I tried the Japanese organising principle of ‘inyo-onyo’ in my home, and my whole space now feels so much lighter

I’m a person who can never leave a surface space free. It isn’t even about being someone who owns loads of stuff or someone with a particularly cluttered home. I just like my things out so I can see them, but that means every surface from side tables, tops of drawers, and kitchen counters, can fill up fast.

When I heard about the Japanese organising principle of ‘inyo-onyo’, though, I felt like I had finally found a decluttering method that would quiet the sense of disconnect I felt in my brain due to my cluttered counters: despite knowing I didn’t own a lot, I still felt an urge to constantly try and declutter because every surface looked full, which then only led to regret as I love what I have.

This is something many people can feel in a cluttered kitchen, leading them to other great Japanese-inspired principles of paring down such as wabi-sabi, so I was eager to learn what Japanese philosophies could help me find balance in my home.

Through inyo-onyo I learned to appreciate the empty space on surfaces, but still enjoy what I own. It didn’t make me feel deprived of seeing what I love, but rather appreciate each individual item even more.

What is ‘Inyo-Onyo’?

Translating to ‘empty space’ or ‘negative space’, inyo-onyo is a Japanese organising and lifestyle principle that encourages people to purposefully leave spaces in their home vacant. This could be an entire counter, or perhaps purposefully placing items further apart on a shelf. Doing this is said to improve the feng shui in your home as there’s an increased sense of breathability that comes with cultivating “negative space”.

Jo Helsby, professional organiser and owner of Perfect Order, explains: ‘Overstyling shelves or countertops can leave your home feeling cluttered and unbalanced. Inyo-onyo is about embracing emptiness to enhance mindfulness, reducing clutter-induced stress and the sense of having a cluttered mind.’

If you’re seeking to undertake inyo-onyo you don’t necessarily have to declutter your home, though you can if you want to. It’s a practice focusing its attention on how a person chooses to display and organise their possessions, not about discarding items you may love for the sake of owning less.

How I tried inyo-onyo

At the end of last year I moved into a small studio flat in my local city, but the key word there is ‘small’. I feel like I have to be very intentional with my space due to its size, and it’s incredibly easy for the rooms to feel cluttered even without much in them.

The first thing I decided to do to get into the mindset of ‘inyo-onyo’ was to objectively look around my space, beginning with the small living room. When you’re going about your day to day life you often don’t have time to just look around each room of your home and assess what’s actually there. You instead only know how they make you feel, whether that’s drained or inspired.

After taking time to look around, I realised there were a number of items I didn’t need out on display such as seasonal decor, which could be better stored under my bed. I picked up four of the Pepco Plastic Storage Box 32L from Poundland and designated them for different items in my bedroom storage: one for seasonal decor, two for off-season clothing, and one for miscellaneous items I wanted to keep but didn’t need to see every day. It was satisfying seeing a difference being made in my room with every item I placed into storage.

Once everything I wanted to store was in its box, I stuck one of the Armiz Jam Jar Labels from Amazon onto each to detail the contents. I liked these ones more than the usual rectangular white labels, but any label will do the trick.

The next step in the process was deciding what to do with my surfaces going forward. I still wanted to display items on them because my home felt eerily empty and devoid of its usual personality anything out, but I didn’t want to display as many items as before. I gave myself a rule of aiming to display a maximum of three items on any given surface, unless it was a shelf. Doing this caused me to think deeply about which items mattered most to me, as well as what emotions each item made me feel when I saw them. I put away any other items, reminding myself that I can always switch items around whenever I wish.

As the weeks went by, I found myself feeling lighter in my home. I didn’t wake up with that same internal conflict about whether I should declutter my space, because I knew I had what I loved, but I didn’t feel consumed by its presence.

I highly recommend trying inyo-onyo out in your home and supplementing it with a decluttering checklist if you believe your home could benefit from an intentional clear-out of possessions.

It’s funny how you can be in a better position to enjoy what you have if you have less of what you love around you at any given time, for me, inyo-onyo is a keeper.