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Space truly is the final frontier! Everyone seems to be on an endless quest for it...for space in their homes...on their desks...in their busy lives! Yet it eludes most of us. Just as soon as we find some....poof! It’s gone and the search begins anew. But what if instead of spending all of our space, we kept some of it….empty?!! Today, I’m making a case for space!
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First, how is empty space even useful?

• It increases easy accessibility. The things you use every day will be easier to access and put away if you have less stuff cluttering up your cabinets, closets and drawers. Think of it as room to breathe for the stuff you keep.
• It creates a sense of visual peace. Blank spaces cut down on visual noise, leaving you feeling calmer, more relaxed, and more in control of your environment.
• It makes life simpler. More space means less stuff, which in turn means less overhead. You have less to clean, less to declutter, less to tidy, less to decide what to do with, less to move around in order to make room...all leaving you have more time, more money and more energy. 

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Preserving your empty space boils down to choosing space over stuff. You may be asking...if empty space is so valuable, then why do people tend to choose stuff over space? Good question! Clients usually call me when their lack of space begins causing a problem in their lives. They are aware that they need more space, yet still seem compelled to fill it back up again when given the opportunity. Why? Here are some of the most common reasons, along with my counterpoint for each one: Do any of these sound familiar?
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Fear of being without something you may need (clothes, paper towels, shoes, serving dishes).
Counterpoint: If you run out of something, you can go shopping, do laundry, borrow from a neighbor, order online. If none of these are possible, you will likely find a way to make do in an emergency. Such emergencies will be very rare and far outweighed by the everyday benefits of having more space. Think up a back-up plan in advance if that makes you feel less afraid to part with something. (Personal aside: At the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis when toilet paper was difficult to find, I came up with multiple contingency plans for if/when we ran out. I never had to use any of them, but now that I have them, I don’t feel a need to use up my valuable space hoarding toilet paper.)

Avoiding a deep-seated (and usually misplaced) perception of poverty and/or a misperception of “wealth”. 
Counterpoint: Having more stuff doesn’t make you rich. It  actually costs you more in the long run. Would you rather be “rich” in stuff that gets in your way, or rich in time and energy that can be spent on having new and meaningful experiences, learning more about the world, and forging/maintaining important relationships? Which will matter more at the end of your life? Remember, the old adage “You can’t take it with you” refers to your material wealth.

Unwillingness to make choices (aka decision deferral).
Counterpoint: Making decisions gets easier and quicker with practice and takes less time when you do it on a daily basis. Developing a habit of making decisions in the moment takes effort but will pay huge dividends in the long run.

Need to fill up the other aspects of life that feel empty (relationships, self-esteem, productivity, sense of control).
Counterpoint: Space gives us freedom. We need space to live in, move in, fill up with the people and activities that bring us joy. When we do that, we will not feel emptiness; we will feel fulfilled.

So how do we create and maintain empty space?
Simple: Choose space over stuff. Now that you understand the value of empty space and why you may have chosen stuff instead in the past, it will be easier to  make more intentional decisions in the future. There are three key components to this:

1. Slow down acquisitions. Think about spending your space the same way you think about spending your money. Realize that you can only spend it on one thing and spend it wisely. Decide in advance where you will store it and what you will get rid of to maintain or increase your current amount of empty space. If you haven’t figured that out yet, let the store or warehouse continue to store it for you until you do. It’s not a “great deal” if it means you have to spend space you don’t want to spend in order to save money.
2. Make decluttering a regular routine. Just like cutting the grass, washing your hair, or doing laundry, getting rid of things you no longer need/use is an ongoing, necessary task. The more often you do it, the less time and effort it takes. Creating a regular routine will make it a habit you no longer have to think too much about, just like brushing your teeth every day. Just do it.
3. Become a decider. Develop a habit of making decisions immediately instead of putting them off. This is the single, most-effective change you can make to take and retain control over your environment and your life. Every purchase...Every piece of mail..Every coupon...Every “freebie”...It all comes with decisions attached. The longer you wait to make the decision, the greater your danger of losing control over your time, space, money and energy.

