Home — Marie “KonMari” Kondo Official Website. The First Rule of Simplifying: Identify the Essential (or, How to avoid the Void) “Our lives are frittered away by detail … simplify, simplify” – Henry David Thoreau Post written by Leo Babauta.
Follow me on Twitter. We talk a lot about simplifying your life on Zen Habits, from simplifying your possessions and clutter to simplifying the stuff you need to do. But recently I had a comment from a reader who said that the problem is that he doesn’t know what to do with himself after cutting out television and other time-wasters from his life. The simple answer: Do what you love. His comment, while understandable, illustrates a common misunderstanding of simplification, and it’s a good point that I thought is worth discussing.
Five Ways to Declutter Your Body and Mind. I don’t know about you, but I feel so much better when my environment is neat and organized.
After a long day of work, coming home to a neat space is like coming home to myself. It is a refuge, truly, and I feel soothed. When I wake up in the morning, before the sun comes up, and stumble to my espresso machine, bleary eyed and still ridiculously tired, a neat space seems to beckon me to use my time in the way I so desire. I try to wake up early to practice mindfulness, set an intention for the day, and then either finish patient notes from the day before, or do some writing—although I’d like this to happen more regularly than it does, I am gentle with myself when it doesn’t. Some of the behavioral work with my patients focuses on paced, organized schedules as well as cognitive work regarding the “letting go” of the clutter that many of us create to protect ourselves.
I do know, however, that there are certain ingredients that will immediately create an impasse for all that to manifest. Organize Online with Professional Organizers - Clutter Diet. Serious decluttering. We recently decided to replace some carpets and vinyl in various key areas of our home.
As it was planned, the floor coverings were delivered and laid all within a week, so it was a major upheaval. Everything, EVERYTHING, had to be taken out of my studio, our bedroom the kitchen, and the landing outside of my studio which I usually use to dump extra stuff from everywhere else. I have to say here that I have been systematically decluttering for years, always with an eye to a future house move. But seeing the bare bones of those rooms again after 20 years of accumulating things, even useful things, was a revelation. How To Make Getting Organized Fun. Ideas for Storage, Design and Art Studio Organization. 5 Strategies for Decluttering a Small Space. It is a lot harder to keep an apartment or small house organized and tidy — but it is critical that you do so.
It only takes one pile of papers and one box to overwhelm a smaller space. What to do? We asked organizing and de-cluttering guru Nicole Anzia of Neatnik in Washington DC what her top five strategies are for harnessing chaos in smaller homes and apartments. Here's what she said… The Top Five Strategies for Decluttering a Small Space: Embrace Storage Containers: People often think, "My apartment or home is so small, I can't fit a filing cabinet, bookshelves or a desk," but if you don't buy the appropriate storage products, things pile up quickly in a small space. Busy Bees! - Declutter your life and start doing your art! - AnniHunt.com. I recently took my studio into a whirlwind of reorganization and decluttering!
Sometimes we say we are avoiding art by doing these things and there is some truth to that. However, a messy studio where everything is difficult to find or it is difficult to find a space to work can be very off putting. Would you try to paint on a dirty , messy canvas or page? Don’t you start with a clean blank canvas each time?
When auditing your work, don’t you put it up on a ‘non-distracting’ blank design wall or on a white table, floor or large piece of paper, so as not to have anything interfering with the art itself? CEOriginal Art and Craft Studio Organizing and Storage Solutions: Organizing and Decluttering your Studio. You are probably ready for the next step in putting your studio back together by now.
To briefly summarize what I have posted in the last couple of posts: (1) If you are moving into a new space or redoing a current space, the best plan is to remove as much as possible from the room and sort through it as you do. Have a throw away area, donate area, items to think about later area and items to keep section. Hoarder Prevention and Purging for Thrifters, Creators, Stuff Lovers and YOU! Thrifters struggle with hoarding prevention because the finds are plentiful and inexpensive.
Top Tips for Decluttering Your Art Studio. A friend recently purchased me a copy of Cloth Paper Scissors' Studios Magazine and I've been slowly soaking in all the art and inspiration like a sponge.
My favorite part of this magazine are the decluttering tips. All artists and thrifters need these. The following is my re-adaptation of featured expert organizer Barbara Tako's tips (clutterclearingchoices.com). Controlled chaos is stimulating for many creative people. DAY 24 – Organizing Your Craft Room, Studio, Workshop. This can be a very tough room for some people (me included).
Some people spend years collecting all sorts of tools and supplies to do a myriad of different projects. Then nothing happens because life gets in the way of taking the time to sit down and do it. Studio spaces can easily become a dumping ground for half started projects, and grand ideas. It is difficult to figure out where to start, but just begin with one surface first…maybe it’s the floor.
I sit in amongst my collected clutter looking around and not knowing where to start. In this room follow the same system you did for the kid’s space. Keep your tools together. Work surfaces are for working on so try to keep them from getting cluttered up with things you don’t use all the time. ART TIP: Organizing my Living Room / Art Studio...yet again!
You know, my first two years of making art were all done on my living room coffee table – and I created a lot of art, too.
Over the years I’ve taken over more of my living room….still got a comfy couch, chairs, big tv…but about HALF of my living room is now art studio. To Live is to Make Art, after all! It seems like I am always spring cleaning, decluttering, purging. But you know, it’s just part of my process. Only this time it feels like this is deeper. There’s also something deeper brewing with me…I’m approaching my 60th birthday in September and I have lots of goals I am still working on. How Does an Artist Keep Her Studio Clear. One of my readers posed this question: What does an artist do to keep her studio clear? After all, the lives of artists, writers, and other creative people collect all types of “special flotsam & jetsam in the name of the creative process.”
According to this reader, there are so many items that need to be kept that are a record of process. How do we decide if our ephemera is worthy of that? Great question. 9 Ways to declutter your studio or workspace. Home.