After thinking more about other steps I can take this year on the journey towards less, the idea of empty spaces kept popping into my mind.
intentionally creating and maintaining empty spaces.....
I've decluttered well. My closet is not packed full of clothes, my kitchen cupboards are not at risk of spilling their contents, etc. My house has space to breathe, but I can't think of a single empty space, except maybe the middle of the room.
It's very easy to create the empty space ~ you simply remove items from said space. Maintaining them, however, is a bit harder. When I see empty space I get the urge to fill it. This is what I need to fight this year. Empty space is calming and can be a visual reminder of the quietness and peace I am striving for.
It's ok for a drawer to be empty.
It's ok for a a cupboard to be empty.
It's ok to have extra space on a bookshelf.
It's ok not to have anything stored under the bed.
It's also ok to have empty spaces in my life and schedule. Time where there is nothing to do. When I find myself in these situations, I begin looking for a way to best use the time. I am learning that it's ok to just sit and be quiet.
I'm curious to know if you have empty spaces.....
We don't store anything under the beds, ever. The only exception is a gift wrap box on wheels that stays under the guest bedroom bed.
ReplyDeleteOther than that, my biggest pet peeve is "stuff" on top of the fridge, on the ledge above the kitchen cabinets, etc. I know some people decorate up there, but I just prefer open spaces. For one thing, it's a lot easier to clean. For another, visual clutter just drives my brain bonkers!
Now that I've gotten rid of the clutter, I can actually see the few decorative items I chose to keep. Wonderful!
ReplyDeleteWhen we painted the living room, we removed the pictures from the walls. After painting, we left the walls blank for a while to enjoy the spareness it created. I felt that I had space to breathe.
ReplyDelete~skye
We're still working on empty spaces. Our beds are directly on the floor, so nothing is under them--not even dust bunnies. We do have a few empty book shelves, but I'm still working on so many areas. The area most likely to open up is our kitchen pantry as we're in the midst of removing all packaged food from our lives. Hopefully next year at this time I will be able to more peacefully open up closets and drawers, and look around our home.
ReplyDeleteWe have so few empty spaces around here and it drives me crazy. When we moved into this four bedroom house, we literally had empty rooms. Now (having added two dogs, a cat and then two children), there are NO empty spaces. One the one hand, it's not really all that large a house but on the other, we have accumulated way too much stuff. I'm slowly trying to move through it. You'd be proud of me... I pitched a bunch of useless stuff this evening.
ReplyDeleteI've specifically kept a cupboard in one of my cabinets empty. Also I have empty drawers in my guest bathroom. On purpose. Bookshelves? Not yet...
ReplyDelete