. I also bought those under bed shoe storage bags. The shoes in season are on the shoe tree, the ones out of season are under the bed. Gone are the millions of assorted shoes all over the room, and I've freed up at least 10-20 minutes a day that used to be spent looking for the mate to a shoe! As for the commitment to have less stuff, yes, I had to downsize the shoe collection to keep the seasonal selection at 24 pairs! I took the TV out of the room, and moved all assorted hair appliances to the bathroom where they should have been in the first place.
Now, when you walk into my room, you see my beautiful bed with nightstands on either side, my armoire, Nana's cedar chest, and a triple dresser with very little on top of it. The energy of the room is so much calmer, and more peaceful than ever before. Think about the nights you trip over your shoes to get to the bed, and throw the crap that was on the bed onto the floor, crawling into a bed that you're remaking as you're climbing in. Clearing the space in my room has simply led to more restful sleeping.
Of course I "bought the books" and googled a bunch to get help with space clearing. This is not true Feng Shui space clearing yet, more like a step towards that, I am following the fundamentals. I'll blog more about Feng Shui at a later date, but for now, check out Denise Linn Space Clearing book.
And yes. It is important that everything is clean. Not because your mother may stop by, but because YOU feel better when it is.
Live as if time is infinite!
Shoe tree http://www.containerstore.com/shop/closet/shoeStorage/floor?Ntt=shoe&productId=10025820
Denise Linn Space Clearing http://www.amazon.com/dp/1561707503?tag=wwwdeniselinn-20&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=1561707503&adid=02HZPQGQ27TQ15E0G3ZJ&
Armoire (wardrobe) http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90141859
Freecycle http://www.freecycle.org/
Craigslist http://www.craigslist.com/
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