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1o Things you can do to make your home seem less cluttered.

Making my home seem less cluttered, lighter and brighter has become a little bit of an obsession.

Now that the Holidays are over things look a little dark and, quite frankly, underwhelming in “Casa De Spendaholics”.

Having the festive lights and my glorious tree now packed away for another twelve months, is leaving me with a serious case of the Blaghs.

Cue lightening, brightening, decluttering and cleaning with visions of a balmy spring soon to be arriving (OK – I know it’s Winter and we had 5cm of snow last week but leave me alone will ya?)

 

Where to start?

I have a slight hoarding habit. It’s mostly books but we, as a family, also have a Harry Potter obsession. I also like movies…the DVD / BluRay kind. To make matters worse, we live in a very small house which can easily become overwhelmed with “Stuff”.

Any cluttered room can cause stress by making the space seem uninviting. Since Christmas we have kept the window blinds closed, shielding out any natural light, making the place appear darker and smaller than normal. This is because I have a demolition site outside the window (Deck renovations) and I also need new windows! Looking at it this way it’s a little overwhelming.

Focus

Focus on small sections of each room, using an almost blinkered approach. I chose to replace the vertical blinds (Ugly things – should have done this much sooner) with some light, sheer panels. Viola – windows obscured, reno site unseen and diffused natural light coming in. The place looks brighter already!

Since I know that natural light in a room can drastically affect your mood, I set out on a mission to bring as much of it as I could into my space.

Here are some ways you can bring more natural light to your space.

• Refresh and Renew. Giving your walls and ceiling a quick refresh with a coat of paint works wonders. Make sure you keep the ceilings white and chose a very light colour for the walls. My walls are painted “Aviator Silver” which is a very pale grey. The silver element allows some amazing light reflection and on sunny days it looks almost blue.
• Pay close attention to your window treatments. Light colours and lightweight fabric can make a huge difference in your room. I went with some white voile curtains that I found on Amazon. At $19.99 for two panels and free delivery the were perfect for my two windows and one glass door without breaking the bank.

 

Mirror effects.

The space above the fireplace that recently housed a lighted, festive, amazing smelling garland is now empty and just plain sad. It also faces the only source of natural light in the room so, by adding a new mirror from one of the many on offer at Etsy I have been able to reflect more natural light around the room and dress up an otherwise miserable feature.

Natural light not only benefits your room but it also has a significant impact on your productivity and health as well!

You can’t eat an elephant whole.

Scheduling time daily or weekly to accomplish one or two of your “missions” will help you maintain a sense of accomplishment and stay motivated. I am the type of person who takes on too much all at once and so having a predetermined plan of action really helps me focus.

Make Sure You Have A Plan

Having a plan that will work with your schedule is important. Overworking yourself the first day will lead to stiffness and sore muscles. You want to keep that enthusiasm going, which is difficult to do if you over do it the first day. Work in small areas, and only tackle one room at a time. 

Completing small areas will give you a feeling of accomplishment, and will allow you to step back and realize you are making progress.

It’s always nice to be able to check things off as you go along. I have provided you with my decluttering plan checklist to help you along the way. Decluttering you house can seem like a huge challenge. With a plan in place and a little creativity you will be well on your way towards a more peaceful, organized home you can truly enjoy.

 

 

Enlist Help!

Don’t do it alone! I’m sure you didn’t make the mess all by yourself so get the whole family involved. My daughter is a costume design student and her “stuff” is EVERYWHERE! Since she has been relegated to the smallest room in the house (she leaves for school soon), we have allowed her creative supplies to overflow to the dining room area of the house. That being said – it seems to be multiplying and the lovely totes of assorted tulle and ribbons are empty whilst the floor and surfaces are covered. I put on some music and rolled up my sleeves alongside her to put things to rights.

A place for everything and everything in it’s place.

By creating specific spaces within each room and beautiful storage options for each space, cleaning and keeping things organized becomes much easier. To have a clean organized home, you must develop habits to sustain the organization. When things are placed in neat organized spaces, it’s easier for you to see the things that are out-of-place. This allows us to declutter in small bursts, rather than trying to tackle the whole house.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Re-purpose.

To achieve a clutter free home does not mean you have to throw everything out!

Read: Becoming Minimalist

Re-purposing some of your household clutter will allow you to clean up the home whilst saving money. The next best thing is Recycling. If you need it gone but can’t re-purpose it then sell it for some extra cash or donate it to a local charity. I sent the vertical blinds to Habitat for Humanity. Just because I don’t like them doesn’t mean they won’t be of wonderful benefit to someone else.

Bring the outdoors in.

Fresh flowers, potted herbs, exotic plants or a combination. Whatever makes you happy. Having beautiful things and lovely scents in my home makes me happy. Fresh scents help make the rooms seem cleaner, even if you’re not quite there yet.

Look for long lasting plants / flowers or better still, grow some! During summer I harvest lilacs, lavender, peonies and lilies. All amazingly scented in muted pinks, lilacs and whites. I keep potted banana plants, peace lilies and I’m also growing Avocado’s from seed (at three years old they’re just a mass of leaves).

Create Calm.

I don’t object to candles; in fact I love them. What I do object to is man made chemical scents. Natural beeswax candles can create a lovely calming glow, combined with some essential oil aromas in burners or diffused in a light mist can be life changing as well as mood changing.

Change up the scents to create different atmospheres. Spring rain on those dark, thundery days. Freesia or lavender on those light spring days. Experiment with different blends and see how the home feels.

Feng Shui.

This is a book I swear by! If you truly want to find the heart of your home and nurture it to benefit everyone who enters then I recommend you start here. Mapping out each of our homes has been fun and creating balanced spaces within individual rooms has left me with a unique sense of peace. Inside you will find all of the “fixes” for each obstacle you hit.

Once you map the house you may find the bathroom is in your Money sector, effectively having you flush your money down the toilet! Now – you can’t just rehouse you bathroom to another area of the house but you can offset the effects with a few simple tricks and changes. What I found was, by implementing the principles of Feng Shui, I was actually decluttering my spaces and bring about calming, well lit, clear and sweet smelling rooms, one by one with minimal effort.

 

 

 

XO

Anna