Clutter

I spend a fair bit of time helping people get started on the way to their vision of their home. 

Sometimes this is very difficult and usually due to clutter. I remember one house that had piles of clothes everywhere. The circular staircase led to a large second floor landing off which the bedrooms opened.  On the landing was a small path around the  3 foot high pile of clothes.  The piles continued into the daughters bedroom; the walls were covered with posters hung with scotch tape; the room was crammed with furniture and  every drawer was hanging open. It didn’t smell very pleasant either. The client wanted help picking a new paint color for the walls and seemed completely oblivious to the fact that the walls were almost totally hidden by the furniture and clutter. I was new to the business then so I just did what she wanted and helped her pick a color. I have thought about them often over the years, wondering what happened in that home. It was not a pleasant place to be; it felt heavy and oppressive. It felt disjointed and unhappy and I felt uneasy being there.

We know so much more, now, about the cause and effect of clutter in our homes.  It impacts our emotional well being and therefore  our personal and  professional lives. It increases stress levels; it encourages overspending; it causes us to use up precious time looking for things and now we know there is a direct relationship between the state of clutter in a home and the weight of the inhabitants. Yup.. clutter can make you fat. 

None of this is saying that homes must be minimalist.  If you need lots of stuff in your life, fine, but if it is not kept under control - if it becomes clutter - then the clutter will start  to change the way you think and act.  

One simple example:  If your kitchen is always in a ‘state’; preparing meals  can become a chore.  Quick meals eaten in front of the T.V. is a common result.  You will eat more if you do it watching T.V.

How do you know if you have a clutter problem? You probably already do know. 

Nine questions to answer.  Answer truthfully:

http://zenhabits.net/identify-clutter


Peter Walsh, one of the most reasonable of the clutter gurus:
http://www.oprah.com/home/Peter-Walshs-10-Tips-to-De-Clutter-Your-Home


And one more from the zen people - check out the links posted in this.
http://zenhabits.net/zen-mind-how-to-declutter/