Feng Shui Your Clutter

Apartment living can be a challenge. You have to squeeze yourself and all of your worldly belongings into a small studio if you're lucky enough to live by yourself, or into just one bedroom if you've got roommates. If you've been struggling with clutter in your small living space, you're not alone! With such little space even just one thing out of place can feel like a mess, but don't despair.

If you're starting to feel like the walls are closing in on you, there are some small things you can do to improve your living situation, and bring some Feng Shui, the Chinese art of interior design, back in your life. Feng Shui uses certain principles and ideas to create good energy flow in a room or house. Traditionally, each area of the house is associated with a different part of life, and special objects can be placed in a specific area to enhance that aspect of your life. In the modern world, we may not believe that placing a mirror in the corner will give you more prosperity, but most of us can see the benefit of reducing clutter and creating more space for energy to flow in our living spaces. Here are some tips to get the energy flowing in your life!

Five Minutes a Day

That's all it takes. Set a timer and spend five minutes a day putting things away and organizing, or sorting through things to decide what you want to keep or get rid of. After about a week of this, your room will start looking amazing and you may finally be able to see the floor! If this seems difficult to you, put on your favorite TV show or music to help the time pass more quickly. You'll be surprised how much you can get done in such a short chunk of time.

Categorize

Categorizing is essential when it comes to decluttering. Instead of just throwing all your clothes in a drawer, create separate drawers for workout clothes, regular clothes and dressy clothes (or whatever categories work for you). This will make it so that you can go into the same drawer for one outfit and spend less time searching for specific garments. It pays dividends to have a functional, everyday system of cleaning and designing your apartment home. 

Keep a Space for Clutter

It might be a spot on top of your bureau, or on the floor right next to your door. This is the place you plop your bags when you come in, throw off your shoes and drop that day's mail before flopping on the bed or couch to relax after a long day. Make sure that you only allow this spot to become cluttered, and nothing else, and that you clean it up in a timely manner, putting away new objects that you've brought into the home the same day. Doing this every day helps keep your home consistently clean.

Clear Anything You Don't Use

Not only should you get rid of that ugly sweater Aunt Betty got you that you'll never wear in a million years, but you should also get rid of friends who are toxic, unhealthy practices and things that remind you of negative emotions. Clearing all of this clutter from your life will only make more room for positive things, whether that is stuff you enjoy, people who enhance your life or more optimism. Aunt Betty doesn't have to know.