Organizing your space is a beautiful notion. Each beginning of a new year you hear this voice in your head telling you that the resolutions for this year will include becoming more organized. But why? Why do you want to organize your home, or any space for that matter?
“Where are my keys?” Does that sound familiar to you?
Organizing your space starts with finding your whys. Ask yourself: Why do I really want to organize or reorganize my space or home? Write down the reasons why you want to put some order to any given space, be it your home, the room you are renting, or even your desk at the office. Can the reason be that you are wasting so much time looking for things? “Where are my keys?” Does that sound familiar to you? Also, write down how you or your family will benefit from this new order. Let’s say it is the garage you want to tackle first. There are many boxes, old furniture you have inherited from other family members and many more odds and ends. Meanwhile your cars are parked outside the garage and taking a toll because of the weather. The obvious benefit for getting rid of some boxes and other objects in your garage will free up the space, which is needed to park at least one car inside the garage. Define the area you want to organize. That could be a good starting point for your next organization project. This project can be as small as one cabinet in the kitchen, or the whole living room.
You can prioritize the areas you want to organize. Is it the kitchen that is on fire now, or is it the master bedroom’s closet where you hardly find anything when you wake up in the morning, and are wasting so much time looking for the blue pants, or your favorite jacket. Which area of your space is more pressing to you? You are the one that will make this decision. There is no rule or law that says that you have to start from a particular room. Essentially, it is up to you.
Now that you are getting yourself revved up to have more space, organize your home, I am asking you to stop. Why? I want you to get yourself emotionally in a good place. I sincerely wished someone would have told me to get myself emotionally in a good place before I got rid of so many things that now I miss, and still think about after all those years. So if you forget all the tips in this article, the most important tip is this one. Do whatever you need to do in order to get yourself in a good place emotionally and ready for this project. Get some music, eat something; anything that you know will help you handle the project at hand better.
Please do not start throwing away or donating your personal belongings when you are angry or upset. It is the last thing you want to do to yourself. I went through organizing my spaces couple of times while I was angry and upset. I got rid of precious articles that later I found out how important they were to me. And I miss them.
I will share with you one of my experiences. One time I rented a room from a friend of a friend. I stayed there for a few months. I was under a lot of pressure at the time for many reasons. The room was very small and I could not use the rest of the house for my personal belongings. At one point I was so angry that I decided to get rid of some of my things in the room, to make more space. I went to the donation center and gave them all my chocolate molds. I had a very healthy collection that I had bought throughout the years and used for different occasions with love and passion. To this day, I miss them and think of them. Yes. I am hoping they found a loving home and someone is enjoying them. This thought makes me feel better. It really does not worth it. My point is that more important than organizing your home and gaining bigger space perhaps, is you. Don’t get rid of you and the articles that will cause you emotional pain if you throw them away.
Make sure to dedicate enough time for the area or room you want to organize. Decide on a time that you want to organize your living room, or any other area. If it is the weekend, is your project that big that you will need Saturday and Sunday? Or if you want to take care only of a guest bathroom and reorganize the cabinet under the sink, will you need only Saturday morning for that task? Gauge more or less how much time you need for any of your organizational projects that you want to start. The reason being is that if you start with the garage and you take out everything, then the weather changes and it starts raining you will end up with more mess than anticipated.
“A good system shorten the road to the goal.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
Organizing your space is vital and very helpful. Just be ready for it. Take into consideration the whys, the benefits, your emotional state and the time. That way you will set yourself for a success for any project you want to start. You may find old treasures that you can use them in your renewed and organized space. You will be surprised and hopefully happier.
All content is copy-write 2019 by Cup of Opulence. All rights reserved.
Cup of Opulence 