by Martha Tobin
During the pandemic many people’s guest rooms became indoor storage sheds. No one was coming over so you could just toss items in there and close the door.
Fast forward to today – people are dropping by again and guests want to come and stay for a few days.
Here are 5 tips for getting into the right frame of mind to declutter your guest room (or any room):
- Get clear on your vision for this space.Letting go of items you no longer need, use, love or want is always going to move you forwards. Decluttering opens up physical space in your home as well as life opportunities (i.e grandkids sleeping over, creating an area to scrapbook).
- Your stuff does not define you.Your possessions don’t tell your life story – your memories and relationships do. A sobering thought is that obituaries never mention the stuff we owned.
- Find a place for items to ‘live’ in your home.If an item is worth keeping then it’s worth finding it a place to live in your home. Whether that’s a travel keepsake, a book or an inherited item. Ending an item’s nomadic journey in your home and finding it a place to live will not only allow you to enjoy the item more but to find it easily.
- Our stuff takes up space. Your ‘stuff’ can take up a lot of physical space in your home but stuff also takes up a lot of emotional and mental space too (i.e guilt over half-finished craft projects, shame over underused exercise equipment or regret about clothing purchases, etc), Letting go of such items will also release you from the negative emotions associated with them.
- Only keep a few of something.It can be difficult to let go of items that are associated with memories. Consider keeping just a few meaningful pieces (i.e a few handwritten letters instead of a whole box, a couple of figurines instead of the entire collection, etc). Perhaps take a photo of a keepsake to preserve the memory but reclaim the space.
Living more by owning less is a mindset rooted in creating space so that you can be more present with the moments of your life and more grounded in supporting the person you are now.
“The way you spend your days is how you spend your life.” (Annie Dillard)