How to Declutter Your Home – With Feng Shui Rules

April 6, 2021
Feng Shui

If you have been trying to find information about how to declutter your home, I’m sure you have read about Marie Kondo by now. But have you ever heard about the feng shui rules for decluttering your home? Have you ever heard about Feng Shui before? What is Feng Shui anyway?

Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese art. It has the main target of harmonizing your surroundings in an effort to not simply tidy up but to create optimal energy flow. Feng shui can be used to effectively get rid of all types of clutter, clutter in your workspace, yard, home, mind or body. So how do you start decluttering with Feng Shui and where do you start? This is a very commonly asked question and I have the answer if you just keep reading. I will cover:

How to Declutter Your Home – Where to Start With Decluttering

Where Should I Start Decluttering?

Actual Question: “Where should I start with decluttering? My house is feeling heavy with clutter, I feel overwhelmed and I don’t know where to start.”

So recently, in my powerhouse program, I had a client comment and post a similar question. But her question was about the attic. And there are some key areas in your home that I would certainly recommend looking at when it comes to decluttering and in a level of priority.

So the very first one I would say to you is the attic. First of all, it is probably a place that you have not been to in a while. Second of all, a lot of the things that get put into the attic are put there simply to get them out of your way. You do not completely deal with them, you just move them out of sight and so out of mind.

There is a saying…

“Clutter is from unmade decisions”

So you have not really decided if you need it, you’re not sure when you are gonna use it and so it gets put into your attic. And this is true if you don’t have an attic. For some people it could possibly be the garage or the basement. And those three areas for me are really like minor spaces that I think could possibly be tackled without having to get too emotional about things.

Clutter is one of those topics that is an emotive topic, it is one that people can find quite difficult to go to work on. So when it comes to clutter, for me, my suggestion would be to;

Feng Shui Tip – Focus On Things You Have no Emotional Tie To

If you are like the biggest, avid book reader and you love, books do not start to declutter your home by decluttering your books. Go and undertake your shoes if you are not into shoes. So find the stuff that’s not going to be that difficult to start with. As you get better at decluttering you can get into the items that you really love and will have an attachment to.

Because decluttering is like exercising a muscle, when you build that you get better at using it and exercising it gives you loads of energy.

So why would you want to tackle the attic or the basement first? When you think about the attic, if you’re feeling overwhelmed and your attic is full of objects, it is literally bearing down on your head. It is creating this sense of heaviness and this burden on your shoulder.

If you’ve heard me talk about this before, your house is like a person. It has eyes – the windows, it has a mouth – the front door and ears are the walls. And the attic is like the brain. If you think about it, it is at the top of the house. And if it is full of junk and stuff, it is literally going to be affecting every single part of your body, your health, your wellbeing and your vibrancy. So here is the place I would recommend you start out if you are considering decluttering your home.

And this takes me to my next point. So what are some items that should go into your attic so it stays clutter free?

What Goes into the Attic

Your attic is a fantastic place to store items that you use seasonally. So all those things that you only use once or twice per year. Things that have no emotive quality. They are functional and you take them out when it is time for them to perform their function. I’ve included some of the objects that are kept in my attic below.

Christmas Decorations
These are seasonal, you are only using them one time for the year.
Seasonal Clothing
When your winter clothes are up in the attic you will have your summer clothes out and you switch them around. So it is not something that is going to be going up there and never moved and switched or never cleared out again. If there is something like that, it is blocking your energy and bearing down on you and your body.
Camping Gear
This I have in my own attic because we do not have an outdoor shed, If we did have an outdoor shed, the camping gear would go out there.
Annual Accounting or Other Business Documents
This is something that we keep in our attic. We keep seven years worth of accounting details since that is what is required for us to keep. We have literally merely 7 folders and each year we take out the folder that needs to go to make space for the new folder that goes in at the end of the current year. You do not need to have excess of these items, simply what you need to keep for legal reasons.
Children’s Artwork
You do not need to have every piece of your children’s artwork when they are 35 years old. Ask your child if they want the artwork and if they do, then give that to them. You can keep a couple pieces for their sentimental value, but you don’t need every single one.

Be clear with the purpose of every item in your attic and be mindful that all of the items that you choose to keep should not be kept indefinitely or in large amounts. Only keep the items you need. You want to be clear with the purpose of everything in your attic.

And the basement is the same, it is a place that truly gets neglected. Things simply get shoved out there, unmade decisions. Try and clear it out, you will be so surprised how much energy you will have after clearing out your space.

Let Me Share a Personal Story

I have had this experience with Ken, when I moved in with him. And the house was built, he built it and everything he had belonging to him from his mother’s house, from his house, from his life, all these things kind of just went up in the attic. And we found things that were like 20 years old. These included;

Payslips
Notebooks
Workbooks

The fascinating thing was the shift in his energy once we moved and got rid of all of that. He started to hop out of bed, exuberantly ready for the day. It was intriguing, so I would love first of all for you to commit.

Is there something you could think of in the attic that has not been used in more than 6 to 8 months except for your Christmas decorations that can be let go of? Because this whole scenario of, “I’m keeping it just in case…” is not your friend when you are trying to declutter and establish Feng Shui in your home. Keeping something just in case is idealistic, but if your attic is completely clogged then this is impacting your health and wellbeing. So that is where we start.

Benefits of Decluttering

Release Energy
Improved Sleep
Released Anxiety and Stress
Boost Productivity
Boost Creativity
Get Rid of Allergens
Find Lost Treasure
Save Money
Makes Routine Cleaning Easier

Benefits of Decluttering with Feng Shui Rules

All of the above plus
Reach Your Goals Faster
Enhance Your Wealth
Lift Spirits
Sets You at Ease Mentally and Emotionally

Be Gentle With Yourself

Now, the other thing about the whole aspect of decluttering is merely being gentle with yourself. Remember, you don’t have to do it all today. And I know Marie Kondo talks about, getting everything and doing a whole declutter day. And yes, do that if you want to and are in a position to. But also remember the muscle analogy I wrote above. Decluttering is a journey and you will get better at it over time.