Capturing space and keeping it requires some bold changes. Then again, so did sending a man to the moon. Are you ready to face the final frontier?
With a little conscious decision-making and a few good habits, even holding onto empty space can be easy peasy!

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When it comes to saving space - and money - nothing beats the power of multi-taskers. Getting in the habit of investing only in items that serve a double-duty function can yield some big dividends when it comes to creating more space in your home.

So what does this look like? Well, consider the many areas of your life where you can get double the usefulness objects:

Kitchen

• Limit the number of time- and effort- saving gadgets clogging up your drawers and cabinets that only perform one task. Garlic presses, avocado slicers, and egg-cookers, just to name a few, don't really earn their keep in the kitchen when you consider that a good knife or your trusty custard cups can perform the same task yet also be used in myriad other ways too.
• Buy plain glassware and dishes in neutral colors that can be used for any holiday or with any color scheme. Your table can always be dressed up or down and color added in keeping with the occasion simply by supplementing your table with a variety of versatile decorative items you probably already have around the house.

Clothes

• Focus your wardrobe around versatile pieces that are easy to mix and match, while adding some flair through smaller, less expensive accessories. Strive for being able to make a lot of combinations out of fewer items.

​Linens

• Resist the urge to buy sheets that match the specific decor of only one bedroom. Use comforters and pillow shams for that while purchasing sheets that could be used on any of the beds of that size. Bonus: if you change your decor, at least you won't have to buy all new sheets. 
• Ditto goes for bathroom towels.
• When considering colors for your table linens, strive for those that will match a variety of occasions. For example, red can be used at Christmas, Valentine's Day, 4th of July, and Autumn; green can be used for Christmas, St. Patrick's Day, Easter and Spring/Summer.

Entertaining

• ​Again, neutral shades work best for plates, cups and plasticware, while using a smaller number of inexpensive napkins and other decorations to zero in on the specific theme or color scheme. That way, you can buy in these paper products in bulk and use them up over time without having to devote space to storing as many theme-specific paper products you have left over and may never use again.
• You don't need to store a gazillion different types of fancy serving dishes. Don't overlook everyday objects you can borrow from around the house like baskets or boxes you can line or cover in fabric as chip bowls, or an empty large picture frame (with patterned paper behind the glass) to serve as a platter or serving tray.
• If your buffet table is short on space, why not let a decorative appetizer or dessert double as the centerpiece? Fruit or veggie "flowers", chocolate truffle "trees", or a large vase filled with colorful skewers of meat, cheese and antipasto will be sure to get more notice than a floral arrangement that merely takes up room.
• Use your imagination and get rid of some excess craft supplies you already have on hand to create the atmosphere you want rather than going out and spending a lot of money on decorations you will then have to store later. Don't overlook nature's beauty. A basket of pinecones or a vase of holly can provide just the right touch for your party before being tossed back in the yard after the guests have departed.

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Furniture

• If you are tight on space, using furniture that can fulfill more than one function is vital. Every coffee table, ottoman, end table, and nightstand should provide additional storage. 
• Placing a desk, low bookshelf, or dresser next to the bed may eliminate the need for a nightstand.
• Line the side of a bookshelf or inside of office cabinet doors with cork and use as a bulletin board that doesn't require any additional wall space.
• Outfit the office or small den with a daybed or futon that provides seating during the day and a bed for guests at night.
• Create toy storage that doubles as seating in the playroom by turning a bookshelf on its side and placing cushions on top.

The key is to get into the habit of brainstorming how you can use your belongings in more ways than one. Before you buy something new, look around to see if you already have something else that will fulfill your need. You'll be surprised how much space (and money!) you'll save...and trips to the donation dropoff too.

With a little creativity and a few multi-taskers, even creating more space in your home will be easy peasy.

Even if your house doesn't look like this, you may still have too much stuff. Every object you own comes with overhead costs. Too much stuff = steep overhead costs that lower your quality of life over time. Your stuff may be costing you more than you realize, and far more than you wish to spend!

