editing

I've picked up a new word, editing. It's not so much that the word is new, but it's usage. A person can edit her purse or a bookshelf. She can edit a cupboard or a magazine collection. Editing can take five minutes or a year. Anything can be edited, really. It's really just a euphemism for clearing clutter. 

My first feng shui project here in Salt Lake is a massive editing project. We've started in the basement with the smallest of three rooms. It is a room intended for storage. 

Not to scale, but you get the idea

Rule number one when editing is to be kind to yourself. If you aren't ready to go through a box, set it aside for later editing. Don't beat yourself up about anything. It took 2 people 21 hours to edit this room over the course of a weekend. Rule number two is trust the process. Remember when you clear out objects that no longer serve a purpose in your life, you create space for new objects or activities to come in to your life.

Storage Room

Looks a little intimidating. We took everything out shelf by shelf. As with any editing project, many items were recycled  or donated, some was discarded to landfill, and the rest was kept and organized back onto a shelf. 

To be edited

One of the goals was to create space for wrapping gifts and other tasks that relate to the contents of the storage space. 

Same view as above, post edit

Holiday and seasonal decorations distinctly organized

Organized china

Work surface in the center for wrapping gifts or other tasks

Organized window screens

Editing is a continuous process. There's still work to be done, but the most labor intensive and time consuming part is complete. We only needed to purchase one additional shelving unit for the back section of the space. In future plastic bins may replace cardboard boxes (they deteriorate), but you don't have to spend much just to get organized.