3 steps to optimize your living space
2020 has been crazy for everyone, and in the midst of the chaos my partner, Sam, and I have been pushed from place to place (as you have seen if you come to my live virtual workout classes) and we both have been struggling to feel grounded.
We've moved 4 TIMES in the the last 6 MONTHS!
... and as you could imagine, we both have been struggling to feel at home.
Your physical space is so important to feeling at home, easing your mind, and allowing yourself to decompress.
Without the ability to unwind, your body and mind will not be able to settle.
Just to give you an idea of why creating space is so important to me and why I want to share this with you now, here was my living situation timeline for 2020:
January - March 12: Los Angeles
In LA, by USC finishing up school in a shared house with 3 roommates.
March 12 - July 31: Rancho Mirage
Sam and I visit his family vacation home in Palm Springs for Spring Break. COVID-19 hits hard and school is now completely online. We decide to stay until the pandemic rage mellows to stay safe, thus beginning our shelter in place.
August 1- Aug 25: Burbank
Unexpectedly having to live in LA with Sam's former roommate due to an escalation of a family member's illness (non-COVID) and death in his family.
Aug 25 - Now: New Apartment in Burbank!
Our plans to move in October was accelerated in August and we decide to officially move in together (despite being thrown into cohabiting all of COVID lol)!
The past 2 weeks as you can imagine has been a frenzy of getting things settled and finally feeling like we have a place to call home.
But alas, we FINALLY were able to settle down in our new cozy apartment in the valley of California.
With that, here's 3 things I've done to create the OPTIMAL environment for me, and what YOU can do to create space to get GROUNDED in your home.
We visited this place in the middle of it’s renovation and definitely saw the potential for it.
The rough first draft that pretty much is what we did.
1. Create a vision for your space.
Trust me, this part is important. Especially when you walk into your future apartment and it looks like this:
For each apartment we seriously considered, Sam and I drew up a floor plan of the space and put together a vision for where we would put all of the things we owned and how we wanted the place to feel.
It was really important to me that the place felt grounded and was inspired with all the elements in Feng Shui (water, fire, wood, metal, and earth) represented in their appropriate places and varying from room to room. For Sam, it was important that he could feel settled and be able to comfortably work from home.
We wanted to make sure our place felt like home, and luckily we didn’t butt heads when it came to decor or the style of the place. It was really nice for both of us to go through this whole process together and allow each other to have a say in how we want our space to be.
2. Marie Kondo the shit out of your life.
A cluttered room will lead to a cluttered mind.
Ever since we put up the TV at our new place, I’ve been binging on “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo” on Netflix. I had heard about the “Only keep what sparks joy for you” philosophy last year or so, and it’s been on the back of my mind since. But now, in a new place that feels more permanent, I really felt a shift in me to WANT to keep things organized and create more space in my life.
We’ve donated, thrown out, and recycled SO MUCH. Even while we were moving out of our old apartments, I downsized a ton. The benefits? SPACIOUSNESS. Not to mention, the aesthetically pleasing view of my spice drawer from the organization.
Organization is KEY to having a stress-free living situation.
The mental clarity of looking at a tidy space and creating the habit of tidying is totally game-changing. It’s one of the reasons why I started making my bed every day 2 years ago.
I’m also super proud of our bedroom and bathroom organization. Getting little containers of different sizes for everything from make up, to papers, to miscellaneous items, has been fun and so satisfying to look at.
Sam and I scarified so many hours of sleep to put up this wall (no, that brick is not real and yes, we put it up ourselves). This was a big part of my vision for a cozy home.
3. Invest in your space.
To be honest, even as well organized and reasonably responsible individuals, we haven’t looked at every expense on our credit cards yet. After seeing one Amazon carts of ~$900+, seeing the prices of dining tables, and thinking of everything we needed while we put the place together, we just kind of bought what we needed and used OfferUp when we could.
That all being said, we are not the types to go into any debt over a throw pillow. We knew we wanted to move in together right before COVID-19 hit and just given the extraordinary circumstances we were put under, we were able to test it out while saving up over the last few months. We’re both entrepreneurs working hard on growing our businesses from the early stages out, but we both saved for the move and big believers that your environment influences EVERYTHING. It’s literally a determinant of quality of life!
Our living room! I searched for an obscene amount of time for those throw pillow covers and the ottoman has an extra pillow and throw blankets.
Also because Sam is a few years older than me and has been living his life on his own for some time, he already had a couch, rug, TV, bed, bookcase, and more! We can say everything stayed in a rough budget of ~$2,000.
We often just chose the least expensive item of what we were looking for (e.g. buying four $69.99 bar chairs that were cushy and had backs on them as opposed to the $200 bar chairs or the $29 plastic bar stools with no backs).
However, we also made sure to invest in the things we knew we would use often (e.g. our dining area), that would make our lives easier (e.g. a nice vacuum), that were in line with our values (e.g. Blueland eco-friendly cleaning supplies) and that would truly bring us joy (e.g. our decorative brick wall with vines and fairy lights).
Remember, you’re creating a HOME. As long as you have a clear vision of how you want to FEEL, just have fun with it! Whether you’re doing it solo or with a partner, enjoy the process and celebrate all of your hard work!