Feeling it? Things that cause stress, big and small, are in every part of our lives.
Our homes are often the cause of some low level (or high level!) stress, like losing your keys because there’s no handy space to keep them, or not being able to park in the garage when it’s pouring with rain, because it’s full of stuff.
Read on for a few quick and simple tips to help transform your home to a convenient, peaceful haven.
Take a minute. That means sit for a bit and think. Even if that’s only on the train, or when you have 5 minutes to yourself in your car.
Why? I want you to think about the things that bother you the most about your home, big and small. Take a tour of the rooms, in your mind or in reality and note the things that annoy the heck out of you. Or keep a list on your phone that you can add to when you notice you’re feeling tense or grumpy about something around you.
Focus on those annoying spaces, one at a time.
Do you feel Pan Rage? The stacks of scratched and dented pans getting in the way and making the drawer so aggravating? You’ll probably find that the reason your pot & pan cupboard annoys you is because there’s too many. And you only use 4 of them anyway.
Have a place for everything.
If you’re regularly screaming around the house like a caffeinated Kermit The Frog looking for things URGENTLY you will definitely feel the benefit of having a smart spot for the important things.
Keys go on the hooks by the door (buy some hooks!), mail goes in the tray on the computer table, scissors go in the vintage jam jar. You get the picture. If your house has busy people (well duh!), people with low tolerance for irritating things, and people who have to ask you every single time where something is? (Also called Thing Blind people)
Here are some guidelines that might help ~
Put things you use most often within easy reach at the front or at shoulder height. Things you use less put at the back or high or low. (Just a tip – some people aren’t keen on bending and never look higher than the top of their head. This is useful information for hiding the good biscuits, presents and your sweetie stash.)
If possible keep like with like in the same space, so you don’t have to hunt in several places. Don’t worry too much if the place you’ve chosen isn’t the Perfect Spot. The place they already are, might be just right for you and your family. And you won’t have to re-train everybody. Nifty huh?
Reduce the number of things. Take mugs for example. You may have 72, but you can’t find your fav? Ugh, it just doesn’t taste the same, right? It’s much easier when you only have to store 15 mugs. (Just an estimate, don’t worry, I’m not going to suggest you go Mug-Minimal or is it Muginimal?)
Be practical. Cute storage items are nice to have but no good if you can’t see what’s in them or they’re annoying to open. People Who Don’t Care or are SuperBusy are highly unlikely to lift lids or pick up shoes and put them in cute cupboards. Just an FYI.
Always keep a Donate box or bag in a handy spot. Clothes that no longer fit, unwanted gifts, things you no longer need or like? Pop them in, when it’s full take it to your nearest charity shop, they’ll be so happy to see you!
Every time you move from one room to another, have a quick look around for things that should be where you’re going. It’s like Plogging (Picking up rubbish while Jogging).
Have useful things like glasses, scissors & sellotape in several places around the house. It’s ok to have multiples of useful things. That’s quite different to holding onto 17 laptop bags, just because they’re Good Bags.
Put things back where you found them. This works best when you have a smart spot for things already, but even if you don’t, it’s darn good habit to get into. You might like to crack out your label maker, or just write on a bit of masking tape. Make sure you point out the helpful labels to the Thing Blind people in your household.
Just pick one thing from the list above and give it a go. Maybe try another one. Before you know it, you’ll be simplifying your life and de-stressing. It’ll be mostly painless I promise.
