Does Your Home Have “White Space”?
The following post is from Andrea of Simple Organized Living:
source: Simple Organized Living
I’m a huge advocate of less stuff and regular purging.
I almost always stop and think before bringing anything extra into our home (besides groceries) and often, I decide against bringing the items home — even if they are free and even if we have the space to store them.
In my opinion, it seems silly to keep so much STUFF — unless of course, we have a use for it.
For example, I have several boxes of empty canning jars in my basement right now; and although I’m currently not using them, I plan to use them again next year when I do my biannual canning.
On the other hand, I just recently purged 2 bins full of Christmas decorations because I didn’t use them this year, I doubt I’ll use them again next year, and even though our basement has plenty of space to store two extra bins, it just isn’t necessary.
source: Simple Organized Living
You see, I like our home to have “white space” — empty space, room to breathe.
I don’t like cluttering up my closet, my kitchen, my filing cabinet, my email Inbox, my basement, or my life with stuff I don’t need, want, use, or love.
Because of this, our home actually has a handful of empty files, empty kitchen and bathroom drawers, empty shelves, and even one completely empty closet!
source: Simple Organized Living
I think of these empty spaces as our home’s “white space”.
They aren’t empty because I’m waiting anxiously to fill them up again. They aren’t empty because I haven’t found the right thing to put in them. They are empty because we don’t NEED that much stuff.
Obviously, in smaller homes and apartments, white space might be a bit harder to come by — and I have absolutely no issues with filling your home with things you actually do use, want, need, and love.
It’s all that other stuff I question. You know, the stuff in the very back of your junk drawer, the stuff on the top shelf in your garage that you haven’t touched in years, the stuff you don’t even realize is lying on the floor in the back of your closet, the bins of stuff in your basement or storage closet.
Even though you might technically have the space to store all of that stuff, I have a feeling it subtly causes some amount of stress in your life. Maybe you wish your garage wasn’t so full, maybe you feel bad about all the toys your kids have, maybe you feel bad about money spent on that exercise equipment you never use.
Every time you drive in the garage, you resent how cluttered it looks. Every time you help your children put their toys away, you think about how many toys they don’t even use. Every time you walk past the unused exercise equipment, you regret the money you spent and silently begrudge the fact that you aren’t motivated enough to exercise each week.
Yes, you probably paid good money for this stuff, but I guarantee your home will feel lighter and your life will be less stressful if you simply remove all the extra, unused stuff and instead, create a little white space instead.
White space = less stuff.
Less stuff =
less time spent cleaning and organizing your stuff
less money spent buying the stuff (or money lost if you don’t use the stuff)
less energy spent remembering where all your stuff is
So if you’d like a little MORE time, money, and energy in the New Year, I’d highly encourage you to start purging all that stuff you don’t need, use, want, or love (even if you do have the space to store it) and give your home a little more white space!
Does your home have white space?
Andrea Dekker is a WAHM, coupon addict, and simple living enthusiast. She motivates and encourages others to create their best life through simplicity and organization via her blog, Simple Organized Living.
Does Your Home Have “White Space”? is a post from Life Your Way
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