All about homey.
It started with the stuff drawer…
It was the end of 2017 and the new year was quickly approaching, which means the urge to set resolutions and make better choices was strong! While on a #targetrun, a book about simplifying your life caught my eye, and I made a promise to myself to actually read it.
At this point in my life, I was just starting a new job, my daughter was 7 months old and my postpartum anxiety was still rearing its ugly head. I was on a desperate search for “less.” Less stress. Less feelings of overwhelm. Less on my to-do list.
So I dove in. I read that book cover to cover. I took notes. I learned the principles the author focused on for the things in our home. I believed that in order to let more of the things into my life that really matter (friends, family, date nights, spontaneous trips, coffee with co-worker), I needed to have less of the things that were taking up space. Less objects. Less to-dos. Less mental & physical clutter.
I started in the junk stuff drawer…
Feeling lighter.
Our junk stuff drawer was the place where it all “clicked” for me. Why did we have so many pens? Why did so many of them fail to work? And if they don’t work, why are they still here? How many moments were wasted trying to use a pen that didn’t work?
I could only imagine how much of my precious time was wasted on moments like that. Moments that seem insignificant, but when combined over time, were taking up very significant space.
Room by room, drawer by drawer, closet by closet, I decluttered my home. I kept only the best, favorite or necessary (the principles I learned from my new favorite book). Five spatulas in the kitchen? I cut it down to 2 - my favorite and the best - with 2 being necessary for when someone is helping in the kitchen. College sweatshirts: I kept my favorite and purged the others. Onesies that no longer fit my daughter: removed from the drawer and stored away.
As rooms were decluttered and bags of donations were dropped, I could feel the weight, the stress, the overwhelm lifting from me. I felt physically and mentally lighter.
The feeling of my home changed. It felt more welcoming. Easier to manage. Tasks became less daunting and more routine. My family seemed more peaceful (or at least as peaceful as we could be with baby in the house). We seemed to have more “down time.” White space that we could fill with the things that filled us.
Years in the making.
The relief I experienced through the process of decluttering my home was so wonderful that I decided to share it with others. I documented my process via social media, shared my new favorite author with friends and family and helped others get started doing the same to their homes by simply sharing my experience.
I received numerous messages from others who started doing the same after following along and rejoiced with them when they expressed how much better their home and day to day felt.
Whenever I find myself in the midst of a chaos, the first thing I check are my surroundings. Is my physical space out of place? Have we accumulated too much over time? Have I allowed my white space to be overwhelmed with too many obligations and to-do lists? What in my life needs to go in order to let my life back in?
Knowing that change in my life was needed, I decided to take a leap and start Homey. After years of seeking peace through organization in my own home and helping friends and family tackle their most out of control spaces, I’m now bringing my approach to others. At Homey, we do more than just declutter your home; we make room to let your life in.
- Marcie