Spring Cleaning

My room often appears messy and unorganized when you first walk in. I’m occupied with school, work, and personal projects so as a result, my room appears neglected. When I was little, this never used to be the case and I would constantly have my sheets made and my floors were empty. Now, I have a messy but organized system of moving the pile of clothes from my bed to my vanity chair when I sleep, and moving it back to my bed when I get ready. Of course, this is not how I would like my room to look like ideally, but this is the system that is in place. When the mess begins to bother me, I get a burst of energy and end up cleaning my entire room, including the gloomy pile of clothes that migrate around the room. I had a phase in high school where I would often watch ASMR cleaning videos on YouTube and these would motivate me throughout these random bursts. Sometimes I go back to these videos and purge through my old room decorations and clothing. The room suddenly becomes cluttered and I am surrounded by my favorite things. My bountiful love is spilling over. Whenever I’m sorting through the clutter, I often find a few items that bring back memories: A mustard yellow scarf I wore in Chicago that saved my neck from the merciless blizzard, an old leather bag I bought as a reward for landing my first part-time job, and an old worn-out pair of sneakers that were once white but are now beige. It was time to find them a new loving home. Throughout my twenty-two years on this Earth, I have accumulated a lot of stuff. Because of this, I would often read and watch Marie Kondo content in order to motivate myself to let things go. Although I don’t watch her content anymore, I still implement a lot of her techniques in order to feel refreshed and have a neat room. Clearing my room often feels like I am clearing my head of unproductive thoughts, it helps especially when I have to tackle a big project. This way, my mind can wander and inspire creativity while my living space gets decluttered, win-win. There’s some space in my room now. Let’s discover more favorites to bring home.

About Kat Pham

Kat Pham is an aspiring children's book illustrator, graphic designer, and small business owner in northern Virginia. Her business, Honey Kiki Studio, is a one-woman graphic design studio specializing in a wide range of illustration styles, stationery creation, and creative identities.

Ever since she was a child, she has drawn inspiration from nature, children’s book illustrations, and Japanese animations. With her work, she hopes to bridge the divide between the mundane and coziness.

If you'd like to work together, contact me at Katpham441@gmail.com To support me or view more of my work, visit Honeykikistudio.com