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Organization Of The Home: Philsophy & Practicality
I can’t stand it! This house is a mess. Everywhere I see clutter: toys, clothes, papers, books, dishes, and the worst of all, those little “things”. So much stuff gives me a feeling of chaos and insanity. I want to change it, but how? Where do I start?
First of all, define what is necessary. Eliminate what is not needed, wanted, or cared about. Donate to local thrift shops or charities, and toss the absolute garbage. Now you can start from scratch. Start over, of all this, what do I really have need for? Go through it all again and see if you can eliminate what you really don’t need. When you do this, you free up a tremendous amount of space and magically, the clutter disappears. It feels releasing and spiritually uplifting to lose the baggage. Re-evaluate your spending. As you are tossing things, take a mental note of where you spend your money. Resolve that in the future you will be less impulsive about buying things you don’t really need. This will save you money as well as free up your living space for living!
Now you are ready for re-organizing what you have opted to keep. These should be the things you need on a daily or regular basis. Decide if the way you have your house arranged will work as it is. Maybe you need a total overhaul. Maybe you could think of a way to rearrange the furniture and restructure the internal design of your house. Think practicality. If something doesn’t work, maybe there is a way you can modify it later to function as you need it to. You have started a process that will result in your feeling relieved and very much more comfortable in your home.
When you think about your home, you should be thinking of functional, organized, easy to use, and decorative! Feng shui is no doubt an interesting and spiritually uplifting approach to decorating. Look into that. Or flow with your own creative juices and design to your own needs. But by all means a house should be fun, beautiful, and feel good. Think about the themes and styles you like. Maybe it is time to makeover your house not just for practicality, but also for beauty and style as well. Make a statement about who you are and what is important to you.
Sometimes finding space in some dwellings is difficult. The architecture reduces the number of options one has to arrange furnishings. In this case, you have to look three dimensionally. Place the major furnishings where they can be. Then think up. Up on the wall, and up on the ceiling. Perhaps you can place hanging racks in your kitchen. Nothing looks as sophisticated in a kitchen as a hanging rack with pots and pans displayed! If your ceiling is too low, try your wall usage. See how you can utilize what wall space is free. Make sure that what kitchenware you have is really only what you need. Having more than you actually use is a waste of your precious space and is additional clutter. Your lifestyle and habits reflect your mental state. Organizing your home will help to organize your mind. Let this extend to all facets of your life in a synergistic way.
How about your entrance? Do you have a convenient place to hang coats, boots, etc? Or do you just toss them somewhere as you scurry in? Think about a coat rack! Either freestanding or wall mounted, a coat rack is a great way to tidy up. It is convenient and easy, which makes your job of housekeeping easier. An entrance rack system for coats, hats, gloves, and boots frees up clutter elsewhere and makes housekeeping quicker in the long run. An extra bonus is that if your clothing is wet, a rack will be a good place to allow it to dry! So you come out ahead of the game by incorporating a storage technique for outer- wear into your living space.
Be mindful that organizing your home should be done with love. Don’t run out and buy a cheap plastic closet organizer. Those break quickly and cannot withstand the heavy loads typically placed on them. Of course, if you have downsized the clutter, you should have only what you truly need. Be honest with yourself here! Let go the attachment to quantity, and think about quality. It is better to have a couple nice things than a truckload of junk! Keep what you need, and put it in a place that shows how you value it.
Don’t forget the kids! Do they have endless quantities of toys that rarely if ever see the light of day? Time for an overhaul! I down sized my son’s toys, keeping only gifts, books, developmental toys, and what he plays with frequently. His room is now manageable, and I find it much easier to navigate through our house with less toy clutter. His room feels better as it is very small to begin with and space is definitely a premium. He does not miss what has been given away.
I get a lot of tax write-offs when I donate the excess to a charity. I like to donate to programs that focus on giving back to the community locally. In that sense, my giveaway has more meaning than just freeing up my life. It can generate money for those in need, and become something useful to someone else. Hopefully it won’t become their clutter! That is the beauty of creating movement. As you take in, so can you give out. Recycling makes sense in many ways, as you think about what you have.
So get into gear and eliminate excessive clutter and distractions from your life. Get the whole family involved and see what you can do to change not only your home, but also your entire life. Breathe refreshment into your home with changes. And when you feel stagnation in your life, it may be time to change your home a little bit again. Rearrange the furniture, go through the clothes, cycle through it all and re-evaluate where you are in terms of what you have. Always be thinking of needs. Do I have enough? Chances are, the answer is yes!
Julie Steinebach may be contacted at http://www.racksandstuff.com racksandstuff@bizynet.com. Click here to view more of their articles.
Julie has varied interests that have given her a broad knowledge in what she writes. She feels consumers, including herself, ought to have informed choices and always have access to new ideas. She believes in simplification of our lives through positive uses of technologies and intelligent choices.
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