Analysis of clutter by usage area

“Everything that surrounds you should be working for you in some way. If the things in your space are not supporting you and contributing to the positive quality of your life, it is time to do something about it!” says clutter guru Stephanie Roberts. Zen thought and art point out that emptying out our life is a prerequisite for filling it up swiftly with what we want.

Clutter also lends itself to analysis by the type of space use, such as dining room, kitchen, bathroom. “Each area of your home has a symbolic meaning with which you resonate on a subconscious level. Clutter within each of these areas causes constriction and inertia in the corresponding aspects of your life,” says Stephanie Roberts, author of Clutter Free Forever.

The precise places where clutter tends to accumulate in a home speaks volumes about the particular blockages of energy being experienced by its inhabitants. Here is a quick guide to the analysis of clutter by usage area:

Kitchen: It represents the source of nourishment for the family. Thus a messy kitchen implies a neglect of proper nourishment at the physical and metaphysical level.

Cleaning up and de-cluttering the kitchen opens up the space for receiving the support and comfort needed in life.

Living and dining areas: These are the areas where interaction with the outside world takes place. If unkempt, they imply being closed to giving and receiving from friends and family. Cleaning up could clear the pathway to improving the relationship with the rest of the world.

Hallways and corridors: These function as the arteries of the house, connecting the different aspects of the home together. Well-lit, unblocked corridors imply good communication between members as well as connectivity between different aspects of life. Disjointed relationships, a feeling of disconnection between work and family, etc. , might be addressed by ensuring a free flow of energy through the hallways of the house.

Bathrooms: These are the spaces where time is spent alone, in tending to oneself. Cluttered bathrooms represent little time for honouring one’s own self and one’s own needs for renewal. A good cleaning up and beautifying the bathroom could give you a head-start if you’re stuck on issues of self-esteem.

Bedrooms: These are for intimacy and sleeping. Clutter in the bedroom can be the cause of personal stress and tension in relationships.

Closets: They represent things that are hidden or unrecognized. Stacked closets stifle intuition and insights. Cleaning them up can help solve problems (some you may not even be consciously aware of) that impede your progress in life, work and relationships.

Lofts, attics and overhead storage: These create a sense of pressure, of things ‘looming over you’, or threatening to fall upon you. These may relate to ancestral issues or family prejudices.

Basement or under the bed: Periodic cleaning of these will help you be in touch with your subconscious or issues swept under the carpet.

People who are prone to clutter also find de-cluttering stressful because of the numerous decisions involved. Deciding what to do about clutter involves hard decisions such as to keep it or to get rid of it. If you keep it, where do you put it? If you get rid of it, how will you do it? Do you trash it, donate it, give to a friend, sell it, or dismantle it?

To get rid of something, you have to first let it go at the psychological level—saying goodbye to the memories it invokes and releasing the fear and regret that you might need it in the future. Only after this is done, will the decision of what to do with it become clear.

We at Minimize-to-Maximize can help you take the decisions on what to keep and what to throw and also help you De-junk, Organize and Beautify your space.