How to identify it

Do any of these statements describe you in your home?

1. You can’t find things you need easily.
2. You routinely have to move something in order to access the item/s behind it.
3. You frequently make duplicate purchases because you don’t realize you already have something.
4. You often have to reorganize just to make room for a new acquisition.
5. Putting things away in their proper place is annoying or impossible because the drawer/cabinet/closet/bin they belong in is too full.
6. You have drawers, doors, cabinets or shelves that are obstructed.
7. Your co-inhabitants complain that you are encroaching on their space.
8. You have purchases/gifts that are still in the package or in the bag you brought them home in weeks or months (or years) after acquiring them.
9. You hesitate to bring items in from your car because you don’t know where to put them.
10. Your countertops, vanities, tables or other horizontal surfaces lack adequate space to work in comfortably.
11. You are renting additional storage space because you have outgrown the space available in your home.*
12. You feel overwhelmed by the “visual noise” surrounding you.
13. You feel claustrophobic or stressed in your home environment and/or avoid spending time at home because it’s physically uncomfortable.
14. You have to move piles in order to make room for guests to sit down.
15. You feel like you now need more space to accommodate the same number of inhabitants as before.​

*Renting storage space is okay as a short-term, temporary solution (such as in the case of a move) with an established end date.

If any of these describe your living situation, you have too much stuff! Ideally, you should be able to easily find and access objects you use regularly and be able to verbalize why you are keeping any object in your home without hesitation or sputtering. There should always be a little bit of additional “room to grow” in your cabinets, closets, shelves and drawers so that new purchases or gifts can be put away as soon as you get them home. Most importantly, your home should feel like the calm, comfortable sanctuary you deserve.

How to fix it

Just like diet and exercise, decluttering and purging is an ongoing, lifelong necessity. I know, I know...that’s not a declaration most people want to hear. However, creating and maintaining adequate space in your home doesn’t have to involve endless hours of drudgery. The key is getting into the habit of streamlining as you go. As soon as you begin to see any of the signs that you have too much stuff, it’s time to take action. That action can be as simple as pulling out just a few unwanted items from your closet or cabinet and dropping a bagful of them off for donation or scheduling a pickup. You’d be surprised at what a noticeable difference eliminating just a handful of items can make. Think of it as a maintenance diet for your home.

Perhaps you have many “pounds” to lose first, though? Rest assured that even if your entire house is stuffed to the gills, you can still start small. The important thing is just to start! Pick a cabinet, closet, shelf or drawer that is really bothering you and spend 15-30 minutes identifying stuff you no longer need. Chances are good that there are a lot of deferred decisions and objects you’ve kept by default in there.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the prospect, keep the process as simple as possible by breaking down the job into three easy steps I like to call The Three D's (Decide, Divide, Dispose):
Step 1: Decide - Pull everything out of the space (drawer, shelf, bin). Then pick up each object and choose between two options: 1) Yes, I need it and will use it; or 2) No, I can live without this. Don’t bend yourself into a pretzel trying to justify keeping it. Don’t think right now about whether or not this is the proper place in your home to store it. Don’t worry that you could maybe someday find an alternative use for it. Don’t puzzle over who else might want it during this step or agonize over how much money you spent on it or whether so-and-so would be hurt that you got rid of his gift. Just answer Yes or No to needing/wanting it. Put the Yes-es back in the cabinet or drawer. You can better organize them later or designate a new home for them another time. Step 1 is just about deciding between keeping and not keeping.

Step 2: Divide -  Place your Nos into three categories: 1) trash/recycling; 2) donate; 3) sell. First, a word of caution: Do not even think about selling unless you are 100% sure you are going to invest the time and effort that involves and are willing to set a deadline for seeing through that goal. Selling requires you to have a game plan for when, where, who and how much. Sometimes it just isn’t worth the effort. Too often, you end up procrastinating and holding onto items with the best of intentions for far too long. My advice is to limit your sell category to only those items likely to yield enough money to make it worth your time. Place the sell items into a box or bag and write your deadline on it. If you don’t meet the deadline, these items should be donated as soon as possible after the deadline has passed.

