Out of Sight, Out of Mind?
Before you start buying new furniture
for your decluttered garden, we have
to focus on the clutter itself. This does
not mean store it away out of sight, out
of mind, as it will get on top of you.
The most common storage culprit
in the garden? The shed. People can
often cram as much as possible into
the shed because that hides the mess.
But then you aren’t discarding, you
are only adding more and more and
more.
That’s not to say that storage solutions
aren’t always a good idea. They can
be a blessing for cushions and other
smaller items that you want to use
each summer, but not have out for the
bad weather. Often though, storage
is used as a hideaway for mess and
that look out of place? 50 tennis balls?
An abundance of different tool kits
that you never use? Sort through
them category by category, and it
Does it ‘Spark Joy’?
Perhaps her most famous catchphrase,
Marie Kondo urges people to only keep
the things that ‘bring joy’ to them in
hoarding. How do you declutter? will ultimately help you to choose the Choose Category by Category keep, and to throw away. gnome that you don’t love? Plant pots
Many people opt to organise by Categories for Garden Think about how useful it is. Have you
location, but Kondo recommends
doing it by category as it helps you
acknowledge how much of each item
you have, what you need or brings
best of the best of your garden tools to
• Clothes and gloves
• Dining Sets
• Seating, Sofas, Stools and Benches
their homes. Do you have a garden
with no plants in? Throw them away.
used it recently? Is it sentimental?
Does it bring joy? The last part is the
most important.
• Parasols Imagine putting on your favourite
• Barbeques pair of jeans or reading your favourite
• Outdoor Accessories book. If throwing away a tool gives
• Plant Pots you the same feeling of throwing away
• Gardening tools your favourite book, don’t bin it. But
• Toys and Sports if not, pass it on, donate it, or recycle
greenhouse, organise by item. • Building Materials it. This will help you to stop buying
• Komono (miscellaneous items) things you don’t need and even once
Take your garden accessories one by • Last, anything with sentimental you have decluttered, save money in
value the long run.
happiness to you. Kondo typically
heads for the clothes first, then
moves onto books, papers, misc and
leaves sentimental items until last.
It’s not difficult to adapt this to your
garden; don’t organise by shed and
one. Lots of random garden chairs
Other benefits to the Marie Kondo
method include benefits to your
mental health and relieving stress.
We’ve all heard the idea that a
cluttered home is a cluttered mind,
and this is just as relevant to the
garden.
Choose a place for everything. Remove
anything that doesn’t bring you
happiness. Keep anything that does
bring joy. Most importantly - don’t get
a bigger shed.
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