I just need.....
Although my clients are always very different, one thing they nearly always have in common is that at our initial consultation nearly every single one will utter the sentence “I just don’t have enough XXX”. This makes me smile as it is at this point that I know they’re going to have a great experience and will definitely reap the benefits of my knowledge and by going through the process of decluttering. Let me take you through the most common, see if you’ve said any these yourself?
I just don’t have enough:
Time
Oh I used to say this! I honestly thought that if I wasn’t working 12 hour days 7 days a week my home would suddenly become tidy and clean, and not look constantly like a bomb had hit it! Then when I did get more time, nothing much changed…. Incredulously cleaning and tidying only becomes more easier with extra time if you actually clean and tidy!! Who knew? The difference is that once you’ve decluttered it is much, much quicker and easier to actually clean and tidy. So what was a mammoth task taking days (and therefore as you didn’t have time to do it so it never got done) now takes minutes and you then have no excuse to put it off !
Storage
Lack of storage is often a fallacy. You think that by having a fantastic new IKEA storage system that all your storage problems will be solved. Er, well, no….. all that actually happens is that you have a fabulous new storage system to organise/cram in the same amount of stuff. Occasionally this makes it easier, but you still have the same amount of things but now have to accommodate a storage system into the space too. I always tell my clients to not buy any more storage until after we have decluttered the entire home. You often find that storage becomes less of an issue and that you can repurpose storage from other areas once they’ve been decluttered. Most of the time clients end up removing lots of storage boxes totally, as they no longer need them.
Room
Before I decluttered I was about to pay £50,000 for an extension as I felt my house just didn’t work for us as a family. There was just not enough room! Then I decluttered…. And I realised, I had more than enough room. I had enough rooms too! I gained an outhouse and a spare bedroom that were filled to the brim with my ‘stuff’. They were no longer rooms, but storage facilities. My rooms feel bigger as not only is there less stuff, but as there are less things there is less ‘big’ furniture too. Counter work surfaces are now clearer as everything fits in cupboards, so not only do I have more working room but it’s easier to clean and looks better too. My home ‘reappeared’ and I could once again see it’s potential. It no longer seemed like a hopeless case, so I didn’t need to move or extend, but make it my own, look at redecorating to a new style to compliment my rediscovered love for my home now I was no longer battling it.
Money
I thought if I had more money I could buy so many more things for my home to make it perfect. Once decluttered I realised that although money helps, buying more things would just be attempting to make a silk purse out of a sows ear! I’d still have the same volume of stuff ruining the look of my home, but maybe more expensive wallpaper! I thought that by having money I could get ‘the big projects done’ and I’d feel happier about my home. When I decluttered I realised what used to get me down was lots of little annoyances… doors that wouldn’t shut as the cupboard was too full, drawers left half open with things spilling out, the constant trip risk from my floordrobe…. Once these were sorted I felt so much better. I then took better control of my finances as my paperwork was in order, I did less ‘tat’ spending sprees and so I can see how the big expensive changes are now possible without getting myself into horrendous debt. I can also see what is a priority now, and take a task at a time, without feeling that everything needs to be done at once to be happy with my home.
So before you think you don’t have enough time, money or storage to have the home of your dreams, why not give me a call first? See if we can rediscover your love for your home.
