Let’s Honour our Home & Work Space

Have you watched the Netflix series Tidy?

I did, in one sitting with a big bowl of popcorn and all the candy I got for Christmas…apparently, I am not alone. Millions have watched it. The drop-off centres are being flooded by stuff that people were inspired to get rid of after watching the series. Like most people, I love a before and after – a makeover montage is absolute bliss for me second only to dance montages.

I became a fan of Marie Kondo years ago, when I read her book The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up.

It made me so happy! I was ecstatic to find a new way to fold my socks and shirts and create
order in my drawers and closets. I believe I am pretty good at organizing and sorting stuff and competent at creating order. Like Marie Kondo, containment is my mantra. When I organize stuff and I can usually let things go after some personal torment and indecisiveness. But Marie is next level good at it. What makes her next level good at it is that she makes the connection to the “spirit” of things and how we connect to that. What sparks joy? Or what moves you – how does it speak to you?

As an interior designer I enjoyed watching her interact with clients. I felt Marie Kondo’s frustration (although she is so lovely you could hardly tell she was firmly saying NO) with the client who wanted Marie to make all the clutter disappear but didn’t actually want to get rid of anything. I have had that client and I have been that client. I have compassion for how hard it is to let go of things! She takes people through the letting it go journey with notable compassion and I love that!

But, the thing that Marie Kondo does that moved me to tears in almost every episode, was how she stops and connects to the home. She sits and gives it her full attention – she listens to it. She humbly sits and asks for permission to be there and work on the space. In my opinion, this is how it should be done. Let’s honour our spaces, they give us shelter and bear witness to our lives. To give gratitude to that place that holds our memories and all our stuff! Thanking all the things that have served us as we pass them along to their next home. This is truly how we should be in our homes and how we should interact with our things.

I believe our live and work spaces have their own spirits. I believe that we feel much more at home when we keep that in our consciousness. Remember and acknowledge that this place – no matter what bugs you about it, is sheltering and caring for you. That is truly worth of your notice and appreciation. A recent Design Sponge blog by Grace Bonney put it perfectly when she said, “love your home for exactly what it is right now.” Take a moment from time to time and feel that – say hello home when you walk in the door. Look at something you love in your home and thank it. Spark joy! How can that be anything but good?

Author: Dwaina

I am devoted to making people love living in their homes. I have done that with absolute joy for most of my life and as a career for the past 20 years or so... I am a homebody – I do not actively seek adventure but I have had adventures. I believe home is the most sacred and important place in the world. I say I grew up on a farm – but I doubt technically it would qualify as a farm. Five acres – one milk cow – one calf - we ate them when they grew up, lots of chickens and a few pigs – we ate them too… I was that kid who dragged rugs and furniture out to the orchard and set up outdoor rooms. It mixed my two favourite things – outside and comfortable furniture. My friends and I would sleep outside in my “rooms”. It was magical because my ceiling was full of stars. I have lived in small houses, big houses, basement suites, cottages, condos and apartments. I have built and I have renovated houses. For a short time in my young life I was without a home – this changed me. I have lived with pets, wanted and unwanted – rodents are unwanted… I have lived in a house richly full with the raising of my four children. I have had the tremendous joy of my children carrying my grandchildren into my home. I have had my home become an “empty nest” and my life shrunken and shattered with the loss of my beloved husband. Home and my people there have always been my comfort. It does not matter where home is, it only matters that you are in it and that you find comfort there and that is why I do what I do.