Do you need to declutter to destress? There’s no doubt that we’re all living through stressful times with the extraordinary events that have unfolded over the past couple of years.
In times like these, your home environment takes on a new importance – especially when most of us are spending a lot more time here.
When we come home, we want to feel like we’re entering a refuge, safe from the demands of life. But does your home provide a safe haven away from stress, or is it causing you additional anxiety?
Mess means stress, so declutter.
Living in a cluttered home can create a feeling of constant low level stress that slowly but surely drains your energy. This clutter is often a visual reminder of how much work you need to do to get your house feeling clean and tidy.
As well as costing you your inner peace, a messy, disorganised space can actually cost you time and money. When you don’t have a place for all of your belongings, you spend more time trying to put things away when you’re cleaning up, and waste time looking for items when you need them.
Further, when you don’t have an organised system for filing your bills and other important papers, you may end up paying things late, leading to extra fees and additional anxiety. Thankfully, with a bit of focus, your home can become a stress management tool that you can enjoy every day.
Declutter to produce a peaceful place
The opposite of a cluttered space is one characterised by some order, tranquility, and a physical manifestation of your tastes. It can soothe you and help release stress. It produces the sense of peace that is the perfect backdrop for working from home or relaxing in front of a screen. Coming home to an orderly home can help you feel like you’re entering a sanctuary away from the stresses of the outside world.
This is what I produced recently for Joanne, a busy mum of an extremely cute 18-month old baby boy. Joanne needed me to unpack, declutter and organise her home. She wanted to get organised after a huge house move and renovation project three months prior. Not unusually, the family had been so busy with work and family commitments that many of their moving boxes were still taped up and needed unpacking.
Fed up with feeling half moved in, and overwhelmed with Christmas just two weeks away, Joanne took some decisive action to declutter, make her life more harmonious and deal with the elephant in the room (well, in the garage actually).
Joanne called me and explained that she was unable to get on top of the unpacking and organising and needed help urgently. As Joanne went through the challenges she was facing in more detail, I listened carefully and summarised what I thought the priorities would be.
We’d first focus on unpacking and organising the garage, then we’d declutter and move on to creating a more harmonious and stylised space in other key areas of the home. It was going to require lots of focus to achieve everything we needed to in the short time frame we had.
I set to work and by the end of day one we had unpacked all the boxes and organised the contents. We were also well on the way to creating a more enjoyable workspace for Joanne’s husband, Perry.
On day two we focused on the living room and outdoor balcony, as well as to declutter the guest and master bedrooms and Joanne’s office space. We unpacked more boxes, decluttered and styled bookcases and surfaces, and made the guest bed, sofa and outdoor furniture look beautifully comfortable. Joanne’s well-ordered home is now a soothing surrounding that has simplified her life.
Declutter to destress means you are able to move forward
Joanne was so thrilled and happy with the result and to be able to start planning for Christmas with family and friends at her newly organised and very beautifully renovated home. It really was great to be able to make such a significant difference for Joanne and her family at such a crucial time.
Just by organising her home and having a good declutter, Joanne and her family’s stress has been reduced. Most importantly, their home is a place that they actually love spending time in.
Clare Gregory-Jones
Owner, Move by Design.
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Here is Joanne’s testimonial about my declutter to destress service:
“Clare was absolutely excellent in helping me unpack, sort and organise boxes when moving into my new place – we got so much more done than I ever would have been able to achieve on my own and her motivation, understanding and support was so appreciated. She also helped style the place so it looked good!”
Decluttering your home could be your most powerful stress management tool. You can find out about our organising and decluttering services here.
Move by Design is your fairy move manager.
As if by magic, you’re in your new home, feeling relaxed, excited and ready to invite friends over to share the joy. I believe life is far too precious to be stressed about moving house. Let me make it easy for you so that you can focus on what’s important and enjoy the experience of moving home.
