It's time to welcome the new year and pare down your interior space! You don't need to turn your entire home upside down but there are a few simple ways to get rid of annoying excess in your home while clearing your mind at the same time.
Re-evaluate.
A great place to begin is to re-evaluate what you have by looking over your possessions with a critical eye. We quickly become used to our surroundings, especially when we see them multiple times every day and it is very easy to overlook and not notice unimportant or irrelevant items in your home that are taking up valuable space. So give everything a second look, really scrutinize every piece and ask yourself if they serve a purpose. If they aren't contributing to your happiness or ability to live in a space peacefully, get rid of them! Maybe though they are useful, beautiful or even sentimental but in order for them to stay in your, they must remain with good reason.
Once you've got an idea of the items you know you need to keep you can create a quick game plan, which makes sorting and purging a bit easier.
Have a friend come over to help.
Inviting a friend to come help you as you minimize your belongings is not just for company but she or he also brings with them a more objective perspective. They will notice those things you overlook on a regular basis and won't share the same emotional connection with your things that you do, making it easier to think critically about what to keep and what to donate or sell.
You can also set up boxes labeled with "sell" and "donate" to make time efficient as you move from room to room.
Focus on what matters.
What is most important will be different for everyone but focus on the most important features of your space. Comfort and storage might be the two most important factors which can help you to prioritize items that assist with those two elements and weed out items that don't contribute. Find out what is most important to you and be relentless in making sure your space aligns with your values!
Don't forget the kitchen!
Not just the kitchen as a room itself but the spaces where you store food. This might not sound so essential and it certainly isn't glamorous but even having a clean area for food storage can help reframe the way you see other parts of your home. Also it helps you to take quick inventory of what you have vs what you need and allows you to meal prep easily. Don't forget dishes and serve ware that might have been kept with good intent but in reality is only taking up space. If you haven't used it in the last year it's time to consider finding a new home for that item!
One room a week.
This might sound daunting and if you're on holiday break, who wants to spend their break organizing their home? Just pick one room for each week and make it a goal that by the end of the week you've sorted that entire room. Write a list of to-do's or notes in your calendar (like these ones), this way you will have ample time for each room and won't feel overwhelmed by the prospect of going through your entire home at once. If you begin in the first week of January, by mid February (depending in the number of rooms in your space) you should have completed ever room.
image by Susanna Vento for Livet Hemma
Look for inspiration.
It's so important to have an end game, otherwise you don't know what you're working towards. Create a new board on Pinterest for yourself with images of interiors that demonstrate the kind of minimal space you hope to achieve. Measuring your own space against one that you really love the look of helps you to see the things in your own space that aren't working for you. These are only examples to give you some parameters, don't pressure yourself to achieve magazine-type perfection.
