Your Space Matters!

by Randi Destefano

When life gets a little too busy, it’s easy to neglect the small things.  At first no one really notices the small things left undone.  You know…the door that needs painted, the wallpaper peeling in the bathroom, the worn pillows, or the cluttered desk.

But as the paperwork and closets are ignored, and broken items stay broken, a growing chaos becomes evident.  Does this ever happen to you?

Has your office ever been this cluttered?  Some days I’d rather work in another space to avoid it.

Suddenly the chaos around you starts to affect the way you feel inside.  Maybe you recognize this.  Maybe you don’t.  But suddenly the outer chaos becomes inner chaos, and you feel edgy and fragmented.

I am a firm believer that Your Space Matters, and that how you live affects the way you show up in the world.

My sad, cluttered kitchen…and this is MUCH better than it looked last night! Feeling very fragmented in this mess, and not sure what to tackle first.

Has your kitchen ever been so cluttered that you can’t find the car keys?  You’re frustrated, irritable, and maybe even panicked about being late for the meeting.  Your day has started off on the wrong foot, and you find yourself snapping at people along the way.

Have you ever walked into a room in your home that just feels “off”?  You can’t pinpoint why you feel this way…you just do.  So you spend as little time as possible there, or even avoid it all together.

Your Space Matters:  One of my clients hated her outdated, ugly kitchen so much that she never wanted to walk into it.  Now that the space is bright and shiny and new, she loves spending time there with friends and family.

Your Space Matters:  Another client always preferred working away from her home office.  She began to notice that she was avoiding going back to the office to work, staying away longer and longer.  When she finally realized that she hated the lack of color in her office, she took the first step with a quick coat of paint in a color that made her happy.  With a few more tweaks to the space…big changes! Her time in the office is now productive and energetic.

Your Design Homework: 

1. This first small step in the process is to ask yourself if your home is a place that you can retreat to. Does it nurture you and make you feel comfortable?  If it doesn’t, then what is your vision?
2. Is there a room in your home that needs a little TLC? Projects unfinished?  Make a list, focus on completing ONE THING at a time, and then see how it affects your mood.