Marcia Ramsland - Simplify Your Space: Create Order and Reduce Stress

Many people had tried to organize me over the years, but it wasnt until I let Marcia get a hold of my time and space that I finally was changed. She helped me in an easy-to-understand way with what I needed to do and motivated me to apply it. Her practical ideas gave me back the time I needed.

KATHY MEIER
Former News Anchor and Client

Marcia has a comforting way of empowering you to be in charge of what you possess. Her plan for achieving an uncluttered life is simple and straightforward, yet she never makes it seem like you should have been doing it that way all along. Simplify Your Space is the definitive how-to for making your home and your life a place of peace and ease.

SUSAN MEISSNER
Author, A Seahorse in the Thames

Simplify Your Space helps even the mundane aspects of running a home become less of a nuisance and more manageable. It is packed with great practical ideas to help transform your home into a smoothly-run, peaceful haven in a fast-paced world.

ELIZABETH VAN TASSEL
Mother of Two Busy Boys and Active Volunteer

Simplify Your Space is a must-read for anyone who wants to have a more calm and peaceful life. Many of my clients are visual learners, and her ideas have helped them achieve lasting results. Her paperwork system is the best Ive ever found!

KATHY BARCROFT
Professional Organizer

Simplify Your Space walks you through decluttering and simplifying each area of your home in a way that gives you the biggest results in the least amount of time. You cant go wrong using Marcias CALM method, and the decorating tips at the end of each chapter will have you living in style in no time!

KATHRYN BECHEN
Author, Moving with Ease

Marcia Ramslands book is a complete guide in letting go of something in life that truly holds so many people back from reaching their goals. Clutter! I can attest to one of the main principles of this bookthat by letting clutter go and simplifying your life, you can succeed in your journey of organization.

Marcia knows her stuff, and this book is a down-to-earth presentation of what you need to know to let go and simplify your life.

MARIA GRACIA
Founder, Get Organized Now!
Author, Finally Organized, Finally Free

2007 by Marcia Ramsland

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotation in printed reviews, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Thomas Nelson, Inc. titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail SpecialMarkets@ThomasNelson.com.

Published in association with the literary agency Alive Communications, Inc., 7680 Goddard Street, Suite 200, Colorado Springs, CO 80920, www.alivecommunications.com.

Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

The names and identities of clients mentioned have been changed or concealed in composites to protect their privacy. For those who granted permission to do so, their names and details about their lives appear as they happened.

Acquisitions Editor: Debbie Wickwire
Cover Design: Brand Navigation
Interior Design: Lori Lynch
Artwork: Sabra Inzer

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Ramsland, Marcia.
Simplify your space : create order and reduce stress! / Marcia Ramsland.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-8499-1511-6 (pbk.)
1. House cleaning.2. Orderliness.3. Storage in the home.I. Title.
TX324.R36 2007
648'.8dc22

2007008282

Printed in the United States of America

07 08 09 10 11 VIC 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

This book is dedicated...

to my parents, who were always hospitable and made home a welcoming place;

to my twin aunts, Lor and Helen, whose home was always in order and full of joy;

to our young adult children, Mark, Lisa, and Christy (and her husband Brian), who are establishing homes of their own;

to my husband, David, who has supported me and our changing household over the years;

to all the men who support the changing roles of the women in their liveswhether mother, sister, or wifeand the home reflected by it;

to women who truly want order and freedom for the spaces they live and work in;

and to you, my new friend, as we walk side by side to simplify the spaces in your home.

Change your homechange your spacechange your life!

Contents

With a good organizational plan, you can be sure to unclutter any area of your home. And if you maintain the neat, orderly space youve created, youll always know what youve gotand exactly where to find it.

MERVYN KAUFMAN

I love the look of a clean homeand you probably do too. But wanting an orderly home and actually bringing it about are two different things. If you sometimes struggle to maintain your space, youre not alone. Most of us eventually have to admit, I just have too much stuff!

I, too, didnt realize the clutter I had collected until I opened my linen closet years ago and found twenty-six tablecloths. Thats enough for a new one every two weeks for an entire year! That day I discovered what too much felt like. So I started to sort and create simple solutions to control clutter.

As we all know, cluttered closets (like my overstuffed linen closet), paper pileups, and overflowing countertops gradually fill our homes for a variety of reasons, ranging from a busy schedule to other people to pick up after. Then, adding to our piles of stuff, we receive gifts, find great bargains, and purchase new things to enjoy without getting rid of the old. Before long, the clutter grows in every room and we feel out of control!

If we dont simplify the things we own, our homes become full of gathered belongings and we become museum keepers. And the more things we acquire, the more time we have to spend taking care of them. Without an effective system to organize our belongings, we spend many frustrating hours searching for important things that are lost or misplaced.

Put quite simply, too much stuff complicates our lives.

Get Things Back Under Control

Perhaps things have gotten a bit cluttered in your life. If so, let me assure you that having too much stuff is not a character flaw! It can be the sign of a busy life, a sentimental attachment to things, indecisiveness, or reluctance to let things go. Whatever the reason, in this book you will learn practical tips to help you overcome your past and make a fresh start.

There are simple solutions to getting things back under control. You dont have to live in a complicated home. You can make changes... at your own pace. The dream of a simplified space can become your reality.

The good news is that when you simplify your belongings, you will find not only clear space but also more time. You wont be taking care of so many things, and that will free you to focus on what really matters. Now is the time to let things go, for your benefit and for others.

Motivated to Change

We all have personal reasons for wanting to simplify our space. Mine was embarrassment.

My well-organized twin aunts were visiting from out of town for a week. I loved my aunts and knew they were neat as a pin at home and work. Thinking I could use a little encouragement from them on how to get organized, I casually asked as we were setting the table for dinner, Aunt Helen, how can I get these papers on my kitchen counter in order?