I think I’ve mentioned it before, but I have a real love-hate relationship with stuff. 

It's what I like to define as the Poetry of Material Things: the ebb and flow that pulls and weaves us all (because I'm certain you, too, have been involved in this love affair) back and forth between wanting - and sometimes "NEEDING" - things, and then tossing what's left over after I redecorate every few months.

On one hand, I’m a very serious nester. There are so many things I've found over the years that have become a part of my collection, so when people walk into my house for the first time, say "Oh this is completely Margaux. No one else could live here." I mean, I get so excited about them and love to fill my space with beautiful things, things I’m obsessed with -- without cluttering it up.

On the other hand, I’ve got this thing for simplicity and open, airy spaces. It’s a give and take when it comes to decorating, and this doesn’t just mean with your home. The same goes for your closet. Your cupboards. Your beauty products. Your car. All the space surrounding you, and the space within. There’s some sense to that “happy wife happy life” saying, if I can go so far as to stretch it to that which surrounds you, affects everything else until it fills you. Thus: if you’ve got a hoarding situation where there’s all sorts of junk spilling out of every nook and cranny, you’re going to feel overwhelmed on the inside and like your life is as messy as your apartment.

But, if everywhere you turn you see beautiful things - investments, memories, pieces you are absolutely married to that make you happy to see, you’re going to feel pretty damn great about life before you’ve even left the house. Which, if we're being honest, is most important overall.

There’s nothing that makes me quite as excited as hanging a new piece of artwork or receiving a box of shoes in the mail. I’m not going to preach and pretend like I don’t love things. HOWEVER - and maybe it’s just that spring cleaning mentality talking out loud here - there’s a limit. A very fine line teetering between an elegant or expensive or chic living space (surrounded by beautiful things, filled with amazing products, and a very satisfied y-o-u); and the overcrowded, junked up, too-many-things-on-the-counter space.

If you can’t wake up with a clear mind and a relaxed state of being, there’s something wrong. Maybe it’s time to clean out that entryway closet that’s hard to close. Or give some of those clothes away that you’ve not worn in 7 or 8 years. Besides, when you clear the space and open it up, you’re automatically creating a gap to fill (if you wish) for beautiful new things.

And that’s just the key for unlocking the dance of it all: if you follow the rhythm of overhauling the old and welcoming the new, everything in your life will get better as you clear that extra space in your head.