You’ll always find things that you can let go of, and I am always so surprised that I ended up keeping stuff that I ask myself “how did I end up keeping that, like I have not used that since?” So just being really mindful of your things.

So what can you declutter right now to get yourself started? As soon as you get up from reading this, choose a desk, a furniture item and declutter it. You will most likely need 15 minutes tops. You can do this anywhere. If you are at work, declutter your desk. If you are sitting in your car, just skim through the pockets and holders and get out the junk.

Straightforward Things to Declutter

Things that are broken
Things that are not working
Things that have gone out of date

These are the things that you can really do that can be super simple and effortless. So it can be easy to tackle the places that are not as emotive and then do the other tasks later. And it can be really hard energetically, especially right now with the pandemic. So being gentle with yourself is important.

Be sure to look after yourself, like just really looking after yourself. And I think this is the perfect topic to talk about with feng shui rules as well. Because looking after yourself is super important and tends to your own energy. And that means clearing out and letting go. I always say that feng shui is about connecting the elements of nature. So one of the most powerful things that you can do is to spend time in nature.

And when we work with people, Feng Shui-ing their homes, we actually bring in the five elements of nature into their space to balance and harmonize the space.

Five Elements of Nature

When it comes to these elements, you want to include them all to achieve balance but you want to ensure that none of them are being too overpowering. Less is more!

Wood – Include real plants or add green to your space.
Fire – Include the color red or burning candles. Be sure to keep this element to a minimum.
Earth – Include items with earth tone colors or include crystals.
Metal – Include metallic accents with decor pieces both hard and soft.
Water – Include water features, curved items, the color blue, paintings/pictures of calm bodies of water.

Now that you know where to start cleaning and what to start decluttering in your home. What do you do next?

Schedule Your Decluttering Time

So you couldn’t do the little challenge above and start decluttering right away. That’s fine, I understand that we all have very dynamic lives, so that’s fine. If your schedule is so packed or you are merely not in the space that needs the work right now, you simply need to schedule the time. So go ahead and pull out your smartphone or your planner and mark a date off. Remember you do not have to declutter everything in one day. You can still use the 15-minute scenario above if you do not have much time and you can tailor it to your needs. So just mark off the time you will be using for decluttering and ensure you keep this date with yourself. No slacking off!

Actual Question: “How do I stay motivated?”

To keep yourself motivated while you declutter, you may want to listen to upbeat music at a reasonable volume. Music can help you keep going without even noticing how much time has passed. Skip the headphones and play the music on your regular speakers. Pump up the volume and do a little dance!

The Importance of Alignment

Having things in your home that are not aligned with where you want to go, or are broken or that give off a sense of extra clutter will completely throw you off in many aspects of your life. And when I talk about clutter I’m not talking about today’s dishes in the sink or the kid’s clothes in the wash basket or the toys thrown around on the floor. That is not what I am talking about. What I consider to be clutter are elements that are blocking and slowing down your motivation and energy levels.

This includes areas of your home that have not been touched in a while. Like a bookcase that has not moved. I had one client who had a bookcase with books that had been there for 35 years. The same books! When you think about that, it’s stagnancy, it’s staleness, it’s stuckness and that will then mirror back to your life what’s going on.

Actual Question: “How can I bring up the vibrations of my home, so we all work through the same uplifted feelings?”

I go back to the story above with Ken. One of the biggest shifts that I noticed was once he started to declutter how his energy and mood changed. So anyone who has been feeling a bit stuck, a bit sluggish, or you’re just not feeling that good can really benefit from even a quick declutter. Just walk around your house and observe “What can I let go of?” Because as you let go of something physical, it is also kind of letting go of something emotional as well. Like you’re letting go in your external environment and this is mirrored into our internal environment. If we merely do something on the external, and we do a little bit of sweep, clean and clearing of items we can create space for new things to come in. So giving yourself that opportunity to check in with that can be vital and a really powerful practice to do as well.

Take Action

Now you know:

How to declutter your home with Feng Shui Rules
Where to start decluttering
The Benefits of Decluttering
The Benefits of Using Feng Shui for Decluttering
The Importance of Being Gentle With Yourself
Straightforward Things to Declutter
The Five Nature Elements of Feng Shui to Incorporate
How to Motivate Yourself to Declutter
Scheduling Your Time for Decluttering
The Importance of Alignment

All that is left for you to now do is to take action. You can have all of the information and execute all of the plans. You can purchase all of the cleaning tools and organizing bins, but if you do not take action you will never get the job done. Your home won’t declutter itself and you will continue to suffer. Make the decision to take action today or on the day you schedule for your decluttering and do not let putrid energy or an unpleasant mood get in your way.

Please, if you are gonna declutter using my feng shui rules, take a photo of your decluttering and tag me on Facebook or Instagram and share with me your actions. Because it really motivates other people to do it. Also, sharing your wins and successes as well as how you feel afterward can be so, so good. So if you are gonna take action, come into my group, take a photo, share “I took action”. And you can share it with other people and share how you feel when you cleared it.

The word “action” is not in “attraction” for no reason. We have to take action to realize results, so sitting in one place and not changing anything is going to keep us stuck. Whereas if you move and move things and clear items, you’re creating that flow, and we’re stepping into that flow. So, thank you for being here. Keep an eye out for my next post if you enjoy this one.

Please share it with your friends and family members and remember Take Action!