Days are getting longer, the weather is - well you know, still British - but yippee Spring is nearly here! Although you definitely don’t need the excuse of a season cropping up to clear out your closets, it’s certainly good motivation. During the winter months we tend to make like squirrels and stash, hoard, collect and snaffle as much STUFF as we can, just incase we get snowed in and can’t leave the house for a month or something… Which means as soon as Easter cards are on the shelves in Selfridges, it’s time to move on from our winter habits and clean up the aftermath!
Usually the approach of summer means most of us will be upgrading to a slightly healthier or more active lifestyle; joining the gym, promising to go on a run every morning before work, walking to meetings instead of getting an Uber, making healthier choices for dinner…The list goes on. But after much Eat Sleep Live discussion, we came to the conclusion that nothing makes you feel fresher than a clearing out of your personal space.
Have a mental walk through your home now, what do you see? A few wrappers on the table, shoes piled up by the front door, dirty dishes by the side of sink, un-ironed clothes strewn across the work bench - sound familiar? It’s a known fact that your personal space affects your wellbeing. You don’t always have a lot of control in life - over your job, friends, loved ones, emotions - but you do have total control of the space you encapsulate yourself within. Think about it; if you’re surrounded by mess, are you going to feel organised and on top of things? Probably not, most likely you’ll feel slightly stressed, whether you understand why or not.
That’s why the Easter spring clean is a great excuse to start from scratch and begin personalising the four walled world around you! Chuck out your old things, go on its riveting! Once you start you can’t stop and eventually you’ll be left with only the important things that you want, need and make you happy. Everything else in-between can go. But don’t stop at clothes, books, ornamental accessories… They’re the easy things that are usually hidden away anyway, so without them you may have a bit more space, but you won’t really notice it will you?
Furniture is the biggest contributor to clogging space or enhancing it. So if you’re sick of staring at that ancient dining table that has your childrens biro pen etchings in the leg from when they was let loose as an artistic 5 year-old, then it’s time to sling it. Opt for one of our stunning reclaimed wood tables, it’s eco-friendly, sustainable, long lasting, durable, and really quite lovely. Or perhaps a book shelf or a desk to incorporate a learning/working station into your living room - nothing enhances the mind like books or art projects! Remember, it’s not about decluttering just your home, it’s about de-cluttering your mind.
Reclaimed wood furniture is the perfect way to begin again, with unique products that promise to last a lifetime, you’ll never have to upgrade them. That way you can focus year after year on changing the smaller things - the colour schemes, the wall prints, the cushions…easily interchangeable items that will be inexpensive and (I always find) rather fun!
Go grab your marigolds and a feather duster, get to work cleaning, then start ruthlessly ridding yourself of the things you no longer value! Repair the broken, replace the exhausted and renew your home!
