Happiness is . . . clearing out the kitchen clutter
No-one’s saying a pile of frying pans can make you depressed, but as Kylie Klein-nixon discovered, they definitely didn’t make her happy.
As great moments of self discovery so rarely do, it started with a pile of saucepans.
Crammed higgledy-piggledy in the cupboard next to the sink, some with lids, most without, opening the door to try to pull one out would immediately deflate any will I’d drummed up to cook. Trying to pull out one pan was just more trouble than a healthy stir-fry or even a tin of baked beans was worth.
Eventually I stopped going into the cupboard all together. I stopped cooking for myself, too.
No matter what I did, though, I couldn’t forget the mess of mismatched, unused and useless kitchen objects lurking in that cupboard. An oppressive sensation that bloomed in me like mould on a block of cheese, knowing parts of my home were in that kind of mess knocked me for six.
Obviously mismatched saucepans don’t cause depression. But being kind of a dark place already, the cupboards became the emotional fungus I’d need to kill if I was ever going to find my way out.
It wasn’t until I found myself on my hands and knees surrounded by piles of kitchenware, scrubbing the bottom of the cupboard with a burst of energy I didn’t know I could still muster, that I really knew I could beat it, and beat it good.
This will come as a surprise to exactly no-one – especially if you bought into the whole Marie Kondo thing in the past year – but life is just better when you have a clean, organised, tidy home. Tidying up is a key self-care tool. You deserve a clean and tidy home.
Psychologist Karen Nimmo says reducing clutter – physical or mental – can be beneficial for wellbeing.
‘‘When I work with people I always ask about their home environments because, when you’re feeling overwhelmed, a small reduction in clutter, even cleaning out a cupboard or clearing a table piled with junk, can feel like progress.
‘‘It’s common for people to feel better when they have a sense of order or control. That’s what Marie Kondo is all about, I think.’’
Beyond merely clearing out the stuff, the repetitive tasks like cleaning and ironing ‘‘can be good for your mental health’’.
‘‘They can help calm the mind, focusing your
attention and bringing you fully into the present moment. There could also be the sense of achievement you get from completing a chore, or pleasure of wearing well-pressed clothes or sleeping on crisply ironed sheets.’’
The thing to watch out for is going too much the other way, ‘‘in that even a slight mess can trigger anxiety’’, says Nimmo.
I don’t think I’m in any risk of that, but it pays to keep it in mind. Relax, find a healthy balance, and put the dishes away.
You don’t have to Kondo all your stuff, either. I’ve written before about how Kondo’s minimalist
style doesn’t quite jibe with my ‘‘acid-addled museum curator’’ aesthetic. But tidying up doesn’t mean you have to live in a pristine white bubble of minimalism.
Designer and Kiwi maximalism queen Evie Kemp agrees.
Having faced mental health issues in the past, she says she has always believed in the power of the home to affect mood, whether it’s through decor, warmth and comfort, or tidiness.
‘‘I know it sounds silly, but I definitely feel like if I have a clean house then I have a clearer mind,’’ says Kemp, whose home is a bright, vibrant, eclectic mix of retro furniture, art and vintage curios.
Kemp says she can ‘‘just sort of feel’’ when she needs to step up the tidying.
‘‘I’m naturally a very messy person. The way I work, if it’s cooking or any of my projects, I just keep going till the end. Then I just stop and look around me and I’m like ‘ungh’. If you don’t do anything about it then, it sort of creeps up and you start to realise that it’s weighing you quite a lot.’’
As a collector who has a ‘‘full home’’, she says there’s a ‘‘fine line between it looking curated and looking completely crazy’’.
‘‘I work from home as well. So when it’s messy I’m sort of sitting amongst it all the time and it’s just another thing sort of stressing me out that I haven’t done that I could be doing. When you keep on top of it a bit more it feels like a sense of achievement,’’ Kemp says.
‘‘I make my bed every morning. I always make it nicely, too. [It’s important] especially if you’re in a sort of depressed state: ‘OK, the bed’s made. You’re not going back to bed now. The day has started.’ ’’
Also, Kemp lives with ‘‘neat freak’’ husband Sam Holford and says keeping up her half of the cleaning bargain is one way she shows her support for him.
‘‘I’ve struggled quite a bit with mental health stuff, I’m quite a volatile person and he makes a lot of allowances for me. He’s always said that the only thing that he wants is [a clean home]. That matters to him and his mental health.
‘‘He is someone who I see it in a lot, how [cleaning] affects his mood. So it kind of works both ways. He’s just ecstatic if he comes home and something’s been cleaned.
‘‘I feel like I have the epiphany every time I do a big tidy up, whenever I do a big sort out and everything is dusted. Then suddenly you go, ‘Oh yeah! That’s what it should feel like.’ It feels really nice to be home.’’