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January 22, 2020January 22, 2020 Vanessa

20 Simplifying Tasks for 2020

It’s a new year and a new decade. Many of us have made goals or resolutions or chosen a word of the year. And right about now is when it gets a little harder to dig in and work towards those objectives. If one of your goals this year is to simplify and live life more, here are 20 tasks that will keep you moving in the right direction.

Before we get rolling…this a list of tasks to choose from. I have not done all of them, nor will I do all of them in the next few months. This list provides choices.

1. Purge one room

A good purge always makes me feel so good. If you’re new to simplifying, choose a room that isn’t too hard and doesn’t contain a lot of sentimental items. If you’ve simplified a lot of your home, maybe it’s time to tackle the hard stuff, the room you’ve been putting off. Set aside an hour or two and go through the room, physically touching and making a decision on each item: does it stay or does it go? This task is totally worth it.

2. Set Quarterly Goals

Maybe you missed the New Year’s rush of goal setting and want to start now. There are no rules you MUST make goals on January 1. Read more on how we set Quarterly Goals.

3. Make a book list for the year

The reason we simplify isn’t for simplifying itself, it’s to free up more of our time and energy for worthier things. I just finished Little Fires Everywhere (an incredibly good, but hard fiction book about motherhood). Atomic Habits and The Life Giving Home are on deck.

4. Plan and mark the calendar for some adventures with your people

Recently Kevin and I sat down and plotted out our adventures for 2020. This could be a visit to a local museum or your backyard or across the country. I believe there are adventures to be had everywhere.

5. Give your time away to something you’re passionate about for an hour, a day, or on a weekly basis

At church, at your kids’ school, at a local soup kitchen, even at home writing thank you cards or making flyers for an organization. Giving to others literally can make you happier.

6. Clear off one surface

Cluttered surfaces matter. Set a timer for five minutes and clear one surface.

7. Create a capsule wardrobe that is ‘enough’ for you

There isn’t a magic number, just what is enough for you and your family. Click here to see my capsule from this fall.

8. Say ‘yes’ to your kids when you want to say no.

Next time my son asks me to play cars, I WILL say yes to him. (Repeat this mantra until I actually do it.)

9. Start journaling

I started journaling this year and it has made a big difference in my attitude and my ability to handle stress. I highly recommend.

10. Try something new that scares you just a little

A dear friend inspired me when she tried Cross Fit (and loved it). I think I will take all four kids to the Children’s Museum. Check, Check, Check, Check.

11. Practice prayer

We all have our own perspectives on prayer. I like to tie it to a part of my day: in the morning when I’m nursing Jack. And when a friend asks for prayer instead of text back, ‘Praying for you!’, I go ahead and try and pray right then and there. Being intentional with prayer has allowed me to make it a part of my everyday.

12. Take a week off from social media

After doing this I felt lighter and happier. I’ll be honest when I say it was hard to go back. A break was good for me.

13. Take notice of kitchen towels, bath towels, and pens

These are non-sentimental items and the probability that all of us have too many is high. (I’m raising my hand.) If you’re wanting to simplify, ruthlessly declutter these things and you will feel lighter.

14. Go on a date with your husband or one of your kids

If you can’t make it out with your husband, take a kid and peruse the book store and grab a bakery treat. Quality time with the ones you love is always time well spent.

15. Read a book as a family

Some good places to start: The Boxcar Children, My Father’s Dragon, The Magic Tree House Series, Mr. Popper’s Penguins, Winnie-the-Pooh.

16. Find and listen to a podcast

The Happy Hour with Jamie Ivey, The Purpose Show, The Next Right Thing, The Good List

17. Ask your kids what they want to do on a Saturday and then do it.

Donuts? Ice skating? A new movie? (Almost) anything goes.

18. Get rid of 20 things right now

Take a garbage bag and go through your home ruthlessly. Place 20 things in the bag, no excuses.

19. Record everything you purchase for a week

Money matters and I believe the only way to know what you’re spending and where you’re spending it is to write it down. I’ve heard good things about the Every Dollar app.

20. Create something

Draw with your kids, take a photograph and frame it, write a letter to a friend, bake some cookies, DIY something, make a meal from scratch. Creation > Consumption

Please don’t go off and think you need to do all these tasks. Choose one or two and see how it goes. If you need something more, do another. I am excited about what this decade will hold. If you decide to do one of these or come up with something on your own…please share in the comments!

