You’ve probably heard of Marie Kondo’s new Netflix series, Tidying Up, but if you haven’t, it’s where the Japanese cleaning guru helps homeowners reorganise their lives and declutter their way towards a calm, clean living space.
Now, we’re sure that you take really good care of your garden room and it’s not messy at all (!) …but, sometimes things can build up. There’s nothing wrong with having an early spring clean every now and then, so let’s take a look at some of Marie Kondo’s best tips that you can use to keep your garden room spotless.
Be Committed
When you’re deciding to overhaul your garden room and declutter, it’s really important to stay committed. One of the biggest mistakes people make, according to Marie, is that they only complete half the job or half-heartedly declutter, so the same problems will just resurface again. Committing to decluttering, cleaning and keeping your garden room a safe, seamless haven is about being consistent and focusing on keeping clutter at bay.
Imagine your Ideal
What do you want your garden room to look like? Are you after a snug reading hole where you can escape and get lost in a book? Do you want a fresh, crisp gym space, so you can exercise in private? Maybe you want a cool, clean office space that allows you to really focus and get some extra work done.
You need to imagine your ideal garden room environment and this will then help you to focus and bring your ideas to life. Set out some goals and stick to them.
Discard First
Getting rid of things is tough, but it’s good to discard first, before you begin to organise. This means that it’ll be easier further along the line, instead of organising things that you’re not going to keep. Try taking everything out from its place aswell and going through it, it’ll be easier to see what you have and work out what you don’t need.
Sort by Category, not Location
When you’re decluttering, it’s important to sort by category, instead of sorting out everything in a particular area of your space. For example, if you’re tidying away papers or documents, try to sort everything from a particular category first, as this helps you to organise as you go along. Don’t jump from organising books to organising papers, just because they’re in the same area – stick to one category and focus.
Does it Spark Joy?
One of Marie Kondo’s favourite phrases she uses is ‘does it spark joy?’ And what this means is that when you’re deciding on what items to keep or ditch, you have to really ask yourself whether it adds anything to your life. You might have millions of books gathering dust in your garden room – why not take each one and decide whether you’re going to read it again or if you could give it away or donate it. You have to be quite ruthless when it comes to decluttering, otherwise you’ll just end up keeping everything!
For more advice and tips for your own garden room, contact our experienced team at Bridge Timber today!