The Home Edit Inspo: "How & where do I begin?" (Part 1/3)

Hey all!
This blog is based around the book, “The Home Edit Life: The No-Guilt Guide to Owning What You Want and Organizing Everything”, written by Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin.
Does this sound familiar? Perhaps you have watched their show on Netflix called “The Home Edit”.

Due to COVID, we had our first lockdown in March 2020. I (like many others) spent my time binge watching shows on Netflix that I typically would never have time to watch before lockdown.  
One of my favourite shows that I binge watched was “The Home Edit”. Okay, let’s be honest… I binged watched it more than once.
Now in Spring 2021, as we are experiencing our second “stay-at-home order”, I am stuck looking at the interior of my home and coming face to face with a lot of things that I have put on the back burner of many “to-do” lists.

I decided to purchase the book “The Home Edit life” for more inspiration. With it being Spring, it's time to do the annual spring cleaning, decluttering and organizing. I thought that now is the time to do a little “home edit” myself!

Typically, the question we ALL face when we are at square one is … “where do I start?

Well, of the 255 pages of “The Home Edit Life”, I have narrowed down the most helpful tips and tricks into a list for you and broke it down into three helpful parts! 

Welcome to Part 1/3.  As we begin our spring cleaning and organizing journey at square one, we will know where and how to start!

“Square one: How and where do I begin?”

1. First things first: Know the difference between Minimalism and Organization!
   “Organization is often conflated with minimalism when in fact they are two very different things. You might define minimalism as living with less, while organization is an efficient and orderly arrangement of things or tasks. Minimalism is a design style in a lifestyle choice. But to be organized does not mean you must inherently own fewer things. It just means you need to be thoughtful about what you do own. You need to treat your things in your space with equal respect”.

There 100% IS a difference. Just because you are taking the leap to organize your home, doesn’t mean you have to feel pressured to get rid of everything to do so!

2. “Start small”
   “Starting small and working your way up is the best way to ensure a successfully organized space. Staring on a drawer may seem like an insignificant project, but it can be just as transformative as organizing a larger space, helping to eliminate common hassles and improve your everyday life”.

The first piece of advice they give when beginning to organize and declutter your space is to start small and don’t overdo it. Don’t take on a task that is too large, or else you might overwhelm yourself and defer away from doing this before you even get started! 

My “start small” task began with the dreaded drawer that we ALL have in our households….. the JUNK DRAWER. Let’s face it people, whether you like to admit it or not… we ALL have that one drawer that is jam packed with the most random stuff.

I felt so much better when they acknowledged the junk drawer and said
“so what if a drawer holds random items? As long as everything is contained and categorized and make sense in your daily routine that's all that matters”.

3. Your house should be filled with the things that you like, the things that you need and the things that you may find sentimental. They provide us with this list.
   -Things you might like: Candles, vases, frames, guitar, jewelry etc.
   -Things you might need: Documents, hand soap, batteries, tax returns, light bulbs etc.Things you might find sentimental: Childhood items, family heirlooms, kid artwork, notes and cards, old photos, wedding dress etc. 

So, let’s briefly get down to the nitty gritty of what items are the ones you don’t like, you don’t need and aren’t sentimental that are taking up space in your home…

You know that thing in your house that’s broken or missing a part? Get rid of it and stop telling yourself that you’re going to fix it when you totally know that deep down you aren’t going to. (I am guilty of this)
I know there is an item in your house that you’re holding onto because “you might need it someday” …. Let’s be real, if you haven’t already, you won’t! Get rid of it.  (I am guilty of telling myself this which is exactly how I became a mini hoarder).

That item of clothing that’s been sitting in the closet that was gifted to you a while ago that you don’t really like and KNOW you’re never going to wear…. It’s okay to give it away or donate it to someone who will adore it!

4. Start smart THEN make it pretty!
   “Much like starting small with a drawer, when you approach organizing, it helps to be systematic. We firmly believe that the best way to organize any and every space is to first make it as functional as possible, then make it as beautiful as possible. It's imperative that you operate in this order because if you're only trying to make your space look good, it won't function properly, and it'll end up deteriorating. If you start with what smart, you can always boost the style after the systems are in place”.

I know I know…. You probably want to make this space look as picture perfect and aesthetically pleasing as you possibly can, and I totally get that!  But let the reward of making your space “pretty” come after the effort into making it functional. If you try skipping any steps and rushing to the final look of a space, then you may run into the possibility of causing more work yourself and making the process more overwhelming than it needs to be.

Well, that concludes Part 1/3 of our Home Edit Inspo blog! I hope you found this as helpful as I did!

Now that you have a starting point, be sure to check out Part 2/3 on how to make the most sense and use of your space so it is organized, functional and seamlessly “flows”.