These simple spaces will help you create a calm home. They will also give you the momentum and motivation to eventually declutter and simplify your whole house or your entire life.
When a calm home is what you crave, it can be challenging to know where to start. Or, when there is too much to simplify, the process seems overwhelming. That’s why I encourage you to focus on simple spaces instead of a big decluttering project.
A calm home leads to a calm mind
The world is chaotic enough. By creating a calm home starting with simple spaces, you create a place for rest, love and connection. Use your calm home to reset and soothe your nervous system. In a recent Instagram video, author Elizabeth Gilbert talked about the uncertainty and chaos of life. She shares that it’s important to ground ourselves and reminds us that, “We’re going to need a few calm people more than ever, and if you can calm yourself and then go out in the world as a calm person…you might actually be able to do some good.” A calm home can help you become one of those calm people we need.
3 Simple Spaces that Turn a Cluttered Home into a Calm Home
Start with these simple spaces. Try a calm approach to each one. There is no hurry. Your calm home will feel even calmer if you too are relaxed and thoughtful about simplifying these areas. If there is another space you’d rather start with, do it. This is your life, your heart, your calm home.
1. Simplify your nightstand or the space near your bed.
When you put your head on your pillow, the last thing you want to look at is a cluttered space. Clear your nightstand or bedside table of extra stuff. Remove phones and tablets and anything work related. Only keep what will support a good night of sleep. If you have drawers in your nightstand, declutter them too. Give yourself every opportunity to sleep well. Let the last thing you see at the end of the day and first thing you see in the morning be a simple space in your calm home.
2. Clear off your kitchen table.
If your kitchen table attracts piles of things that have no where else to go, you are not alone. Remember that clutter attracts clutter and calm attracts calm. Don’t let your kitchen table be a catch all or the place where things go that have no place to go. Instead of throwing the mail on the kitchen table, open it when you remove it from your mailbox. Most of it will go right into the recycling bin. Notice other categories of clutter that live on your kitchen table and see if there is a better routine to put the clutter where it belongs (or maybe it doesn’t belong at all). Leave your kitchen table clear and clean or add some fresh flowers for a little extra joy.
3. Simplify your closet.
You get dressed every single day. Simplify your closet so you look forward to opening those doors every morning. Eliminate decision fatigue and the chaos of clothes you never wear by creating a minimalist wardrobe. This is how a minimalist wardrobe will actually make your life better. Simplicity is contagious! Once you begin to enjoy the benefits of dressing with less, you may get very curious about living with less. Simplicity in the closet seeps into every other area of your home and life. This simple space will inspire more simple spaces.
Continue to calm your home and notice how it affects you. Does it make you feel better to eliminate some of the clutter and chaos? If you feel frustrated that you aren’t making enough progress, recognize the progress you have made. Celebrate one of your simple spaces. If you live with other people, invite them to create their own simple spaces and to respect the ones you create. Declutter a little bit each day by placing a box by the door and adding something to it daily. As soon as the box is full, donate it.
We do need more calm people. We take our best action when we are rising from a grounded, relaxed space and place. If you want to experience life with less stress and more ease, now is the time to embrace letting go, going slow and living with less. You need less to manage and to take care of. Give yourself permission to be gentle, soft and slow, to rest when you want, turn down the noise and feel the ground beneath your feet.
Once you are enjoying these simple spaces and getting a glimpse of your calm home, keep going. Create other spaces that will serve as little simplicity sanctuaries to remind yourself of the clutter-free, calm home you want to live in … to thrive in.
