Now that you’ve had a little time to process your tour from yesterday, I want you to zero in on those spots you love the most and compare them to the ones that caused you a little stress. I think it’s safe to say that 99% of the time, the stress is because of too much stuff or stuff in the wrong place.
We need to edit. The Nester calls this “quieting the space” and she actually recommends taking everything not totally necessary (i.e. beds, couch, etc) out of the space and living like that for awhile to reorient ourselves with how the space can function. This is great and I think we should all do it at some point but I have no time for such extremes today, so can we just call this an “edit” for now?
Today is where were retrace our steps of our tour and take things out. Who knew this would double as a workout! Track your steps, grab a basket or box and walk around and grab the following:
- Things that are in the wrong place: Take care of them now. Get them to their correct home and you’ve tidied too!
- Trash: it happens! You open the mail and leave the junk by the door, the kid leaves some wrapper laying around (please tell me I'm not alone there?) There is always a little something to throw away. Do it now.
- Things you don’t love: Have you lived with a rooster from “Aunt So and So” in your kitchen forever but it makes you cringe? Or what about “art” you picked up to fill a space but it’s so not your style and feels more waiting room style than homey? We all have that thing we don’t love, but we try to ignore it. Just put it in the box. Set it free and set yourself free.
- Things that don’t feel right: if it makes you go “hmmm” when you look at it just remove it for now. Give yourself some space to see if you miss it, find a better spot for it or forget it all together.
- Too much of a good thing: Do you have a spot that just feels crowded? Sure you love at 92 whatever, but do they all have to be on one location? You might love every single thing, but if it makes you feel even the tiniest but clausterphobic, take some out for now. Let's see how we feel without it all for now. This is only a test :)
And that’s it. A simple edit. There are no hard and fast rules. It’s just a break. If you miss the art you thought you hated, bring it back! But we’re just giving ourselves a little space and freedom so tomorrow we can start getting pretty!