Creative People are Messy! 5 Easy Steps To De-clutter Your Creative Space
04 March
If
you are a messy creative person like me then you will relate to this. My
creative space is a mess most of the time; I have trouble finding what I am
looking for when working on projects; and my work area has been crowded out and
reduced to an almost non-existent state by the piles of unfinished projects,
unopened supplies, and just… stuff!
Is
that you too? Then keep reading because you NEED this post!
After
I shared my cleaned up, organized, and de-cluttered craft studio (see Craft
Studio Reveal – Part I and Part II) many of you commented that your own
creative spaces needed de-cluttering and cleaning up as well!
So
I thought it might help if I shared my process for de-cluttering.
But
before we get down to the nitty-gritty, know this:
Creative
people are messy! Embrace
your messiness, it is part of who you are and you’ll just have to take time out
once in a while to clean up!
Psychologist
Frank X. Barron did a study in the 1960’s to figure out what makes highly
creative people different from the rest. And he found that the most common
traits of creative people are:
"an openness to one’s inner life; an unusually high tolerance for disorder and disarray, the ability to extract order from chaos, independence, unconventionality, and a willingness to take risks". (source)
Let
that sink in for a minute!
The creative genius is occasionally crazier and yet adamantly saner
than the average person.
Knowing
and accepting this about yourself; do not feel like you have failed or are
inadequate in some way just because you cannot keep your creative space in
order! It’s just how we are wired! :o)
Don’t
compare your space to the pretty craft room pictures you see in magazines and
online. Those are beautiful and inspiring but they are not like that all the
time! They have been tidied, cleaned, arranged, decorated, and staged! (Just
like that hamburger on the fast food restaurant menu that looks so plump and
juicy… and then they hand you a tiny, smashed mess in a greasy bag).
To
make the process of organizing and cleaning up your space a little easier on
your crazy, creative mind you need a process to follow when it’s time to clean
up!
So
here is the method I follow.
5 Easy Steps to
De-clutter Your Creative Space
Step One - Designate boxes
and/or bags for sorting.
- Donate - (donations to thrift shops or other charitable organization
- Trash - (garbage… plain and simple)
- Sell - (resell on eBay, Etsy, or Craigslist)
- Relocate - (relocate to another more appropriate space in your home, or someone else's home!)
- Keep – (everything that you will keep and put back into your creative space)
Once
you put something into one of these boxes or bags do not take it back out
unless it is to move it to a more appropriate pile (i.e. move from the donate
box to the sell box).
Step Two - Ask yourself
these questions as you are going through your stuff:
1.
Have
I used it in the last 6 months to a year?
2.
Does
it have meaning to me? Do I love it?
3.
Am
I keeping it just in case (in case I think of the perfect project, in case I
find the missing part, etc.)?
4.
Is
it easily replaced?
Go
through one area at a time completely until that area is done. So in my craft
studio I went through one furniture piece at a time... the dresser, a
bookshelf, etc. until I had sorted through everything in/on that piece and
finally, everything in the room.
If
you are having a hard time deciding whether to keep or let go of a particular
item set it aside into an “I don’t know” pile and move on. Come back to it
later and you may find it will be easier to decide.
Step Three - Once a piece of furniture is
empty, clean it! You will be more likely to pay closer attention to what is
going back if the area is sparkling clean!
Step Four - Reconsider some
items you originally decided to keep.
Sometimes as I'm reorganizing and putting things away I find myself walking around the room with an item in my hand trying to find a spot for it... it won't fit here... won't fit there... maybe it’s not meant to be… it’s time to reconsider and go through the questions again... have you used it in the last 6 months to a year? Does it have meaning to you? Do you love it? Are you keeping it just in case? Is it easily replaced?
Sometimes as I'm reorganizing and putting things away I find myself walking around the room with an item in my hand trying to find a spot for it... it won't fit here... won't fit there... maybe it’s not meant to be… it’s time to reconsider and go through the questions again... have you used it in the last 6 months to a year? Does it have meaning to you? Do you love it? Are you keeping it just in case? Is it easily replaced?
You
may decide that you don't need it after all!
Step Five - Once you are
done filling these boxes get rid of them as soon as possible… before you start
taking stuff back out of them! Donate the donate box, throw out the trash box, list
the items in the sell box, and put away the items in the relocate box.
In
conclusion, learn to accept and embrace the fact that creative people are messy
people. When it comes time to clean-up and de-clutter your creative space
follow the 5 simple steps: 1) designate sorting areas, 2) ask yourself the 4
simple questions above to determine whether you will keep each item, 3) sort
each area of the room and then clean it, 4) reconsider some more difficult
items, and 5) get rid of the sorted piles.
But just accept the fact that you will probably have to do this again, and
know that the next time will be easier because you have a method… a method to
your madness you creative genius you!! :o)
Posted by: Tania | Little Vintage Cottage
at 04 March
Tag:
home decor
I recently rearranged my studio; now it works so much better for me. But, a lot of the stuff I took out is in my sitting room. I will use your 5-step method to help winnow down my studio excess. Thanks for the good ideas!
ReplyDeleteExcellent advice! I'm too easily distracted by what i find when de-cluttering and end up starting some project that the item i find was intended for! LOL! Maybe i'm where the ADD gene started! LOL!
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your posts, I did declutter one area, but made another messier. I am either a DIY slob or a creative genius. Pinning ans sharing!
ReplyDelete