The One Thing You Can do Today to Transform Your Home Instantly
I’ve seen it a thousand times: you want to transform your space, do a little makeover, if you will, but every time you try to start, you freeze. You’re paralyzed by decisions, options and limitations, and so rather than do one thing, you do nothing. You’re thinking, “my home doesn’t feel like me,” but you can’t even picture what that looks like!
That stops now, sister. Or mister. Whoever.
As a home stylist, my rule with every client, before we ever begin with their space is this:
You have to clear your space first.
You’re Haunting Your Own House
Think about it this way: what if you were moving into a new house, but the old owners left all their shit in it? You’d be pissed. You’d think it was all wrong. Maybe you’d pick through it for treasure (if you’re me, lol) or maybe you’d pitch it all in disgust. Then you’d clean the room deeeeeply to scrape out all the remnants of someone else’s life. I’m not wrong!
OKAY, so you’re telling me you want to transform your space into something new, but your old identity is haunting it? It’s the same idea here. You can’t clearly see the potential of something new with all the things you’ve outgrown standing in your way, blocking your vision and clogging up your creativity.
This might sound harsh to some — I personify my stuff and actually feel bad getting rid of things sometimes. I know I’m not alone in that. Some of y’all are freaks too! And it can be hard to let go. So now we have this weird push-pull of a new identity wanting to form, but the old one isn’t ready to surrender her post!
It’s like the ghost of your past self is haunting the room, and it’s time to send her/him/them into the light.
Make Room for Something New
Before you even think about how to style your room, you need to move out of it. I know this might sound inconvenient or tedious, but I’m telling you right now that your brain and nervous system need this in order to get you unstuck and into action mode.
Clearing out the room will:
make your home (and this process) less cluttered and chaotic
help you find and hone your home style
make your home improvements look more expensive than they are
save you time and energy trying to visualize something new on top of something old
Make Your Home Feel Less Cluttered & Chaotic
Take everything out of the room. I’m serious. As much as you possibly can! I know we all have lives to live and often share our homes with other people, kids and pets, but to the best of your ability, take everything out of the room so you’re starting in your space from scratch.
You’ll get a clear view of the room as it is and you’ll better understand its limits and potential. You’ll probably get new ideas right away just by emptying out the room.
Find and Hone Your Home Style
Without a bunch of old stuff in the way, you’ll start to more clearly focus on new possibility. Your mind will open up and once you break the engrained pattern of seeing your home and your things a certain way, you’ll start rewiring yourself for something new.
This is the time to get ruthless about what you love and what you don’t. Let things go and keep only what you truly love and need.
Make Your Home Improvements Look Expensive
Have you ever deeeeeep cleaned something and been like, “Damn! I like it again!” My car comes to mind often, lol. This is the same feeling you’ll get when you deep clean your space and all the things you’re putting back. Really — clean the room up and down. Hit everyyyyything down to the lightbulbs. The room will absolutely look alive and fresh, creating an elevated appearance immediately.
Save Yourself Time & Energy
Being wishy washy is costing you time, money and most importantly, energy. You don’t need to keep spinning around the same drain. You need an interruption. Once you clear out the room, clean it and slowly put back only what you’re keeping, the empty space will start to inspire you. It might be uncomfortable at first, but it’s the only way to open up your mind to new ideas — the emptiness itself is the key.
Interior Design without the Designer
I personally don’t believe most people need to hire a full-service interior designer, and information is abundant — it’s systems that are lacking. Knowing when to do something is just as valuable as knowing how to do it. Too many people think they’re not good at home styling or that they’re not creative when that couldn’t be further from the truth. If no one ever taught you how to direct your ideas, they come out scattered or incomplete, making you think you’re the problem, when all you needed was direction.
Clearing Space is the first step of my 7-step styling method called The Foundry Formula. I start here every time because I know you have taste. I know you’re capable, you just have to see it first to believe it. Letting go is a powerful action — it’s a reclaiming of authority in your space and even of your very identity.
That’s the not-so-secret sauce behind Alchemy of Home. The Foundry Formula teaches you how to express your inner world in your outer space, one layer at a time. We go beyond aesthetics to craft the home that truly belongs to you!
The Foundry Formula leads with clarity over confusion, defines your personal taste over trends, and is completely self-paced and self-budgeted. But most importantly, it works.
You can learn all 7 steps for free — just download the Alchemy 101 Guide Here.
And then come back after you’ve cleared your space and tell me how it went.