Step 3: Dispose - Place trash and recycling in their proper receptacles. Drop off donations at a local charity as soon as possible or schedule a pick-up. Find an out-of-the-way place in your home to temporarily stash your “for sale” items after entering the appropriate action reminders on your calendar so you don’t forget about your deadline.

How to prevent it

Over-accumulation usually results from a combination of two things: Impulsiveness and Deferment. We buy things (or say yes to others giving us things) without first asking ourselves the right questions. Do I really need that? How/when (specifically) will I use it? Where will I store it so that it won’t be in my way? Do I really have room for it? What is my Plan B for it if Plan A doesn’t work out? Our default setting when it comes to acquisition is Yes when it should be No. That's the Impulsiveness.

Then when we are faced with tough decisions on what to do with something when its usefulness comes into question, we attempt to delay making any decision at all by keeping the status quo. That's the Deferment. What we fail to recognize is that merely keeping the status quo is a decision...it is a Yes when it often should have been a No. All these Yes-es eventually add up to clutter, disorganization, frustration, claustrophobia, discomfort, embarrassment, and stress and end up costing us time, money, and opportunity.

Make more purposeful decisions about what to keep and what to acquire, and you will soon find yourself with more space for living! With a little forethought and discernment on how to best “spend” your space, even clutter-free living can be easy peasy!


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​"Isn't it adorable?! And wow...you just can't beat that price! I'd be a fool to turn down such a steal!" If you struggle with clutter and this sounds like you, read on! 

If you've ever watched one of those hoarder TV shows, you already know that compulsive shopping often leads to big problems with clutter. But what about impulsive shopping? While it may not lead you into bankruptcy or land you on an episode of "Hoarders: Buried Alive", making purchases without thinking them through beforehand could be unraveling all of your grand plans to get organized.

The first step in any organization project is to purge items that aren't really needed to create more room for the ones that are. One of the most common comments I hear from clients during this process is "But I paid good money for this and never even used it," or "I'd definitely use that if only I had a good place for it." Worse still, "Oh, I totally forgot I had these and just bought more last week."

Plan before you buy!

Whether it's a new armchair or a new paring knife, knowing when, where, and how you will use it and store it are decisions that should be made before you even get to the cash register. Without a plan in place, you run the risk of adding to your existing clutter and possibly wasting your time, effort and money. Consider the following scenarios:

• You get that beautiful mirror home only to realize you need help hanging it. Since you live alone and hadn't thought about that, it sits...and sits...and sits, taking up valuable space and getting in your way.
• Those shoes are perfect for your new outfit, but your closet is already stuffed. You toss them on the chair in the corner of your bedroom on top of your new boots and the two dresses you bought last week. You tell yourself you'll find room for all of them the next time you organize your closet.
• The price on a new stand mixer is just too good to pass up! It's too heavy to keep in a cabinet, so it gets added to your already over-crowded counter top, making food preparation a challenge.
• You stumble upon the perfect birthday gift for your mother, so you buy it and stash it in a closet somewhere when you get home. When her birthday rolls around, you can't remember where you put it and end up having to go out and buy her something else. Meanwhile, the original gift still occupies the shelf where you put it...space that could be put to better use...perhaps even space you could use for those new shoes?

Now, I'm not suggesting that you should never take advantage of great deals when you see them. Just realize that a "great deal" isn't so great if it ends up getting in your way or forgotten completely. Whether or not you can afford it financially is only one consideration. Before you whip out your wallet, think about whether it is also worth the time, the effort and the space it will require to incorporate it comfortably into your home. Make arrangements for the help you need to hang the mirror. Decide on your way to the register which shoes these will replace, or when you will have time in the coming week to purge your closet. Which kitchen appliance can be eliminated to make room for your new mixer? And by the way, do you really need one? Where in your home can you set up a basket for gifts to give away so that you'll know where to find them at the right time? Be prepared to put it down if you can't address the question, "Where will I put it when I get home?"

