New Year, New You, right?
Weight loss programs, exercise routines, eating better, being better and a whole new year to start from scratch.
As your local columnist discussing clutter, home organizing and feng shui design, WELCOME to 2025!!!
Let’s start this new year with helpful decluttering and home organizing tips, shall we?
1. If you find yourself with many new items from the holidays, congratulations!!! Now, what to do with all this new stuff?? Suggestion…if you truly got a lot, it’s time to assess what you LOVE, and what you don’t. The “don’t love” stuff gets to leave the premises. If it’s donatable OLD STUFF, by all means donate, if it is time to discard or recycle, have at it. The new year is a time of decisiveness and action.
2. To declutter your entire space, start with counter tops… countertops in the kitchen, the bath, the bedroom. Consider any flat horizontal space like a vanity, coffee table, dresser top as a surface to clear. Here’s how:
• Remove everything off the designated counter. Everything.
• Get a cleaning cloth and wipe that surface down… wood cleaner for wood, glass cleaner for glass, and so on.
• I use the word DELIBERATE as in ON PURPOSE, to describe the next step. Be DELIBERATE with what now will be placed upon this newly cleaned surface.
• Less IS more… see if most of the things loaded on the counter surface can find a new space. A drawer, a cabinet, or other location.
• By keeping countertops relatively clear of stuff, you get a better sense of calm, organization and beauty in design.
3. Open the windows, the blinds and let sunshine and light shine upon you. Sunshine is known to elevate mood, so why is your home so dark? Lighten up, open up.
4. Entrance way focus. Your front door is your gateway to your home. For many, the garage door into the laundry space is in fact the daily entrance area. So the same principles apply for both front and garage entrances: they need to be clear of clutter, junk and supplies.
The entrance is a symbol of your welcome. Make it so. Clean off the cobwebs, get all the lightbulbs in the chandelier working, clean the mirror and clear the entryway for human mobility, traffic, possible shoe rack (for removing shoes), and one more important thing.
5. Bring a “Living Item” into your entryway… some of you might love plants, others like the sound of water, so a mini-waterfall or aquarium may work. Fresh flowers always improve energy and mood. By opening your entryway to ALIVENESS you establish a great vibe for your home. If none of these things work for you, try a nice sculpture, a beautiful painting, and importantly, a good source of light for the entrance foyer.
6. The garage door interface into the laundry room or kitchen usually gets cluttered with Costco supplies! Mops, cleaning fluids, PT and TP and garbage bags… all fine, but I urge you to spread these things out AWAY from the actual door. See if you can WIDEN the entry, and add a nice floor mat to make this home entry more welcoming. Whatever you do, get those mops, Swiffers, rakes and brooms away from the doorway. Bad feng shui, trip hazards and buzzkills. Thank you.
7. In the bedroom… who here likes to read? Who likes to collect and store their reading materials?? Here’s the tip. Keep your books OUTSIDE of the bedroom. One or two books or mags is fine, but not the whole collection. Know why? Because the bedroom is a place for rest. A place to sleep, dream, romance and relax. Books generally are mind stimulating, and we are looking for the bedroom to be more heart stimulating. So, read one or two, but place books in an office or another space where activity of the mind is appreciated.
8. In the bedroom… do you have family photos in the master? Pix of the kids? Not a great feng shui decision. Again, the bedroom is a sanctuary, reserved for rest, tranquility, love and romance. Having your kids’ photos is more of a parental love notion, and therefore should be minimal in order for loving romance to flourish.
In sum, it’s amazing what a few simple design adjustments can do for home tranquility. Use these tips and share some of your own. I’m available by text, 561-706-7779, email, David@aplusClutterClearing.com, on FB, IG, IN and check out my Google biz page for pix and testimonials. Also www.APlusClutterClearing.com.
Start the new year off with ACTION, DECISIVENESS and CLARITY. You’ll be glad you did!!
Remember: Clear the Clutter…Clear the Mind™