I’m almost done evaluating my “how I eat” spaces. I’ve cleaned out the dishes and pots and pans, food cabinet and fridge, and extra storage. Tomorrow I plan to spend some time reacquainting myself with meal planning.
Today I spent time in my kitchen, recognizing that when clutter fills the space physically, it also fills my senses. It fills my time. It fills my stress capacities. I am a creative person, and I love the creative aspects of cooking and baking. I don’t have space for that creativity when I don’t have space. Decluttering allows me to access the tools I need and gives me an awareness and connection to what I have. Because of this process, I now know better the ingredients I have on hand – if someone else hasn’t eaten them yet. 🙂 I now know where everything is, and I now know nothing will fall on my head when I reach for the item at the top of the cabinet. But in looking around at my space, I realized the visual clutter was loud as well. I LOVE home décor. I love bold colors and personal touches and quirky pieces and sentimental mementos. And my home is full of all of it. I want my space to reflect me and feel like home and I’ve tried to do so by filling my home with all of those things. In abundance.
As I looked around today, I began by pulling everything off the top of my fridge to clean it. Once the plants and lanterns and an old-fashioned flour sifter and a vintage thermos and a speaker and another plant IN a lantern and a couple battery operated lights were down, I wiped down the top of the fridge and replaced the wax paper I use to catch greasy dust.
I began moving around the room, removing excess as I went. Those little magnetic poetry words on the side of the fridge are so fun…and they also register as mess whenever they catch my eye. Buh-bye. That wall of cookie cutters is filled with some of my favorites – the leg lamp from a family favorite movie, the hammer and house for my favorite non-profit, the snowflakes from my niece’s baby shower – and every time I turn on the mixer, I knock at least one off and they always look slightly messy. Buh-bye, off to baking storage for all of them. I eventually worked my way all around the room. In some spots I edited out just a few things, in some places I removed everything. Some surfaces I left blank, some I put back a few curated favorites, and on some I placed a simple mason jar of plant cuttings or fresh flowers to keep the clutter from thinking it’s a good place to land.
In the long term, I don’t know what else will stay and what won’t, but I know it was a lot easier to dust, wipe down surfaces and vacuum today and it all feels overall lighter and more peace filled.
Uncovering Real 