Mum Uses Lockdown To Declutter Home And Finds Her Mental Health Improves Too
- Bex Kitchen, 25, was struggling with her mental health
- She decided to use lockdown to declutter her home in preparation for becoming a childminder
- She spent £170 on the project and it looks fantastic
If you hate throwing things away and your house is looking even more cluttered after lockdown, take inspiration from this decisive mum.
Bex Kitchen, 25, a mum-of-one from Peterborough, was struggling with her mental health and decided to use the lockdown to take control of her home.
Bex, who is currently furloughed, is hoping to open up as a childminder in the near future, and decided to take a room in her house that was used as a dumping ground and get rid of all the clutter.
She spent £170 on transforming the room from a crowded, stress-inducing space into an amazing child’s room which she will use for her childminding business.
The room not only looks fantastic, but has also given Bex a much-needed mental health boost and made a positive difference to her mood.
Bex told money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk: “I just really wanted to create a calm, jungle-themed bedroom. I am a single mum. I have a four-year-old and have wanted a second child for a really long time, so I'm considering adopting.
"However, for now, I'm just about to apply to Ofsted as a childminder after using lockdown to study childcare from home. This room will be where any minded babies I look after take their naps.
"I'm autistic with anxiety and I've suffered from depression for a long time so the room ended up being a dumping ground and I didn't have the energy or executive functioning to deal with it.
"Now I'm coming out of depression, I want to get my life on track, especially as my fiancé left me in January, so I just decided one day it was now or never to take control of my life and that includes making my home somewhere I can truly enjoy and relax in.
"I was actually really thrifty with this room because I had the laminate already from my previous home, but it had sat in the garage for two years before I finally decided that was it I needed to lay it or it would never get done!
"So I only paid out £32.48 on tools and underlay for the floor. The cot was from when my son was a baby, and so was the bedding and curtains.
"The drawers are Nordli from IKEA, the Kallax is from IKEA, the rug was Toftland and cost £7 from IKEA, and the trolley was £28 from Hobbycraft.
"The handmade clock was made by Emma Steel in Spalding who runs LightArtedly, the watercolour prints were from LauraSladeArt, the canvas map was from The Range and the embroidery hoop was from Rosie Wild at Phoenix and the Cub.
"I'm a big believer of supporting small businesses so that's what I've tried to do! Overall, if you add up all the furniture, flooring and art it was about £170 that I've spent this year on the room.
"I started decluttering little by little a month ago but most of it I did on one dedicated day this week.
"I ordered everything online and had it delivered to keep myself safe during the pandemic.
"It was really easy to order from small businesses online, and even from IKEA for the furniture and Screwfix for the underlay and tools.
"You just have to be patient as some deliveries are taking longer. Luckily I have all the time in the world right now to wait, since we can't go anywhere!”
Bex says that the room transformation - and the process of decluttering the space - has given her a mental health boost during a challenging time.
"Decluttering was the hardest part but I had to be ruthless and throw out 70% of what was in the room,” she adds.
"I think this project has given me something to focus on during lockdown and also improved my mental health.
"Poor mental health can contribute to a messy house and then a messy house makes your mental health worse, in a vicious cycle.
"So clearing up even just one room has made a big difference to my mood! Every time I walk past the room I smile.
"Now that room is done, I feel energised to transform the rest of the house and so relieved too. It's my favourite room in the house now."
Tom Church, co-founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, comments: “Programmes like ’Tidying Up With Marie Kondo’ have become so popular because far too many of us hoard things we don’t need at home.
“As Bex proves, tidying up and decluttering isn’t just a way to make our homes look great, but has the excellent knock-on effect of making us feel great too!
“If you find it challenging to begin with, start in small sections - and taking photographs of things before you sell them on ebay or give them to the charity shop may make it easier to part with them, so that you can always look back for sentimental reasons!"
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