A healthy home contributes to our personal and financial well-being. It creates physical, mental, emotional, and financial health for us and our family and can project value to others. The serenity of a healthy home is evident upon entering and creates the best possible first impression. It is one we are happy to come to and happy to share with friends and family. A healthy home is a place where we can relax, recuperate, and connect with others. It is a place that improves the general quality of our life. In this fifty-part series, I will describe the elements of a healthy home, how to create them and what they will offer in return. Practical issues like air and water quality will be covered in addition to important decorative features like color, texture, light, and nature.
Begin at the beginning. With any renovation or redecoration, the best possible outcome depends on an unobstructed view of the subject. For many, this means decluttering. Hundreds if not thousands of books have been written on this topic and address the process for minor clutters that include overdecorated or over furnished homes and more serious clutters that include hoarding. For most, a truck from a favorite charity will work wonders. Here are a few tips to begin the process.
1. Donate duplicates.
2. Donate things you haven’t used in a year.
3. Be sure everything has a home and is kept there.
4. Store like items together for ease of use.
5. If you would not buy it again let it go.
6. Utilize vertical space. Floor to ceiling storage can help with out of season items and underbed storage can help with linens and other foldables you use weekly.
7. Adopt the rule that when something comes in, something leaves.
Decluttering will improve your sleep, the foundation of good health and decrease anxiety, the bedrock of poor health. It will add time to your day, if only by making what you need and use more accessible. A decluttered home will create space to move and space to think.
If you ever feel overwhelmed rather than overjoyed by your abundance of possessions, the book, The Joy of Less, might inspire you to take the first step to creating a healthy home.