January 4, 2020January 4, 2020 Vanessa

3 Ways to Simplify Today

A Simpler Home

Sometimes you need to jumpstart an idea, a goal, a lifestyle, a change. Sometimes it takes a few small steps to snowball into giant leaps. A simple life requires intention and some good old fashioned hard work. And it can feel overwhelming and too much and good intentions can sometimes be left undone. So before you write off a simpler lifestyle or a simpler motherhood, why not try choosing one small way to simplify today. Who knows, maybe it will snowball for you.

Grab a garbage sack

This is about as simple as it gets and earns you some major impact. Grab a garbage sack from under your sink and do a walk through of your house. Take 20 minutes to walk through each and every room and pick up anything you can get rid of: garbage, knick knacks, happy meal toys, forgotten books, broken toys, old magazines, paper clutter. Don’t think too much about this, your goal is to get rid of anything you don’t need that’s cluttering your home. I suggest doing this without your kids around to gain the most impact.

After you have done the walk through, quickly throw all the trash away and put the garbage sack in your trunk to take to your nearest donation site. DO NOT LOOK BACK INSIDE THE BAG AFTER THE SORT. Get to your donation center as soon as possible with your sack and pat yourself on the back for jumpstarting a simpler lifestyle.

Box up the toys

Not ALL of them. I’m not trying to start WWIII. When your kids aren’t around, box up about half of all toys. Again, don’t think too much here, just pick toys that aren’t played with often and leave the favorites. Box up half the toys and put them in a closet with the date on them. Enjoy your simplified spaces and wait to see if any toys are asked for. If after a few days there are toy requests, allow your kids to switch out some toys. But whatever you do, do not get the entire box or boxes of toys out. Your hard word will be undone quickly. If there are toys unasked for after 60-90 days, take straight to your nearest donation site.

Clear a surface

It’s been proven visual clutter affects women’s stress levels. UCLA’s Center on Everyday Lives and Families (CELF) studies show clutter has a strong affect on mood and self esteem. The same study concluded the amount of stress women feel at home is directly proportional to the amount of physical stuff they have accumulated.

Stuff=Stress

Amazingly (or maybe not so amazingly) I have discovered visual clutter does not affect my husband as much as it affects me. I know this may not be the case for every family, but it’s something worth considering.

An easy way to make some of the visual clutter disappear is to clear a surface. I suggest the kitchen or dining room table because you will get a lot of bang for your buck. If your family is anything like my family, we spend loads of time in these spaces and clearing a surface can make a world of a difference in how we are able to use the space.

After you choose a surface to clear, take everything off the surface and then quickly sort through, throw away, and put away everything else. Make it a goal to keep that surface clean for the next week or so.

If you want to simplify but don’t know where to start, these are three ways to jumpstart a change. Tell me, where will you begin?

December 26, 2019December 26, 2019 Vanessa

The Post-Christmas Purge

A Simpler Childhood, A Simpler Home

Wrapping paper strewn across the living room. Cardboard, those annoying white plastic strips, bows, coffee mugs, lone Reese’s tree wrappers and fuzzy blankets. An accurate picture of our living room after the big day. A picture of a morning savored.

In an ideal world, the kids play happily the rest of the waking hours as Kevin and I cuddle on the couch, drink our coffee, and sneak bites of quiche and muffins. The quiet, slow beauty of Christmas morning is one I savor each and every year. And every year I wish it would last a teensy bit longer.

But, it doesn’t and inevitably over the next few weeks we teeter back and forth between routine and cookies for breakfast. Somewhere between the blurry days of Christmas and New Year’s we get in a good Christmas Toy Purge. If you were around before Christmas, you know we did a Pre-Christmas Purge, but we always get more than we think hence the need for a good purge post-Christmas.

From experience, I think a good Post-Christmas Purge is best done the few days following Christmas. A few reasons:

1. Your kids are excited about new stuff and are more willing to part with old stuff.

2. It relieves some stress and frees up space when your home (could) look like a toy war zone.

Let’s get to it. Here is how we do a Post-Christmas Purge and if you’ve been following along you might notice it’s pretty similar to the Pre-Christmas Purge.

