Organizing and Design Go Hand-In-Hand
This past month, I had the opportunity to be a guest speaker to a group of lovely women about organizing and designing spaces in a home. I had two hours and needed to plan my talk so that I could fit everything in while giving the best information without having everyone feeling overwhelmed.I decided to walk the guests through the exact process that I use when working with clients that will work for any space in your home. As you may know, when I started my business almost 8 years ago, it was strictly an organizing business. Over the past 8 years my business has grown and evolved because I have come to know is that it just isn't about organizing. It's about creating a space and a life that you desire.
While there were women in the audience who have young children, there were also women in the audience who have teens. It really doesn't matter what age you kids are (or even if you have any kids at all) - the process remains the same. We talked about having a vision for every space, we talked about knowing the function of the space, and we talked about the stuff in the space!
For examples, I used three different spaces in a home and started with the master bedroom. The master bedroom, I believe, sets the tone for your entire home. If you allow your master bedroom to be a dumping ground, then you're allowing your entire home to be a dumping ground. First things first: make the bed. By making your bed, every morning, you are setting the tone for your house to be in order. Think of any hotel room when you walk through the door - the bed is ALWAYS made. So should yours. Your master bedroom should be a place where you get to go and just relax. A place where you walk in and go, "Ahhhh."
When I talked about the family room, and especially toys, I used this image
This is a great example of a space that already has organizing systems so why aren't the organizing tools working? There is clearly no structure. What I see is that the adults in this home are allowing the children and their toys to dictate things. It is obvious that putting away toys is optional. When I used this image, I followed it up with this one:
This simple rule - applied to ANY area of your home - will allow you to maintain any newly designed and organized space. Go on - try it!
While I have almost seen it all (as I'm sure there are still some surprises out there) and have heard every excuse in the book, there is always one thing to remember:
Here's to choices that will make your life filled with everything you have ever imagined.
