You’ve been decluttering. Going through your stuff. Donating or giving it away. Throwing it away. Organizing it. Finding homes for what you are keeping. Storing seasonal items out of sight. Selling it. Returning it to the people who gave it to you to store for them. Passing it on to your children now, rather than later.
Maybe you took a few minutes to clean out the junk drawer. Or maybe you are a weekend warrior and tackled the garage. Maybe it was your closet or the linen cabinet. Your bookshelves or filing cabinet. Your email inbox or your computer desktop.
Wherever you started the decluttering process is perfect. Whatever you do, keep going. Don’t stop until you have released everything you no longer need, no longer want to store, no longer want cluttering up your space.
Following is a simple guide to clearing the clutter in every room of your home. Clutter keeps you stuck in life and can block you from losing weight. So, work to declutter your space, room by room.
ENTRY
The entry is one of two areas that take the highest priority in feng shui. Moving clutter out of the entry and foyer of your home is vital to creating a good flow of chi into your space. Create a space for coats, shoes, keys, purse, backpacks, etc. so that it doesn’t pile inside the front door. Remove any non-essentials and excess furniture from this important area.
KITCHEN
Clear the Drawers - Get rid of any duplicates of things – wooden spoons, cooking utensils and baking item. Throw away any old kitchen towels or pot holders.
Clear the Cupboards - Get rid of any aluminum and non-stick pots and pans. Throw away any broken appliances or dishes. Throw away all of your old plastic containers. Pare down any dishes, glasses etc. that you don’t need or use very often.Collect all of the kitchen items you only use at the holidays (large casserole dishes, turkey roasting pans, racks and basters, gravy boats, cookie cutters, etc.) and box them up to store with seasonal items.Throw out any chemical cleaning products.
Clear the Counters - Get rid of any small kitchen appliances and gadgets that you don’t use. Place the rest of the appliances in cupboards to declutter the counter.Knives in a butch block are bad feng shui. If you have one, put the knives in a drawer and get rid of the wooden block. Knives magnetized to metal plates are also bad feng shui. Remove the magnetic metal and store knives out of sight in a drawer.
Clear the Refrigerator / Pantry - Throw away all expired, stale or rotten food. Throw away food that you haven’t eaten and know you won’t eat. Throw away old spices, yeast, and other leavening products like baking powder. Make a plan about how to use up what you have and make space for new bottles of things.
DINING ROOM
Formal dining rooms are one the areas that can be enhanced to increase wealth. The first step though to enhancing this room is to declutter this seldom used space. Remove any piles of stuff from this space. Clear off the table and remove anything hanging from chairs. Make sure there is nothing hidden under the table or china cabinet. Display only crystal clean china in your cabinet. Get rid of any broken dishes or other decorative items. Throw away any wilted cut flowers and change the water daily in vases of fresh flowers.
LIVING ROOM
Formal living rooms should be kept clean and clutter free for entertaining guests. Limit this space to a formal living room set, art and plants. Remove all personal items like books and magazines, family pictures, children’s toys, etc. Do not store anything in this space, especially under couches.
FAMILY ROOM
Family rooms should be kept tidy. Things that you use on a daily basis – throw blankets, toys, devices, etc. should all have a home that they can be returned to once they are no longer being used. Remove all non-essentials. Get rid of anything you don’t use on a daily basis or store them somewhere else.
BEDROOMS
To honor your need for restful, restorative sleep, bedrooms should be the most yin and tranquil space in your home. They should not double as an office or workout room. Limit bedrooms to bedroom furniture, peaceful art, ambient lighting, air purifiers / essential oil diffusers, a small potted plant, crystals and calming music. Limit nightstands to a lamp, glass bottle of water, a single book and a silent, non-ticking analog alarm clock. Throw out and replace any old bed linens, comforters, etc. Remove all pictures of children and other family members from the master bedroom.
Remove the Active (Yang) Energy - Remove all exercise equipment and electronics, especially computers and TVs from bedrooms. Remove moving water features and mirrors. Remove multiple large green plants from the bedroom. (A small flowering plant to balance The Five Elements is OK.)
