I have always been a nester. It is critical to my well-being that my personal space be beautiful, spacious and cozy. About seven years ago I moved to a meditation retreat center in snowy upstate New York. Although I had lived in small spaces before, this was the first time I had to fit my life into one room (I had managed to avoid dorm living during my college years).

The purpose of moving to the center was to both study and volunteer, so my free time was limited. I had little time or space to accommodate the artful accouterments of life. It did not take long for me to devise a strategy – everything had to be beautiful! Everything from the insides of my closet to the paper clip holder on my desk.

Whereas in my previous office space my eye could easily skip over the functional objects to rest on various art pieces, here there was only room for the necessities. Suddenly my storage boxes had to be things of beauty, my file folders matched my storage boxes and my closet was a work of art. Everything I touched or laid my eyes on was uplifting. I reveled in having so little to maintain. I delighted in adding beauty to the qualifications that defined functionality.

Although I have more personal space now, I continue to find the same concepts serve me well – they make my personal space more harmonious and leave me more time for the things which are most important to me.

“Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” ~William Morris