At a recent client walkthrough, Joy and I suggested a family curate their collection of furniture, kids’ toys, fine musical instruments and artwork yet-to-hang.
They loved the idea. What struck me was not how willingly they agreed. They did, after all, hire Joy In Your Space to learn how to live with less stuff! What impressed me, was how much they appreciated approaching their belongings with this museum-quality word.
They preferred curate over the usual decluttering terms: winnow, purge, and cull. We talked about how transformative “curating” would be for them.
Here’s why:
This one word made their decluttering job — which had felt overwhelming and burdensome — into an easy and fun exploration of their taste and family values.
They were excited to:
• carefully select those toys most precious to their children.
• examine each instrument and decide how to make the guitars
more accessible so they’re played more often.
• assess which household artwork spoke to them.
• and finally determine which kid “masterpieces” were most iconic
of that kid’s creativity and developmental progress.
Their home won’t feel like a museum when their done…they have 3 small children! But they will live with their favorite things, be able to find what they need and they won’t trip over clutter anymore.
Everything will have it’s place, and everyone will enjoy their space.