Here’s how to cure a habit to hoard with Feng Shui.
First understand how clutter is impacting your well-being and where it is hurting you the most.
Discover how Sara and Yan decluttered and enhanced their double garage, creating space for new opportunities to flow into their life.
And for die-hard declutterers already, learn how to take your good habits to the next level with Swedish Death Cleaning.
Feng Shui decluttering cures a habit of hoarding
Experiencing a clear, clean space and energy flow are fundamental principles of good Feng Shui – and for good reason. New opportunities cannot enter your world when there is no space for them – whether that be a physical space in their home or a mental/emotional space in their head.
In the beginning
When asked to give a Feng Shui appraisal my client invariably has one or more issues they are looking to Feng Shui to address. Career, relationships, money – whatever is causing them concern, can be tracked to the area of the home (using the Bagua Map) that correlates with it. These potential hot spots are the first place we look for evidence of clutter that is blocking energy from flowing.
Decluttering delivers health benefits
Decluttering supports your mental/emotional and physical well-being enormously – and with immediate effect. I’m sure you’ve experienced this even after turning out your sock drawer. What you may not be so familiar with is the super-charged decluttering practice of Swedish Death Cleaning (SDC). SDC adds a dimension to decluttering that raises the bar of conscious well-living to a whole new level.
When you’re ready to a substantial uplift to your health, wealth and happiness, try adding decluttering/SDC to the mix. Not only will you benefit from it but all those living and working under the same roof will too.
Garages are notorious hotspots for clutter
Take Sara and Yan’s double garage for example – the starting point for their Feng Shui journey with me. This large, utilitarian space had become an unruly conglomeration of tools used in Yan’s landscape gardening business and leftover’s from a lifestyle yet to find a new home. There was also a home gym in the making here but it was not very enticing in its current condition.
This large space spanned two areas of the Bagua – Wealth & Prosperity and Health, Family & Friends.
Plans were afoot for Yan to launch a new creative venture to stimulate Wealth & Prosperity – and the garage was the ideal location for it. Their health and fitness could improve too by making the home gym more accessible.
First up a massive decluttering was needed to make space and allow them to make informed choices as to what to keep and what type of storage would be needed for it.
Years of hoarding to overcome
Decluttering a garage of this size is not a quick and easy task. It takes years to accumulate and weeks to dispose of it. This can be frustratingly slow and boring. That’s why it’s so helpful to be clear why you’re doing it and the improvement you’re likely to experience as a consequence.
To their credit, both Sara and Yan stuck to the plan and saw it through to completion. We were then able to
- Move things around to let more natural light and energy in, particularly by moving the large fridge/freezer blocking one window
2. Rearrange and zone the remaining space to accommodate the gym and construct the creative studio in a way that would also receive a client
3. Decide on appropriate built-in storage units to organise and ‘hide’ tools
4. Introduce colour throughout with room accessories to enhance this area according to Wealth & Abundance and Health, Family & Friends.
5. Add more plants to increase the WOOD element, which correlates with both of the aforementioned Bagua houses.
Once the garage was shipshape 6 weeks later, Sara worked like a Trojan through the remainder of her house. In each room she followed the simple rule I’d set.
Declutter first then decorate and enhance later.
Same view of the garage after decluttering, rearranging and decoration is complete.
Yan reflects on their achievements so far
“My double garage was a dumping ground for all my landscape gardening stuff and had very little storage. I wanted to launch my BodyCasting business and needed a studio space for it that would be clean, crisp and welcoming, and where clients would feel relaxed. The garage was the ideal space but far removed from being usable. So we sought Mary’s advice.
Yan, Landscape Gardener
“Over many weeks and much decluttering we transformed the garage into a warm, calm space I was proud of. We added new flooring, a full ceiling with downlighters, a mirrored sliding door to hide the boiler alcove, back covers on the still-working garage doors, and LOTS of fitted storage as well as shelves for displaying my work. We chose white oak for the flooring to provide a seamless link between the main house and the studio.”
Swedish Death Cleaning takes decluttering to another level
After a pause to appreciate their good work and allow Ian to get underway with his new business, Sara is ready to progress to the next level in the remainder of the house with Swedish Death Cleaning. Döstädning.
Döstädning is a hybrid of two Swedish words meaning ‘death’ and ‘cleaning’. Not as morbid as it sounds because it’s really about promoting a good life.
This Scandi lifestyle trend attempts to deal with the negative and debilitating effects of hoarding by ridding ourselves of everything we no longer need as we go, rather than allowing it to accumulate. If we don’t we’ll have to face this daunting task later when we have even less desire or energy for it – such as in retirement. Or when downsizing forces it upon us and we have a million other things to think about.
Streamlining, simplifying and ordering your affairs makes staying well, being resilient and managing transitions so much easier.
If you’re thinking delcuttering can wait until you get to your new home, listen up please. You’ll be burdening your new life with the fallout from the old, rather than leave the past behind so you can flow.