Remove Stored Items - Remove anything you might have stored under the bed or other furniture. Create places for clothes, shoes and laundry in the closet or bathroom that normally get left haphazardly in bedrooms. Remove shelves of books and all other non-essentials to sleeping.
Remove Sha Chi - Remove anything that is heavy, metallic or sharp above the bed or on the wall over the headboard. Remove any furnishing or décor that has sharp corners or edges.
CLOTHES CLOSET
Remove all clothing that is too big or too small. Throw out all worn, stained and torn clothing. Donate any clothing you have not taken the time to get altered or mended. Store seasonal clothing in plastic bins with lids elsewhere. Get everything up off the floor and onto shelves or into other organized storage solutions. Remove anything in your closet that is not wardrobe related.
BATHROOMS
Clear the Counters - Remove everything from the counter, except hand soap and hand lotion and an essential oil diffuser or essential oil spray. Create a place for everything else.Remove everything from the bathroom that isn’t used in the bathroom. Remove everything from the bathroom that isn’t used on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.Throw out all old makeup, skin care and personal care products.
Clear the Drawers - Give each person a drawer to use. Or, if you have your own bathroom, organize your bathroom drawers according to the following groups: makeup, skin care, personal care and hair care.
Clear the Cupboards - If you have extra items and have the room, you can store them and paper products in a bathroom cupboard. If you don’t have the room, only keep one of each item in the bathroom and store extra products in a nearby closet or cupboard. You can also keep small amounts of items you use daily in small containers and store the larger amounts elsewhere. Keep an extra hand towel and a few rolls of toilet paper in a cupboard.
Remove all bedding from the bathroom and store in a linen closet or cupboard.
Remove all chemical cleaning products and replace with natural ones.
LINEN CLOSET
Only keep bedding that fits the beds you have and enough sets of sheets to allow you to rotate your linens on laundry day. Store seasonal bedding. Throw out old linens, blankets and comforters. Donate linens, blankets and comforters that you don’t use. Throw away old towels, keep them for cleaning up spills or cut them up for rags.
OFFICE
For the most productivity and prosperity, your office should be kept completely clutter-free. Only items that contribute to your work and inspire your own greatness should be included in this space. Remove everything else. Get rid of it. Store it elsewhere. Or organize, file and store it out of sight in a closet or cupboard.
Clear your Desktop - Your physical desk and your computer desktop. Your physical inboxes and digital email inboxes. Your newspaper and magazine subscriptions and your email subscriptions. Your physical files and your digital document file folders.
GARAGE
If you have a garage and want to park your car in it, clear the clutter. Move workout equipment to an extra room in the house. Take all of the trash to the dump. Dispose of hazardous waste like paint properly. Organize your tools along the walls. Install hangers for bicycles and set up shelving units for items that would take up too much floor space.. Put yard maintenance equipment in an attractive shed. Box up seasonal items in stackable plastic bins with lids. If you have equipment for a business, rent a storage space nearby. Honor yourself and protect your car by create space for it.
ATTIC / BASEMENT
Besides the garage, attics and basements are the only appropriate spaces for storing items you don’t use on a regular basis. Things like luggage and seasonal clothing, décor and other items stored in stackable plastic bins with lids and labels.
PATIO / DECK
Outdoor living spaces are created to enjoy nature and get some sun and fresh air. They are not storage areas. There should be comfortable places to sit and put your favorite beverage, maybe a fire pit or grill and some ambient lighting, a few outdoor plants and possibly a water feature. Extra stuff in these spaces become an eyesore and discourage you and your family from enjoying them. Remove EVERYTHING you don’t need to enjoy time or entertain outside.
Work to declutter your home with intention, room by room. Take your time, but get it done. Create a schedule with a deadline and stick to it. Keep working on decluttering, even if you only have half an hour a few times a week.
In the next blog, we will learn all about Keeping Up with the Clutter.
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