Freebies aren't really free!

These questions also apply to all those freebies you collect and bring home. You'd be surprised how much less appealing all those giveaways appear when they are cluttering up your drawers and surfaces. The truth is, nothing is truly "free"...it costs you space and overhead. One of my favorite quotes from a fellow organizer is "Treat everything like a gallon of milk and put it away as soon as you get home with it." If you truly follow this rule, you won't be as likely to buy on impulse. If you don't know where its designated home will be at your house, perhaps you should leave it in the store for now. Next time you clean out your closets (or your car), you'll be glad you did!

With a little impulse control, even decluttering can be easy peasy!

I recall the look of complete amazement and bewilderment on the face of my British friend as I described to her, sometime back in the late '80's, how a drive-thru bank worked. I'm not sure if she was impressed by the ingenuity of such an idea or astonished at the sheer laziness of an entire culture where such a phenomenon would even be needed, much less commonplace. 

Indeed, we Americans seem to be almost obsessed with an ongoing demand for more and more "convenience". As though drive-thru restaurants, pharmacies and dry cleaners are not enough, we now have curbside pickup, hands-free concierge service on our cell phones, and remote controls that open our car trunks for us from 50 feet away. Of course, being the queen of laziness, I love it all and can't wait for the day that someone invents an exercise machine that allows me to burn calories and tone muscle while napping.

But if we aren't careful, our never-ending quest for convenience can become downright inconvenient, particularly when it comes to all those "convenience" kitchen appliances: juicers, bread makers, rotisseries, countertop grills, food dehydrators and vacuum sealers. Look around you. Are the appliances that are intended to conserve your time just consuming the valuable real estate in your home?

As with anything else, it's all about choices. Choose which convenience you want...drive-thru burgers, or easier homemade burgers? Vacuum packed groceries you can freeze for fewer trips to the store, or door-to-door grocery delivery? Be realistic and consider your lifestyle and current needs to determine which you will really use. If you want to keep the food dehydrator, fine. USE IT! Commit to it. Let go of that notion that you'll use it "someday". If "someday" ever does come, the newer models will be better, even easier to use, and probably worth the cost of buying a new one, so there's no need to keep this one around and in your way until then (unless it's Grandma's old ice cream maker and you are keeping it for sentimental reasons...but that's another post). Realize that there is nothing convenient about having to move the juicer every time you need to find a glass for your store-bought juice. ALL conveniences require some type of sacrifice--time, money, space, accessibility--so choose wisely. 

I have a bread maker I bought about 15 years ago but rarely used because it was too big to store on the counter and required too much effort to get it out when put away. Storing such a large and infrequently-used appliance in my tiny kitchen was a luxury I could no longer afford, so I gave myself an ultimatum: either start using the bread maker regularly or get rid of it. Thus I re-organized my kitchen to make it easier to access my bread maker and  have started using it at least weekly to make homemade dough for pizzas, pita bread and hamburger buns from pre-measured, homemade mixes I toss together once a month or so. I am choosing the convenience of having easier homemade pizza over the convenience of ordering pizza delivery, but that's a personal choice. The point is, you need to evaluate your current needs and priorities and stop allowing your convenience appliances to inconvenience your life by either finding a way to make using them easier or getting rid of them to make room for a different kind of convenience. 

By the way, unused space is a pretty versatile convenience of its own. Just saying.

Update 1/5/2014: It's been five months since I originally posted this and I'm happy to report that I am continuing to use my bread maker very regularly. If you have a bread maker that's collecting dust, start using it to make home made pizza dough, rolls and pita bread from one of our EasyPeasy Mixes. You'll save money and will be amazed at just how quick and easy it is. Trust me! You'll never go back to eating that store-bought cardboard again!

Have you ever noticed that things always tend to break when you are broke...and when you really, really, really, really need them the most?