Try dodging the issue of hoarding
There is another sneaky way to get around decluttering/SDC. That is for you to pass, leaving the responsibility of it for others to deal with. If you’ve ever been in this position on behalf of a loved one, you’ll know what an onerous and heart-rending task it is, especially if you live at the other end of the country or even on another continent.
Our surplus is one thing. When you add in the goods and chattels we inherit from others, it can become overwhelming. It’s not uncommon for the surplus to drift upwards into the attic because we don’t know where else to put it. There it sits over us while we’re in bed, like a hangover we’re trying to sleep off.
Mother’s elegant cabinet full of her best china, is a good example. It was bestowed on you in its entirety and now dominates your dining room. Yet, only one piece in it has real sentimental value. But you feel you can’t let go of the rest – or the cabinet – out of respect to her. At the same time, you are being disrespectful to yourself by holding on for someone who is no longer alive.
Besides, if you don’t love these treasures somebody else might so best to let them go where they can be loved and appreciated again.
Stock-taking as you go
SDC might just prompt you to have a conversation with your beneficiaries about items they might inherit and whether they want them or not. You might even distribute some now so they can thank you and enjoy them immediately.
This is perhaps a better legacy than having them wade through your hoard later, trying to figure out what to do for the best.
SDC advocates a less fractious handover by requiring the originators of ‘stuff’ to take responsibility for it while they are still alive. The Swedes stock-take 2-3 times a year with the understanding that more stuff is constantly flowing in.
Think of it this way. If you were to die tomorrow, heaven forbid, you will have left your life in good order. No surprises, no confusion, no angst for your beneficiaries. This frees them up to grieve your passing unladen while acknowledging and celebrating your life in a beautiful way.
Stress less, live more
SDC makes us aware of our footprint as we tread. It includes each and every one of our possessions, down to the last piece of paper generated and including the cyber trail we leave behind on social media. There can be no blissful ignorance or denial of what we our responsible for.
Living in current time, which SDC promotes, is easier on us. With a SDC routine in place, our daily affairs run smoother and unnecessary complications are minimised since we’re always on top of things.
An SDC practice can be deeply therapeutic too since you’re inclined to process the mental/emotional issues associated with your estate as you are decluttering. In pruning bulging wardrobes, you release the emotional energy trapped in the clothes hanging there but no longer worn.
Fewer stuff means less obstacles, less attention, less stress
The deep-seated joy of being greeted by a calm, clear and orderly home is not to be treated lightly. I regularly help people who have pockets of clutter in their homes that annoy the pants of them.
For control freaks only
It’s very irritating to live in an environment that’s not how you’d like it to be. If your home isn’t the restorative space you instinctively crave, you don’t sleep so well. The children act up. The dog acts out. And there are family disputes more often than there should.
The argument that an uncluttered environment favours one personality type – a tidy person who likes to be in control of their lives – is a fallacy used as an excuse. Decluttering benefits everyone.
When a river, blocked by rocks and debris can’t flow freely, it will eventually bursts its banks.
Peoples’ spirits lift during a consultation as we explore how to lighten their load – and oftentimes we begin with me doing it with them.
I left a bachelor on his doorstep once with 12 black bin bags and a huge grin on his face as he anticipated the new relationship he’d made room for. He found her within a year, got married and they moved to the coast together.
Transparency
Decluttering/SDC can also help you come to terms with your mortality and the fact things were not designed to stay around forever, yourself included.
SDC creates transparency and bring into sharp relief the things which truly make our heart sing, versus that which we covet out of fear, pain, or laziness.
Your environment is an outer projection of your inner state of mind. As a Feng Shui therapist, this is exactly the sweet spot I work with, to bring your environment into alignment with your aspirations for the future. If you say one thing and live the opposite, incongruency will get your nowhere.
The idea is to live the dream and not fall asleep in the middle of it.
Next steps to cure a habit of hoarding
How was reading this? Daunting? Encouraging? Above all, I hope it has galvanised you into action.
If you’d like to run a Feng Shui decluttering task past me, please find a convenient date for a ‘discovery call’ HERE.
For hands on help, I can offer you my very capable assistant, Sam. As an ex-facilities manager, he’s able to support you decluttering, moving furniture around and recycling things on. My role is supervisory, providing the Feng Shui overview and identifying pockets of hoarding that are causing you the most problems. And I’ll be forward-looking as to what can be done next to enhance the energy of your space.
When you’re ready to arrange a Feng Shui consultation please chose 1-hour remote viewing or 2-hours onsite as appropriate.
“Working from home part-time, my study had become a dumping ground for all the work stuff I’ve brought home. It was on my mind continually because I could see it in the background when working. I wanted to do something about it but it always seemed such a monumental task without a real plan. Mary advised me on how to organise my study. She gave me a clear plan broken down into manageable chunks so I could start implementing them right away.”
Rachel, CTO, Medical supplies company, Oxford
A little bit about me
I am an Intuitive Feng Shui practitioner, creating conscious living and working environments. Trained in the Western School of Feng Shui and with Denise Linn, USA, I’ve been working in homes and offices since 1995. More about me HERE.