Have you ever wondered why you are so relaxed when you go away on holiday? You’re probably in a new environment you’ve never been in before, and its not the bed you’re used to sleeping in, but you are relaxed. I have just embarked on a major de-clutter of my house. I started with my clothes. We don’t have wardrobes (closets) in our bedroom, but a walk-in shelving and hanging area. I’m not going to call it a dressing room because its a bit too small and primitive for that. That part of our bedroom used to be a miniature kitchen before we renovated the house when we bought it. The one side of the space has a rail for hanging and the opposite side has the kitchen cupboards. I took the doors off so that they would be shelves.
The bottom ones are too wide to favourably accommodate clothes, then there’s a large gap and there are two shelves above. This place has been an irritation and an eyesore for the last eight years. I have often considered hanging a curtain in front of it to hide the messiness.
Then I read a book on tidying. Yes, there are books that tell you how to tidy. I was really impressed with what I had learned and on Saturday morning embarked with enthusiasm. I removed all my clothes from their place of rest and started to sort them into a keep pile and a black bag. I ended up with 5 trash bags. The clothes that were left are the ones I like and that fit me. I organized them into shoe boxes on the shelves. What I learned from the book is that you fold your clothes in such a way that they stand upright alongside each other. The result is that you can see everything you have and when you take one item out to wear you don’t disturb the rest like you would if they were folded and piled up on top of each other. You also won’t be re-folding constantly. I really don’t like tidying, therefore this method ensures that I don’t constantly have to tidy my cupboard.
A shoebox of tights
T-shirts happily rubbing shoulders. Now I can see what I own and the one at the bottom of the pile doesn’t get neglected!
That brings me back to my holiday theory. When you’ve away on holiday you don’t have a lot of clutter around you. A chalet, hotel room or B & B all have minimalist interiors. I told my husband on Saturday night that I was considering leaving the light on all night so that I could see my tidy space. It just made me feel so good. This morning when I woke up I looked at my cupboard and it brought me peace. What a lovely place to be. Now I’ll have more time to spend in my garden, or write without any guilt about an untidy closet.
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