What Do You Want to Make Room For? with Emily Capon
Emily Capon is the founder of Make Room, a professional organising service. In this article, she shares her top tips on how to organise your space and why this is so important for your mental health.
It’s a fact we’re all more than aware of: mess causes stress. Clutter has such a negative impact on mental health that it impacts our anxiety levels, the ability to focus and even sleep patterns. One of the most difficult challenges clutter presents is that it makes us less productive, so even though we see it and hate it, we don’t have the energy to do anything about it. Sound familiar? It’s why as a business, I don’t just focus on the physical aspects of decluttering and organising; I truly believe that if you make room in your home, you make room in your mind.
Now, more than ever before, our homes should be our sanctuary. The place we can escape this crazy world and practice some much needed self-care. Whether you’re spending more time at home and just can’t bear to look at THAT bookshelf any more or you get in from a demanding shift and need to switch off for some me time, I’m here to offer some practical advice about how to tackle the ominous task of getting your home organised!
START SMALL.
I’m talking no more than 30 minutes here. Setting yourself an achievable task means you’re far more likely to get the job done and you’ll feel motivated for your next step. Productivity breeds productivity so by doing little and often, you’ll be surprised at just how big a difference those quick half hour slots will make. Remember, if you share your home with others the job of getting organised isn’t just down to you. In fact, if you try and tackle it single handedly, you’ll only get deflated when other people don’t play by your newly organised rules. So create a vision together and then delegate tasks – not only does that offer everyone a sense of ownership and value, it also means it’s down to everyone to keep on top of things.
CHUNK BIGGER TASKS.
If you set yourself the challenge of organising an entire room in one fell swoop, you won’t. It’s that simple. There are too many factors at play, the job becomes hugely overwhelming and you’ll end up sitting amid belongings you’d forgotten you even own sobbing and questioning why you ever started. Even tackling something as seemingly simple as organising your wardrobe should be broken down into stages; that way, each one becomes manageable and you’re far more likely to get the end result you want. (Swimwear or the underwear drawer is often the best place to start!)
BE REALISTIC.
Your space needs to work for you. Not your Instagram followers, not your guests (remember those?) and definitely not your nosy neighbours. It’s all about making the most of the space you’ve got so that you’re able to showcase the things that make your home your home. Your home should be a reflection of your personality after all. You should be able to look around at your belongings and smile. It doesn’t matter whether it’s one carefully displayed teapot or a dozen framed photographs all on one shelf; if they make your heart sing, they stay! The best thing you can do as you work your way through is ask: Do I need it? Do I use it? Do I love it? So long as you can answer yes to at least one of those, you have your answer.
STAY FOCUSED.
The first question I always ask my clients is: What do you want to make room for? Sometimes there’s a very specific goal – they’re moving house or having a baby and need to prepare the space physically. Often, it’s about a general desire to restore order and banish mess – this is where I begin to probe. If you can name what it is you want to achieve, you are far more likely to be driven towards achieving it. So dig a little deeper and visualise yourself enjoying your newly organised space – how do you feel? Calm? In control? At peace? Whichever speaks to you, take a hold of that feeling and use it to propel you forward. You WILL feel like that. Next time you’re in the middle of sorting a drawer and start reminiscing over old cards and photos, remember why you started and don’t drift too far down memory lane!
SAVE STORAGE UNTIL LAST.
You see these beautifully organised homes on Instagram, with everything stored in neat white baskets and labeled glass jars (Gwyneth Paltrow’s pantry anyone?!) and next thing you know you’ve got an Amazon basket full of said storage items. Ring any bells? One of the most common mistakes I see people make is they buy their storage before they’ve assessed what it is they want to store and, more importantly, the space they have to store it. I always encourage clients to hold fire and wait until they’ve decluttered items they no longer want before really thinking about what storage solutions will work for them. Even making simple tweaks like opting for square jars rather than circular ones can make a surprising difference to how much you can store in a small area.
I hope these pointers help to motivate you. An organised home is a realistic possibility for everyone and something we all deserve. If it does feel like an insurmountable task and you can’t face going it alone, remember there are professionals who can help and support you through the process – Gwyneth enlisted help with her pantry, and so can you!
After a career in teaching which spanned 12 years and involved organising paperwork, pupils and teams of staff, Emily decided to make the move from teaching young people in the classroom to teaching adults how to keep their homes and belongings organised and in order. She has always lived by the sea and currently resides in Margate, Kent, choosing to balance her time spent organising with beach walks and those famous Thanet sunsets!
