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De-Cluttering, Tips for the Month
by Lisa Rock ©
I have come such a long way since that first class of Feng Shui study in the summer of 1997. I have been on a continued journey of learning and clutter clearing ever since. To say I was once the Queen of clutter is an understatement. I have one photograph of my "Home Sweet Home" that absolutely mortifies me to this day. I love every period of time, the Victorian period, the forties, fifties, sixties, the velvet Elvis, you get the idea. I also could not pass up the opportunity to purchase anything and everything that I saw at garage and estate sales. The more kitschy and tacky the better. I loved it all! Every nook and cranny of living space I filled and there was not a bare surface to be found. It was home, it was full and how comfortable it was or so I thought.that was then, and this is now.
Thinking back I do believe my life was out of control and I was trying hard to control it. Having all this stuff around me made me feel comforted. Actually I was being suffocated and was grasping for air. There was no energy flow. Air for me came with Feng Shui and every day I deal with de-cluttering, what is useful and do I love it?
Take a good hard look around your home. For me this month clutter came in the form of "Kitchen Wallpaper." For years I thought the bright and fanciful flowers on the wall such a day brightener, until my son pointed out how much he hated it as it was more clutter adding to the food processor on the counter along with the toaster, juicer, vegetables in a bowl, sugar bowl, fruit bowl, aspirin, Tylenol, teapot, water kettle, trays, baskets, and all sorts of misc. items all to many to mention along with flowers on the wall. Walking into the kitchen I am already overwhelmed and I wonder why!!!
This week all the wall paper has come off, the walls painted yellow and it is bright and cheery and Iım thinking I might be tempted to cook.
Take a good hard look at your kitchen space and what is on the counters and what exactly is on the walls. Stand back and just view the kitchen as a painting. How does this painting make you feel? Hungry, soothing, maybe ambitious with thoughts of creativity with entertaining on your mind.
If you do not have much cupboard space, such as myself as I live in an apartment, then try to figure out how often you use all the various items you have sitting out. I am currently asking myself why do own enough baskets to set up shop in Door County. How often do I use all these baskets and canıt two or three suffice for whatever my needs are? Itıs a hard decision as Iım very attached to these baskets yet I am looking forward with great anticipation to how less loaded down I am going to be feeling when I eliminate them. What about the cappuccino machine? How many of you find yourselves at Starbucks or Caribou instead of making your own? Get rid of the machine! The basement, garage and attic are not the answer. Your stuff, even hidden is weighing you down. Make choices, every time you buy something new get rid of something old. The counter is not a medicine cabinet. Alright, we take vitamins and different pills every day but out in view are not the place to store them. Find a drawer or cupboard if you need to but they need to be removed from the counter.
Lastly is the refrigerator. How many of you have a zillion photos, notes, kidıs drawings on the fridge? Yes, you know who you are! Take them off!!! It is still clutter and it is messy! Yes, you love your children and you want to high light their art work and let them see how important they are but the refrigerator is not the place. Put their photo in a pretty frame and just keep updating the frame with the most current picture. Have a very special place for their art, maybe a decorative easel with their most current painting. I do not think Rembrandt would have wanted his art on the refrigerator held up by a magnet nor should your children.
For several years my refrigerator was covered top to bottom with photographs of everyone I cared about and I thought cared about me and the sides had magnet letters so whenever company came they could have fun writing out messages for me to see later. This is in addition to the floral wallpaper and counters full of gadgets. The kitchen is screaming clutter! It took me several years to finally remove everything off the refrigerator. At first my husband did not like it. You do get used to all your clutter. I suggested waiting nine days with nothing on the refrigerator and if after the nine days he wants them back I will put them back. Guess what? Our refrigerator is still photo free. The inside of your refrigerator is another tale that could be a chapter in itself. A good general rule is the office rule. Once a week just clean it out and throw away all the saved leftovers that are developing unknown micro-organisms.
In conclusion, it is so interesting how we spend the first half of our lives collecting stuff and the second half getting rid of everything we collected. De-Cluttering does free up our minds and we move forward allowing fresh energy with a wealth of new possibilities to come into ours lives and you just feel so much lighter and your mind much clearer.
This month take a good look at what is on your walls in the kitchen and how it fits with what is on the counters.
Next, what is on your counters? Do you have space to prepare and cook or do you work around all your stuff?
Look at your refrigerator. Do you have so much on it that you really cannot see the forest for the trees, and if the inside is full and you have nothing to eat then isnıt it time to de-clutter?
De-cluttering is actually fun and the feeling after is most refreshing!
Bon Appetite Everyone and Happy New Year!
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