Your brain has 3 questions for your clutter (and 3 solutions)!featured
Your brain loves you. Your brain hates clutter. And, in fact, your brain has been trying to get your attention with the stuff that, well, just doesn’t belong in your home. So, to that end:
Your brain has 3 questions for your clutter…
(And, no worries, 3 solutions!)
#1: What do we WANT to see in our space?
It seems like a silly question, but sometimes we keep things in places they’ve always been because, well…they’ve always been there. And I’m not talking about storage and stuff that has nowhere else to live. (That’s a different post.) I’m talking about the objects and books and glassware that you occasionally like using and looking at and which need a hard n’ fast reason for being in that exact room. Sometimes when you edit out the stuff you’re feeling medium about- even temporarily- you’ll realize that not even did you not use it in that room, but you don’t use it at all.
(Bonus: It’s way easier to clean and organize stuff that your brain likes looking at and knows belongs in that room. When you have to move board games and receipts to wipe down a kitchen table, your brain gets tired and gives up. My brain speaks from experience.)
Quick experiment time! Go find three things in your favorite room in your home that you don’t a) love seeing or b) use at least once a day. Rehome ’em to the room where they’re beautiful/useful…or to a box in your closet. (In one month? Toss that box.)
#2: Is there anything we’re constantly stepping around or over?
Your brain and body are working in tandem on this way (but sometimes the message isn’t transmitted all that quickly). If something’s physically in your way, it needs a new home.
Or like, maybe even a new home.
This goes for entryway clutter, storage overflow, and those unwieldy things that are in transit; you know, the ones that you’re either donating, saving for a friend, or keeping in place until you find a better option.
Quick project: Load up the trunk of your car. Not able to donate or drop-off anything today? That’s cool- it’ll keep. (Just not in your foyer.) Still tripping over shoes? Measure the space and the amount of stuff you need- really need- to keep there, and then shop for a bin, a basket, or the right amount of hooks. (Never pre-buy your storage options. Otherwise you fill to the size of what you have, and not vice versa.)
Doesn’t “like” with “like” make more sense? (Say yes.)
(I’m forever touting this one, and this’ll be my dying battle cry.) Things that you use together should be housed together. If your kids do art projects in each room of the house, and keep art supplies in each room of the house, then you’ll forever be picking up randomly strewn art supplies and you’ll never know where that specific art supply is.
And then substitute “art supplies” with “shoes.” And “glassware.” (And “holiday ornaments” and “important paperwork” and and and…)
Quick “big impact” task, ’cause I believe in you! Take a hard think about a group of things that could use a little “station” action. Maybe it’s moving mugs and coffee accouterments to a cabinet above your coffee maker, maybe it’s designating a craft zone in an underused corner of the dining room. And maybe it’s- and let’s get crazy- putting everything you wear near everything else you wear! Think modular, think flow, think not having to run around the house like a hamster before you leave each morning. (Ikea has some great, standalone options that jive super well with your existing closet situation!)
Listen to your brain, peeps.
It loves you so, so much.
(Just not your clutter.)
Your turn: What stuff is your brain telling you to ditch?
Comment below!
