I’ve recently been reading an amazing book by Peter Walsh, “Lighten Up: Love What You Have, Have What You Need, Be Happier With Less”. He is talking about eliminating the “stuff” in your life, physical clutter, emotional clutter, financial clutter. The phrase I hear him use the most is “TOO MUCH STUFF”. So I’ve been using his book to eliminate the “stuff” from my life… Excess number of photographs, clothes from High-school (Seriously, it’s been a decade), Books (time for a book club, perhaps pass them around for others to read?). This weekend, it was all about tackling my closet. (Okay, I confess, I had clothes in the basement, in the guest room, under the bed… Way too much stuff!) Talk about not wearing certain clothes! So I’ve decided to use my habit for shopping to show you, how too much clutter takes away from the function of a room and a home.
So many times I hear from clients that they have to many things and they don’t know where to put it all or how to organize it. It is okay to own things you love and use those in your home and throughout design. But sometimes a weeding out process is necessary. If your favorite piece of art is surrounded by five other pieces that you feel are “okay”… then why have them? There are ways to take a few treasured items and make them the wow factors in your spaces. Often times design begins with cleaning out. Most likely, we won’t be able to fit everything into one space, but you can incorporate a few of your favorite things into a room. Every morning I found myself staring at my closet, not knowing what to wear or what to put into outfits. The reason? I mentally had to sort through all of those pieces thinking of what didn’t fit, what had a hole or a stain, what was in season or not, to narrow down to a few items what could potentially work, then organize it into an outfit. No wonder it took forever! What if every time you wanted to read a book on the sofa, you had to sort through each and every room that stored any number of books to eliminate the ones you have already read, find the ones you haven’t finished, then sort through the types and then find one to suite your mood? What if all your books were in one reading nook in your living room or you had a space dedicated to a library with a comfortable chair. Then every time you wanted to relax, you didn’t have to work so hard at it?
The spaces in our homes are meant to be calm, welcoming, nourishing, relaxing, rejuvenating and so much more. But if we are constantly surrounded by “Too Much Stuff”, we will never feel relaxed or at peace in our own homes.
Our goal at DMB Design, is to create spaces that are relaxing, inviting, organized and FUNCTIONAL! You need to be able to live in your home, find what you need and enjoy the things you love the most. So start organizing and let us help you create an amazing space to live in!
Found this beautiful shadow box idea for displaying and organizing your jewelry. Not only is it functional, it allows you to see everything you have and get to it easily, but it also makes for beautiful art.
Baskets are always a great way to organize any space. It takes all the small things that just clutter a shelf and puts them in one beautiful spot. So instead of the office supplies being the focus of the space, the beautiful wallpaper and colors are the wow factor.