Remember when the smell of fresh baked muffins was discovered to be a way of endearing potential buyers to your home? Likewise, the impact of feng shui has raised people’s awareness about the negative influence of clutter. Similarly, home staging or “fluffing” is a new service that often results in homes selling faster and for a higher price. Intrigued? It’s all about energy.

If your entranceway is crowded with rows of boxes and doors can’t fully open because of the mountain of coats hanging on the back, the flow of energy throughout your home will be impeded. Stuff stored under the beds? Energy will knock up against the impediment, stagnate and grow stale. Wait, it gets even more interesting! Still hanging on to that ugly gift of artwork that you never liked? That too, will give off a negative charge. Ultimately, people who live in cluttered environments will describe feeling apathetic, lethargic; suffer from muddled thinking, a lack of creativity and more.

Not sure if your space is cluttered? Take a walk throughout your home and see if your possessions pass the clutter test.

• Do you love them? Do they elicit positive feelings or memories?
• Do you use them? Are they broken, missing pieces or buried under a layer of dust?
• Is your space crowded with so many objects that you can no longer appreciate any of them?
• Is your home littered with remnants of unfinished projects? Stacks of correspondence, piles of mending, abandoned scrap booking materials, that table patiently waiting to be refinished?

Some would suggest renting a storage locker and dumping your excess in there until you sell your home. But this is a costly and labour intensive band-aid. Instead, follow the strategies listed below and get ready to experience some incredible shifts in your life.

Gather up six sturdy cardboard boxes and clearly label them garbage, recycle, shred, donate, sell, return to rightful owner.

From your walkabout, choose an area where you would like to begin. I don’t advise starting in the basement or the garage (especially if your garage no longer has space for the car!).

• Choose a small project – a hall closet, a single drawer, even the medicine cabinet will do
• Schedule a time to clear out clutter and pace yourself. Use a timer or play your favourite CD. When the allotted time is up, assess your energy level. This is physically demanding work and emotionally, it is like taking a trip down memory lane.
• Proceed to sort your stuff directly into the boxes so that you minimize additional mess and can act on them immediately once full. Add them to the neighbour’s garage sale, deposit them at your nearest thrift store or put them out at the curb on garbage day.

Essentially, the concept “less is more” is at work here. Potential buyers will be impacted both visually and energetically by the amount of stuff in your home. In short, too much clutter is a turn off. Furthermore, potential buyers want to be able to imagine their lives in your home. So dispose of the kid’s wrinkled art work on the fridge door. Send it to grandparents or "keep the best and fling the rest"!

Taking stock of your possessions will not only expedite the sale of your home, it will save money as well. If you are using a moving company (who charge by the pound) your bill will be less. If you are moving yourself, you won’t have as many boxes to move and unpack. And most importantly, you will create space in your life for what you really want: improved health, relationships, increased creativity and energy, even more money. Yearning for a new mate? Let go of your old stuff. Want to go on a cruise? Release unwanted possessions into the community. Moving beyond clutter creates magical results. Try it and see!

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