That's what happened this morning. My husband returned home from his first night shift back at work after a much-needed two weeks off and reported that the brakes in his car were making that dreaded grinding sound. You know the one. It means "Cough up at least $250 immediately" in car language. And of course it didn't happen while he was off and we didn't need both cars so that each of us could get to work. It happened right in the middle of a particularly tight budget week.

But it is what it is, and there was no getting around it. We needed that car and couldn't avoid the necessary repairs, so we put our heads together and came up with a solution within five minutes. I was so proud of my husband (aka "Mañana Man") for facing the issue head on instead of avoiding it the way he has often done in the past. I used to tease him about how whenever he noticed the car making a funny noise, he'd just turn up the radio so that he didn't have to hear it anymore. Job done...right?!!

We all have stuff we avoid. I avoided our finished basement for years because the carpet and sofa were stained, the kids' toys had taken over, and it was dark and dingy and ugly, and I didn't have the money to get new carpeting or a new sofa. I found myself trying to fit all my stuff into the main level of our house, making that more cluttered than I wanted, just so that I didn't have to go down there as often to get  the things I needed. I dreaded doing the laundry, because it meant I had to spend time in that depressing environment. I refused to hang out with my husband or children down there. It felt like a dungeon.

Eventually, I got so annoyed at having to relinquish the use of one-third of my house just because it was ugly that I finally decided to do something about it. I painted it, bought slip covers and new drapes, purged  all the toys the kids had outgrown and re-organized the rest, and cleaned the carpet. When I was done, I not only liked it again, I spent most of my days working down there. I even made sure we had a Christmas tree down there so that we could open up our gifts in front of the fireplace. It was awesome, and I was left wondering why I hadn't done it sooner...why I had wasted all that precious time avoiding the thing that would lead to such a positive outcome. The work and inconvenience of it was far worse in my head than it was in reality and was well-worth it. It took about three days but I have now been able to enjoy that part of my house for over a year. Winning!

One of my favorite shows on TV is "Buried Alive" on Discovery Health Channel. If you haven't heard of it, it's a show about extreme hoarders who decide it's time to get the psychiatric and organizational help they need to clear up their clutter. Avoidance is the main M.O. for practically all of them. They have developed hoarding behaviors as a means of covering up, or avoiding, their emotional pain. They avoid cleaning up and putting things away. They literally build up barriers of stuff to avoid dealing with their nagging spouse or kids. They avoid the reality of their financial issues by continuing to shop for more stuff they don't need with money they don't  have. They avoid making repairs in their home and thus often go without power or water for years. Then they begin avoiding relationships because they have to hide their hoarding problem. Life eventually becomes so miserable, the smallest tasks so cumbersome, the mess so paralyzing and their self-esteem so low that they are forced to confront the issue and fix it. And most of them do and then can't believe how wonderful it is not to have maggots all over their kitchen and to be able to take a shower in their own bathroom or sleep in a bed again. They spent so many years bathing in the sink or eating takeout and robbing their kids of their childhoods that they couldn't remember how incredibly easy normal life could be in comparison.

One of my clients this week told me that she found herself avoiding looking at  the new "Action" folder we set up for her incoming mail and other papers. After asking her several probing questions to get to the bottom of the issue, it came to light that she was afraid she'd make a mistake in filling out a form or would not be able to find some important document she needed in order to submit her health insurance claims. I pointed out to her that there are very few mistakes in life that cannot be corrected, and there is almost always someone somewhere who has a copy of any missing document or who can help you figure out how to achieve your goal without it. Perhaps it will require some inconvenience or may cost time or money you think you don't have, but there is always a solution as long as you look for it instead of avoiding it. But more importantly, finding the solution is how we grow and learn, and isn't that the whole point of living in the first place? To avoid the problem only avoids finding the solution, which in turn avoids learning and growing and living.

The old adage, "Never put off until tomorrow that which can be done today" really means, "Never put off the relief and joy and sense of accomplishment you feel when overcoming an obstacle if you can experience it today". So next time you find yourself avoiding an unpleasant task, realize that you are also avoiding the sense of freedom that only comes from having completed it.