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New Thoughts for CLUTTER TODAY

Life is, what it is!

The word ‘clutter’ has had a bad wrap over the years! Are we a little overwhelmed stuck in the house these days?

Let’s talk about day-to-day living: Life is NOT clutter!

We KNOW that ‘real people’ don’t live in a glamourous Staged house, ready-to-entertain each day, right?

We know that ‘living’= making a mess sometimes: Life is for the living!

Let us separate actual ‘clutter’ and the ‘mess’ we make.

The ‘mess’ is always about living: garbage and recycling to go out, laundry to do, dishes to clean and put away. These are general daily or weekly tasks to keep things-in-order.

‘Clutter’ can be orphaned items, unfinished projects, broken things set aside, stored items and forgotten; and then, eventually become degenerated or loss-of- energy items.

Yep. Some of these things can appear to be part-of-the-furniture; things you see all the time and ignore.

We KNOW, there is a ‘clutter trap’ at the back door: seasonal items, dirty shoes and a stained rug.

We KNOW these things, so let’s stop the guilt trap. Life is for the living. Let’s identify this blockage and work on sorting and tidying.

The problem is that everything needs a place, and get PUT AWAY – but there is never enough room! (that is the most common problem)

TIP:

Fifteen minutes with a laundry basket

to pick up clutter off stairs and in the main areas would help tremendously;

 ‘owners’ of the stuff will soon know where to look …

SO what do you do?

• First of all, try to get a system/habits in place to take care of the weekly, daily cleaning, dusting and sorting. Enlist help from the household and take inventory on all cleaning supplies to avoid overstock.
• Stop buying more storage bins and book shelves. Use logic to start culling and organizing absolutely everything. Seriously.
• When you begin to culling books, clothes, dishes, sports equipment, and more, all of a sudden you have more room. MORE ROOM, means you can actually put things away, and then, you’ll find things!

I talk with all kinds of people who apologize about their office, kitchen and spare rooms… whatever… it goes on and on. It’s all good! You are living a life, right? You have to eat. And, you have to work. Its all good.

The PROBLEM is when you stop things from moving: once the energy has left these stifling, stale items… they are classified as dead-chi-energy.

Energy stagnates around unfinished projects, broken toys and machines, boxes of book and piles of laundry that gets forgotten –never to be washed!

Dishes. Yes, just do the dishes.

Other stagnations:

• Collections: people ‘collect’ things! They often end up in a box, or require maintenance to dust and admire.
• Financing: Many people PAY for storage for their collections. This is another bill (type of maintenance) hanging over your head.
• Saving: I understand that you’ve got little ‘treasures’ to save/gift for the next generation. Just because you’ve loved and cherished a certain item(s) with emotional attachment, doesn’t mean that your children will want it in their home. (They may want to choose their own stuff.) Have the talk with the kids, and decide to sell these items and move them along.

Before you purchase another filing cabinet; cull and purge items from the existing filing cabinet! I’ve had ONLY a 2-drawer filing cabinet and assorted files in my office for years. When things seem to get full, it’s time to purge and make more room.

As well, before you purchase another bookshelf and attach it to another wall in the stairwell, (and add more books) please have another look at your collection.

TIP:

Books are prone to absorbing moisture,

they can GO BAD stored in the basement in a cardboard box;

besides the musty smell, dust mites or mould can turn these precious books

into bad news.

And, we could go on and on, room by room, just sorting this out.

Pour yourself a beverage and go for a walk around your ‘estate’. (Having your hands full means you won’t pick up any distractions.)

Take an objective look at your place and check for yourself: Which items are nearest to your favorite (main) areas? These can affect you the most.

Just work with the visual clutter to get started. Try moving a few things around a bit; change things, just for today. You will ‘see’ a difference as well as ‘feel’ a shift for clarity, and then –to move forward on the next step.

• Once you get your space ‘in order’ (whatever that is for you) you’ll have a space with less-stress, more productivity and better able to ‘weather-the-storms-ahead’. 

All the best, Kathryn

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About Kathryn Wilking

Author, Home Stager, Feng Shui Consultant

Kathryn has inspired women for more than a decade to take charge of their lives; arranging their environment, home and office, to support a positive, prosperous lifestyle. She provides informative tips and talks to organizations and small groups through her Facebook Group and Blog Posts and recorded podcasts. Contact her today for more info about bringing the practical application of Feng Shui into your space.

Her book, Practical Feng Shui for the Office; never goes out of style!
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