Create a Vision for Your Home
The first step of decluttering is to create a clear vision for your home. A vision is a powerful motivator. It helps us take difficult steps and make hard decisions. A vision helps us know when we have achieved what we set out to do. It gives us goalposts to aim for.
A vision is deeply personal. My vision will be different to yours. Your vision will suit your personality, your individual taste and your season of life. It will reflect your unique situation.
“The secret to successful decluttering is this:
you will never get organised if you don’t have a vision for the life you want.”
—Peter Walsh
To create a vision, you will need to answer these questions:
What do you want your home to look like?
Do you like bright colours or pale neutrals? Do you prefer natural materials or contemporary alternatives? Do you like heritage pieces or a more modern style?
If you’re unsure, spend some time on Google or Pinterest and collect images that appeal to you, then look carefully at the details. Look at the colours, the furnishings, the lighting and the décor.
Look around your home. What are your favourite pieces? Look carefully at your favourite pieces of furniture, artwork, bedspread or dinner set and notice the details. What is it you love about each piece?
Think about any other spaces you love. Is there a café, friend’s home, shop or office space that you love? Notice the colours, the lighting, the furniture and the wall coverings. What elements create the feel of the room?
What do you want your home to do for you?
Do you want a safe and inviting place for your grandchildren to play? Do you want your home to be a calm retreat away from a stressful job? Do you want to be able to entertain guests and host family gatherings? Do you want to grow vegetables or watch movies, or exercise? Think about the purposes of your home and how it can enable you to do the things that are most important to you.
What do you want your home to feel like?
What do you feel when you walk into your home? Is it a calm place of retreat and peace? Is it a fun place full of laughter and activity? Is it energising and motivating? Is it soft and cosy? Think through the emotions you want to evoke as you spend time in your home and how you can achieve those feelings.
When you have thought through these questions, put together your vision in a way that works for you. It may be a Pinterest board or other digital medium. It may be a spread in your journal. You may want to create a physical vision board, putting together pictures and words on a display that you can see regularly. You will refine your vision over time, adding and deleting different elements and your tastes and needs change.
Now, let’s put what you’ve learned into practice and create an entryway you’ll love to come home to.
ENTRY
Declutter your entryway to create a space that welcomes you home and functions effectively.
Put away everything that doesn’t belong in the space. Clear everything off any horizontal surfaces. Give the area a good clean, including the door, mat and skirting boards.
Create tidy storage for the things that live there. Use hooks and baskets for everyday items such as bags, shoes and keys to keep them contained and tidy. Keep horizontal surfaces as clear as possible.
What are the pressure points of your entry? Does it get cluttered with shoes and coats? Do you need a space for your car keys and handbag? Do you come home and dump mail near the doorway? Think about what problems you need to solve in this space and find solutions that will make it easy to keep the area clear.
Finish by adding something beautiful. Hang a mirror or other artwork on the wall. Place a plant or bunch of flowers on the console table, or add a colourful mat for the floor. Look at your vision board for inspiration and create a space that you feel good about stepping into, a space that says, ‘Welcome Home’.