1. Motivate your people

Announce that your home looks like a toy war zone and some things need to go. Remind your people they just received some fun things from friends and family and it’s a good time to let other things go. This is a great opportunity to talk about how letting go of old things will bring joy to someone else. Maybe do some research with your family to see if there is a certain organization that will take gently used toys and books. Kids knowing where their stuff is going is a motivator.

Another way to motivate your people is to be an example. Go through your closet, kitchen, or storage area and part with some things of your own. Actions speak louder than words.

If you have older kids, another option is having them sell their gently used toys online. I have done this a few times with my two older kids (7 and 5) and it was a big motivator for both of them. Cash=More Motivation

When you’re telling your people about the Christmas Toy Purge, try and dangle a carrot. What I mean is, tell them First we purge, then we ____________. Have a movie night or pizza or take them for ice cream after the purge. A little reward never hurt anyone.

2. Get organized

Decide how you want your Post-Christmas Purge to work. A few options:

Have each child choose 10 things to donate. Take a tote or box (not see through) into each child’s room or playroom and have them choose 10 things to put into the tote. Anything goes (except for the new stuff, unless you’re cool with it). This is hard, but if your child doesn’t find value in a stuffed animal you got them for their 2nd birthday, it’s okay to let it go. A caveat to this: If the thing has real sentimental value, put it away in a closet and decide at a later time. Don’t let a sentimental item hold you back from completing the Christmas Toy Purge.
Maybe you need a big purge. Take 30 minutes for each kid either done in a day or divided up into different days and go through their rooms and the playroom to purge unneeded and unwanted stuff. This can be done with or without your kids.
Maybe your kids aren’t old enough to purge and make decisions or maybe you know it will be a nightmare if you try. Go through each child’s room and the playroom and do a quick declutter. Put the items in a box in a closet and write the date. In 3 months if no child has asked for the toys in that box, it’s okay to let them go.

3. Do it

Begin the purge. I like to do it in a day, but if you have a lot of kids or a lot of stuff, it can be done over the course of several days. Make it work for you and your family and don’t let yourself get overwhelmed. Progress takes work and making your home manageable, simple, and a fun, cozy place to be requires some effort.

There is no substitute for hard work.-Thomas Edison

4. Celebrate

If you have something to look forward to at the end, the work is always a bit sweeter. Reward your people with a movie night and popcorn. Or maybe you take your crew out for pizza or to the museum or for ice cream. If you dangle the carrot (or the ice cream), they will come.

5. Enjoy

Enjoy your simplified spaces with less toys and less stuff. Pat yourself on the back for a job well done. You deserve it.

Are you in for a Post-Christmas Purge? Tell a friend and make it a challenge with each other to see how full you can get your tote or box. You and your home will feel lighter when you’re done.

December 13, 2019December 13, 2019 Vanessa

Pre-Christmas Purge

A Simpler Home

I remember coming down on Christmas morning when I was a kid. We would round the turn at the top of the stairs and peak around the corner at the tree in all her glory with presents scattered around the living room. It was a extraordinary few hours opening, smiling, playing, squealing. My mom always left the gifts from Santa unwrapped and the gifts from her and my dad lay wrapped beautifully under the tree. I’m not even sure when I stopped believing, but I know my mom did a real good job of keeping the magic alive.

After each and every gift was opened, we would have breakfast and spend the rest of the day playing or head to my Grandma’s house. I have fond memories of those mornings, as I’m sure you might as well.

Before we get there, to the magical few hours on Christmas morning, what if we prepare? Prepare our hearts for the miracle of Christmas and our homes for the abundance Christmas brings. The past few years we have done a Pre-Christmas Purge to prepare for the upcoming gifts coming into our home. It is always well received because we do it under the pretense that we all will be receiving gifts very soon and others may find value in the things we no longer need or want.

You may have seen a version of this on social media the last several weeks. Families are setting out a box labeled ‘Old Toys for Santa’ or a box with the child’s name on it. The idea is for kids to go through their toys and donate toys no longer used. Essentially, that is what the Pre-Christmas Purge is all about.

Instead of one big Pre-Christmas purge this year, we have been doing it in small doses, one child at a time. It has helped me focus on each kid, their room, and what they do or don’t play with or use anymore. Feel free to make it a family event or take it in small chunks. The result is still the same. For our entire family of six, it probably took around 60 minutes total to complete.

