Clutter-free surfaces are visual white spaces in your home. If the counters are cleared and clean, your eyes will have a tidy place to rest, causing you to feel relaxed. They are also big productivity boosters- it's much easier to do homework on a neat table, and to make dinner on an empty {or almost empty} island, than cluttered ones.
When preparing to tidy up surfaces, consider this: the surfaces in our homes tell stories. If we can hone in and listen to the story a particular surface is telling us, our clutter solutions can be solved with a lot less fuss.
For example, one of the issues with my desk is that the mini photo books I receive each month have outgrown their space. Once it worked perfectly- now they just tumble over and get knocked about. If I move them to a more accommodating space, the area will be a lot more presentable and user-friendly.
The trouble on top of my drier is rooted in the disorganized and overflowing craft collection on the shelf above. If I can streamline our art supplies and find a way to put them away neatly, while also being easily accessible, the issue will be resolved.
The other issue with that space is that I don't have a set location for borrowed goods that need to be returned. My friend's cake platter and travel cup are washed and waiting to go back to her, so I stick them on the drier. I keep forgetting to return items to people, and the pile grows. Designating a neat box of items to return by my door or in my car would be a better option.
What are your spaces telling you? The solutions you need could be right under your nose, if only you take time to pay attention and think it through.
The New Year is the perfect time to attack the surfaces in your home and wipe the slate clean. This week and next I will be going over my surfaces, discarding superfluous items, and creating more visual white space in my home.
It's a comforting ritual to ring in the New Year. Here's to lots of wide open spaces in 2016.
What stories are your surfaces telling you?
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