simple shui | 7 rituals that guarantee a cleaner home!
before the dawn of every new year, i post a little shui for welcoming and harnessing all its effervescence into your home. and every year – without fail – this checklist inspires one question: what if i don’t have time to clean my home?
a clean home is a necessary ingredient for shui’s success because chaos, clutter, dust, +/or the procrastinated piles all run interference, and high vibe magic in a low vibe environment will not produce champagne-popping results.
which got me thinking: since we are over the twenty-nineteen threshold, how about a few rituals that guarantee your house stays clean and crisp throughout the year so you don’t feel overwhelmed by all the chores all at once ever again?
EMBRACE SPOT CLEANING. when i work with clients, many tend toward mighty sweeping ideas of how to get their clutter +/or trouble spots resolved. and when i follow up with clients, here’s what i see – grand gestures rarely work well. for instance, if we decide to clean the whole attic next weekend, we are usually jet-lagged from the thought of it before we even start. but if we bring a few boxes down every week and work steadily until it is done, the attic is eventually cleaned. same with a messy sink – we don’t need to scrub the entire bathroom top to bottom; we can simply wipe the sink and counter down and call it good. deal with the obvious priority first, and save your big chores for cleaning day.
TAKE SOMETHING WITH YOU. daily clutter – the stray glass left on the coffee table from last night, the pile of coats on the back of a chair, the laundry – tricks us into thinking we have more to do than we have time. if you are going into the kitchen, grab that glass and wash it. if one of those coats is yours, take it with you on the way to your closet and hang it up. put the laundry away yourself (or delegate it) immediately. i don’t encourage multi-tasking EXCEPT when it comes to streamlining trips around the house!
STOP USING THE FLOOR AS STORAGE. first, pick anything up off the floor that doesn’t belong there. when things linger on the ground, their energy attracts your attention downward. second, stop storing stuff on the floor. energy becomes anchored here, and it pulls our own energy with it. put the laundry baskets atop the washer; take the stack of magazines and recycle them or find them a new home; and resist keeping baskets for “stuff” everywhere. energy goes where the eye goes so put your stuff away, and your home will immediately feel so much cleaner.
CLEAR THE COUNTERS + OTHER SURFACES. these horizontal spaces morph quickly into clutter havens – everything is drawn to them, right? it’s also what we notice almost immediately when we walk into someone’s home or office. clear space is open space, and open space is a shui must-have because it signals we have room to receive the things we want (better opportunities, job offers, true love relationships, a much-needed salary raise, more physical energy, etc.). open space also makes a room feel more spacious, and that feeling alone becomes contagious in our lives – we don’t wake up chronically overwhelmed; we aren’t constantly pressing up against doubt and indecision; and we can relax fully because all the stuff no longer demands our attention.
ADOPT A MORE MINIMALIST APPROACH TO DECOR. if you are prone to dusty or messy spaces, all the little things sitting on a shelf or table could be a major contributor to why your space never feels completely clean. empty space isn’t necessary here, but practicing restraint with what you keep out is. here’s how to decide what stays or goes: dust these trouble spots once a week, and when you hit that first wave of resistance, eliminate a few pieces. keep doing this weekly until the few things left out are easy-peasy to polish their pretty!
PURGE THE FRIDGE WEEKLY. got leftovers, expired goods, foods you really aren’t going to eat? take them out before trash day, and then do a quick mini-purge before you grocery shop every single time. our kitchen is directly tied to our overall wealth – money, health, and personal energy – so letting things get stale, smelly, or soggy here will wreck your shui efforts in one fell swoop!
PUT YOUR HOUSE TO BED AT NIGHT. the way i see it is much of what happens tomorrow begins today. so, i show up in small ways every night, taking care of what i can. i move through each room fluffing a pillow or folding a blanket; returning everything to its designated spot; washing any last-minute dishes and wiping down the sink. getting into this one habit will add up quickly and change how you feel in your home. i know our house so much better because of this ritual, and it ensures that the kind of energy i prefer is usually percolating in every nook + corner.
xo
