Are you like this? Once you organise one thing in your home, you feel you need to organise the rest?
I can go for weeks, months, without really thinking about re-organising anything, moving furniture around, redecorating, decluttering, changing home décor and so on, and then bang, one thing changes and I find myself becoming a crazed whirlwind clearing out the entire house!
We recently bought new wardrobes for both of the kids. We went for those PAX wardrobe systems from IKEA and they are brilliant.
As soon as we ordered them, it started.
We needed to clear things out in the kids’ rooms to make space for them as they’re larger than their old ones. Cue several hours of wrangling with the kids over whether they really need to keep that toy they’ve completely forgotten about and haven’t played with for five years or that bit of scrap paper from months ago. If you’ve ever attempted to clear out your child’s bedroom, you know what I’m talking about, you can picture the scene.
Anyway, with this completed and a recent visit to IKEA fresh in my mind (what is it with this place? They make me want to re-do every room and buy everything simultaneously), I started to turn a critical eye on everywhere else in our home. Everywhere.
So the lists began.
I’ve been freshening up our bedroom décor with new duvet sets, plants and soft furnishings, re-organising my stationery, office and bookshelves and tackled ‘the drawer’ – we all have one of these, don’t we? Where everything just seems to end up? I’ve then sifted through and filed paperwork, cleared, cleaned and sorted our kitchen cupboards, popped things on Vinted and Facebook marketplace and made a fair few donation and tip runs.
It didn’t stop with physical things, as this clear-out, refresh and declutter got me thinking differently too. I feel like clearing things helps clear your mind too, don’t you?
We don’t live in a particularly cluttered house, or at least I didn’t think so, but I’d say I feel much happier walking into every room now.
I even, and I do feel this is peak organising mode, sent in my tax return. On the first day of the new tax year. See? The organising bug had me, help!
And now?
Now my mind feels restful. It feels like it has more room to think, to plan, to create.
I’ve had a motivated surge here at work, I’ve been scribbling away making plans and the ideas are flowing.
Now my body on the other hand is not quite so restful! It is telling me it’s done and it’s reminding me I need to rest it.
And I can now. Things all feel like they’re in order so I can rest up a little, enjoy the new decor and the feeling of everywhere being organised.
Then next week, I need to get cracking on the garden! There’s always something, isn’t there?!
Do you enjoy a good clear-out?