De-cluttering your life can be intimidating. After all, who wants to give up  all the things they have worked and saved for? Who wants to let go of memorabilia that reminds you of the good times – inherited family heirlooms, precious arts and crafts the kids brought home from school, collections that remind you of your favorite obsessions?

But letting go of material belongings you don’t need was never meant to be a prison sentence.  Minimizing is meant to ask you to look at what adds value to your life, and what is holding you down. Releasing a few things that aren’t adding value to life is a way to open up to a simpler, less stressful way of being. If you free up space in your dwelling, you free up space in your life for appreciation of other experiences.

Have you ever considered using light and space as a design element?

Maybe it hasn’t occurred to you (or maybe it has), but architects and designers use both elements all the time.

Designing with Light

Natural light is essential for life and well-being. Even better, it’s free! Consider letting some light into the dark, cluttered corners. Allowing natural light keeps you in tune with circadian rhythms – the natural fluctuations of light and darkness. Plus, if you are fortunate enough to have south-facing windows in the northern hemisphere, the sun will keep your abode light and warm in winter and shady and cool in summer.

Have you ever enjoyed the simple, graceful way light touches objects? Other ways to appreciate light include using small prisms or stained glass to redirect light. The refracted light will create its own designs and patterned artwork.

Electrical lighting is also a feat of modern design, a marriage of aesthetics and functional engineering that we often take for granted.

You can find lights designed specifically for work areas such as a home office, workshop, or areas for prepping food. Dimmer, amber lighting can be used to create a sense of warmth in dining areas or spaces set aside for relaxation.

Incorporating layers into the lighting opens up the possibilities for multiple functions within a single space. You can use lighting to enhance productivity during tasks, create ambience and mood, or to highlight specific features of your design.

Inner Space

Using space as a design element doesn’t mean clearing out everything you own to be hauled to the dump or local donation center. 

If you look at space as full rather than empty, this perspective gives you a lot of freedom to play with. What kind of space would you fill your abode with?

Space can be used, the same as light, to highlight focal points in the room. Leaving space also allows freedom of movement for activities, tasks, and creative projects. Consider a feng shui perspective without becoming maniacal about the details. Does your space allow life to move freely through it? Are there congested, high-traffic areas where you are stumbling over things? Is the space so cluttered you can never find what you are looking for?

Asking you to be more aware of your interior space does not promise you will be given room to breathe and a new sense of freedom in your “inner space”, but, you never know!

Simplifying your life can have the effect of de-cluttering your mental and physical state as well.

Observe and Appreciate

So, take a look around your environment. What valuable things could you appreciate MORE if there were less clutter? Notice the arrangement of light and space, and where it is blocked.

If you need help simplifying or just need your space to be more organized and efficient, reach out to a professional who is passionate about helping you open up your life.