21 Quick Clutter Fixes For Your Home

By Jessica Hoelzel

REDUCE the amount of STUFF you have and LIVE GREEN

Keep your eye on Day to Day Feng Shui for each post in my blog series: 21 Quick Clutter Fixes, ways to lighten your load by cutting out clutter bit-by-bit throughout your home. Plus, solutions that keep the environment top-of-mind, so you keep your waste-impact down.


Less Clutter = Healthy Home

Less Waste = Healthy World


In Storage


20. Keep only what you love, need and have the space for. If you’re not moving frequently, chances are you have stuff in storage, tucked way for safe-keeping…in the attic, basement, crawl space, or extra closet(s) that’s been there for years, and continues to accumulate.

Most people operate under the “out of sight, out of mind” concept. As long as things are boxed up, shelved, behind closed doors they’re not affecting you on a daily basis. They’re not part of what you need to “deal with”.

This is not so, according to feng shui. Everything you have is connected to you. Every THING can either weigh you down or lift you up. If it’s not:


something you need (serving a purpose),

something you love (positive vibration) or

something you have the space for (energy can flow freely)



then it could be endangering the feng shui – balance and harmony – of your space (and your life).

Set aside a day or a weekend, on your calendar, to give your storage space a good review, go through, and clean-out. If you get into it and find it’s going to take a LOT longer than you anticipated, break it down. Maybe only do one box or section at a time. If you’ve lived in the same space for a long time, the task can be overwhelming. Do as much as you have the energy for at one given time, then be purposeful about getting back to it. You can do it, and it’s going to feel soooo good.

Eco Tip: The less stuff you LET in your home, the less you need to get rid of, dispose of later. Making environmentally conscious choices about what you buy and keep eliminates some of the burden you place on the planet.

21 Quick Clutter Fixes For Your Home

By Jessica Hoelzel

REDUCE the amount of STUFF you have and LIVE GREEN

NEW blog series: 21 Quick Clutter Fixes. Keep your eye on Day to Day Feng Shui for 21 ways to lighten your load by cutting out clutter bit-by-bit throughout your home. Plus, solutions that keep the environment top-of-mind, so you keep your waste-impact down.

Less Clutter = Healthy Home

Less Waste = Healthy World

In the Bedroom


11. Clear the top of your dresser. Too much clutter in the bedroom is dangerous, as I mentioned in my earlier post about piles of books next to the bed. Clutter can affect your sleep, your mood, your general well-being. Clutter is distracting, and it needs to be dealt with for you to live at your best.

The bedroom should definitely NOT be the place to dump things for later, like receipts, papers, odds ‘n’ ends and things in general that collect dust. In order for your sleep to be restorative and deep, you need your bedroom to be a clear, serene space. And that includes the surface space of your dresser.

Clear it off, and only place a few special objects on it for peace or inspiration. Then, establish the rule that those items, and only those items are allowed to live there – for your well-being.

If you need storage for things on top of your dresser, consider these eco-friendly solutions:

(or re-purpose a box you have in another area of your home – good for jewelry, etc.)

From Pristine Planet

From Décor Universe

From Organize It


Sleep tight!

Feng Shui for Shared Spaces

By Jessica Hoelzel

As I mentioned in an earlier post, my home office happens to be in a loft, which is shared with a playroom. One nice thing about it is that there is plenty of space; it’s a large square room. However, the room needs to function for both purposes, independently. In other words, when it’s a playroom it’s a playroom, and when it’s an office, it’s an office. And those two things need to be kept separate, in order for the room arrangements to work.

This is the case for many of us with either 1) smaller spaces, that we’re trying to make multifunction, or 2) open floor plans. The most important thing to do is to create boundaries for each function.



Below are several ways to establish each function its own space:

Rugs
Rugs can square off areas, and define boundaries.

Screens
Screens work well to define an area as a room, and block views.

Plants
Plants can also semi-block views, as well as create a visual boundary.

Storage with drawers /doors
Smart storage that keeps things fully enclosed helps minimize visual clutter and distraction.

Furniture with the back finished
Desks/bookshelves/dressers with that you can face out help set up boundaries of a space, so you don’t have all furniture around the perimeter of the room, and so you don’t face the wall at your desk (for good feng shui you want a view of the door, and the largest view of the room possible).

Similar color schemes
Similar color schemes in paint colors, wood finishes, baskets, decorative items, etc. will tie the room together, keeping it easy-on-the-eyes, and visually functioning as a whole.

Update: Putting My Life Back Together After Moving

By Jessica Hoelzel

I gave myself until Sunday for completion of this list, and I got most of it done, plus more. Put an organizing and feng shui consultant/perfectionist in a space and what do you get? Obsession with getting things in their places!

There is still much to do, but I feel more settled as each thing gets done, and the rooms come together. Every little bit helps me feel like I’m able to focus better while I'm working, and not have my energy scattered around. When things are settled, I can be settled, because I know, according to feng shui, my space is a reflection of me and vice/versa.

My office space is set up, and I’m pretty pleased with it. At our previous place, I had a huge closet to keep all office necessities. Not so here. Before I found my solution I had stuff, stuff, stuff that was partly out in the open, and partly in makeshift storage in a plastic dresser.

That was not going to work for me. I needed to pull it together and keep it enclosed – partly to minimize the visual distraction of having lots of things set around – and partly because my office space is in an open loft shared with a playroom.

My talented woodworker brother-in-law offered me the solution of the armoire, which was previously designed and used for a TV and electronics. I repurposed it; it’s got room for all the office things I need and good accessibility. Plus, it helps to define the boundaries of the shared space. I absolutely love it!