Sometimes, decluttering your home can be overwhelming… sometimes you just don’t know where to start! Or, sometimes you have done a lot of decluttering and you feel stale and stalled, but you know you have some decluttering left to do. “Framing” your home can help.
I’ve noticed that homes have certain areas that are “framed” by the architecture of the home or apartment. Doorways are frames, windows are frames, some furniture setups form “frames.” All you have to do is look in the frame and arrange what’s inside in a way that pleases you (but is still functional.)
A logical place to start is the front door. What kind of picture is the front door framing? Is it framing a collection of plastic bags from the discount store along with a pile of shoes and toys? (Many times, ours frames a suitcase left behind the couch after a trip along with the extension cord we use when we vacuum. Pretty ugly.) You can move everything and then find some pretty things to put there instead (use things you already have, rather than buying something new.) Or, you can look at what ends up there and figure out a way to accomodate it. Put a shoe rack there that’s big enough to hold one pair of shoes for each person (they can keep the rest in their bedrooms.) Put a pretty covered basket to hold the basketballs and trucks and other toys that pile up. Mount a mail holder on the wall to hold the mail that ends up there. Put up a pretty, framed picture… it’s your choice.
Take some time once a day, once every other day, or once a week, to look through one of the natural frames and to fix what’s out of place. Look through your windows from the outside and make what’s visible look nice. Sit in the various seats throughout your house and look through the doorways to the hallways or into the other rooms, and fix just what you can see.
I’m not advocating that you JUST clean what you can see from the other room, but it’s a good place to start. It’s a good way to take a different tack on cleaning. It’s a nice change.
Monica
November 12th, 2002 at 9:37 amGerat idea Jenne! I am truly inspired. I think I will do it for the yard too…start to plan my plantings and fixtures to look eaqually good from inside the house. I was standing in my neighbor’s dining room and saw the bike parking area at the end of my driveway (4 kids=lots of outside toys and bikes) I was compelled to apologize and make a change.
Heather
December 31st, 2002 at 2:42 pmThis has been a real year for change for me. Using the help from MMH and other resourses my clutter is down by 75% . We had a water heater leak in July. When we got to cleaning up, many things store in the closet that were damaged could not be salvaged . What I found out is that everything in plastic tote made it . I also found that my photos that filled 2 totes were mostly unharmed .I also am able to reevaluate what is important to me . If my house was damaged by a disaster, The only THINGS I would grieve over are the FAMILY photos. This was a major cahnge for me in recognizing why I keep clutter . I am changing what I keep and why . This spring I am also putting negatives and keepsakes in the safety deposit box . Imagine the worst case ,bear with me what would you truly miss about your things. Then start journaling ,and find out why you do what you do . I have learned alot about myself.
Thank you mmh. Heather
Cher
February 14th, 2003 at 1:07 amMonica
Will you call my sweet neighbor?
She has old boxes all along the property line that she plans to use. They always get rained, or snowed on first :o) I guess I need to take the heads up too. Some months ago the trash blew over and it collected along the back fence… Sorry neighbors. Time for a change.
Cher