Today's two-hour kitchen job used the "Find the beauty" principle. This artist has limited storage space and wanted help using it better. She has cupboards and shelves full of things, many unused, and just needed some prompts and tricks to lift the space up.
"Find the beauty" applied in many ways for this job. As we emptied her most troublesome cabinets, we found many genuinely beautiful things, tucked right out of sight. The gorgeous platter pictured to the left was down in a bottom cupboard. One plate hanger and a picture hook later and it is now a featured art piece above her table. The colors match her kitchen decor perfectly. Magic!
We found the sweet wooden caddie (that you can see in the picture) collecting dust in the back of a shelf. We cleaned it up and it will be perfect for brushes and pencils and other art supplies.
We do our best to work with what the client already has, suggesting purchases and products only if no other creative option is available. The cupboard to the right consists of two very basic, tall narrow units. When we started, the unit with the door was on top, with the open unit on the bottom, leaning jauntily to its left. We swapped the units around, putting the sturdier, more reinforced unit on the bottom. We nailed the backing material back onto the open shelf and put it on top. We removed the boxes of crackers and cans of tuna and baking soda, etc from the open shelves and replaced them with her eclectic and fun collection of mugs and teas. "Find the beauty," I say. Put the messy out of sight and the visually magical where it can be enjoyed. Already the kitchen felt warmer and tidier. The client was very happy.
Her own cupboards had hidden gifts of usefulness and beauty. Pure magic.
We washed up a bunch of dishes for her, swapped a few storage locations, and helped her decide what items she wanted to release. We finished with another open shelf which is still a work in progress.
As we removed item after item (including the dusty caddy from the very back) we uncovered an outlet. I imagine the shelf was intended for a microwave. Our lovely client is not a microwave fan, but instead, she realized that she could put her electric pencil sharpener up there. It had been living on her kitchen table.
In the picture, you see the pencil sharpener tucked to the far left. This was our last quick effort in the kitchen as we ran out of time. She has several lovely tiles she could mount on the wall, which would clean that visual up nicely. The one with Christopher Robin (yellow and green in the center) would look great on the left behind the canisters. We also found an amazing spoon in a drawer, and it is perched on the pewter cups while it "waits to see where it wants to be."
I find this work fun, creative, empowering, and satisfying. Find the beauty!
Principles of Clutter Clearing 3
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