Recently I was at a client’s home whose basement had been taken over. It has been taken over by memories, old photos, gift wrap, memorabilia, clothes, camping equipment, seasonal decorations, papers and assorted treasures. Now there is nothing wrong with having some of those…but there’s a limit of what you can have in your space. You need to decide what you want. If you want more space, you need to have less stuff.

My clients are wonderful parents, who are expecting their second child just after Christmas. They are a loving couple who have just been taken over by their stuff. They aren’t “bad” or “strange”, but they were overwhelmed, and didn’t know where to start. They would like to finish their basement to have a family room as well as an office. But in order to that, there are steps that need to be taken. We have been purging, sorting and re locating items from their basement. At the beginning, the whole basement was full, we have done our initial sort and gotten rid of items for donation or the dump, but now the hard part begins. We need to pare down the items to fit into the space available.

This is when you need to decide what’s more important to you. The stuff or the space.

If you have a clear vision of your goal for that space, you’ll be able to move forward. The hardest obstacle that you may encounter is wanting to hold on to items that “may” be worth something. If you’ve been holding onto old movies, memorabilia, mugs, etc. from blasts from the pasts, I want you to think about whether it’s worth the space it’s consuming. Would you rather have a few boxes of keepsakes or would you rather have an area where your family can relax? If you really feel you could get some money for an item, give yourself a month. If you haven’t sold it in that time, donate it.

YOU have to choose how you want to live in your space. It didn’t get there overnight, and it won’t be solved overnight, but with a little work, you can have the space that you dream of.

• Only keep items that you will value and honour.
• Only keep items that you love and feel are beautiful.
• Only keep items that are useful and functional.

Anything that doesn’t fit your goal for the space, shouldn’t be there.

Wishing you much success in taking back your space, one area at a time!