Maybe you are needing to implement a Pre-Christmas Purge into your home. You see the knick knacks, the books, the Chick-fil-A-whatevers piling up. Here is a breakdown of how our family does a Pre-Christmas Purge.

1. Set a time

Since Christmas will be here (like really soon), maybe you try and implement this in the next few days or week. Or maybe you ditch the Pre-Christmas Purge and do it after the big day has come and gone. (More on that in the coming weeks.) But, if you’re going to do it, put it on the calendar or your to-do list in the next day or two.

I understand there could already be 1,000 things on your to-do list at this very moment, but a little Pre-Christmas Purge doesn’t take long and personally I think it’s so incredibly worth it. But, if you can’t find the time, feel free to stop reading and come back after Christmas.

2. Announce

Tell your family. Tell your people there is abundance in the house and you need to make room for all the fun things coming in at Christmas. This would be a great time to discuss how it’s important to give to others. We always tie this in as one of our gifts to Jesus on his birthday. If you have littles, maybe start with having them find 10 things they would like to donate or give away. We always start there. Most of the time it snowballs and turns into much much more.

3. Get to it

It’s time to get to it. I think the best way to begin a Pre-Christmas Purge is by Mom or Dad initiating it. Basically, we need to be the examples, the leaders. When we started ours this year, I brought out some jewelry and some kitchen and decorative knick knacks I was going to donate. I also showed them a few books. It was a great way to kick start the process and the kids were more willing to join in, knowing Mom and Dad were invested.

4. Praise

After everyone has found the things they want to donate, praise, praise, PRAISE your people! We all love some good words said about us, so let’s not hold back when our family has done something to make our homes simpler and more manageable. Praise the ones you love for purging before Christmas.

5. Donate…SOON

Take 20 minutes and get those items out of your house. Find a church, school, Goodwill, or other mission-oriented organization and donate those items. I speak from experience here when I say if you keep them around, there is a good chance those toys and books could creep back into your home. Make it fun and take your kids to help you with the drop off and grab hot cocoa after.

Purging before Christmas always makes me feel lighter and the incoming plethora of gifts from the ones we love more manageable. It allows me to accept the gifts without thinking about where we are going to put them or how we are going to manage them all. The Pre-Christmas Purge sincerely allows me to enjoy the season a tiny bit more.

Tell me, will you do a Pre-Christmas Purge this year? If time isn’t on your side, stay tuned for a Post-Christmas Purge coming after the big day.

November 22, 2019November 22, 2019 Vanessa

Simplify Holiday Decorating

A Simpler Home

Do you feel the Christmas spirit? See the twinkle lights? Smell the evergreen candles? It seems as if everyone has the Christmas decorating bug and Thanksgiving is still 6 days away. While I am A-Okay with others putting up the Christmas tree early November, we are strictly day-after-Thanksgiving people.

We make the trek to a tree farm every year to cut down our tree and it’s one of my favorite things. We spend the rest of the day and the next few days or week readying the house for Christmas.

I enjoy making our home feel cozy and Christmas-y for the season. The twinkle lights, the tree, and some touches of Christmas in every room make the holiday come alive. Because I like to spend as much time as possible in front of the tree, I want our home to reflect the season (twinkle lights), and yet not be cluttered (Christmas what-nots on every surface).

Our simplifying journey has slowly spilled over into Christmas and I want to share a few ways we arrived at ‘enough’ in our Christmas decorating. Enough looks a lot different for each family. It depends on what you enjoy, your bandwidth, and your space. These tips have worked for us, but will need to be tweaked for each individual family.

Tip #1: Have Boundaries

This is my biggest tip. Without boundaries, Christmas decorating can easily get out of control fast. I have two cupboards in the basement that house our Christmas decorations. If those get full, something has to go.

Another way to do this is have one or two storage bins where Christmas decorations live. If or when they get full, something has to go to make room.

If you’re purging Christmas decorations for the first time and have a LOT, I like the 1 in 10 out rule. If you bring something new in this year, 10 things must go out. Sometimes limitations are needed to help from buying more ~~junk~~ stuff.

Tip #2: Only decorate with what you love

I learned this one a few years back when I was pregnant and in the midst of a remodel. That year I had limited bandwidth and only put up the things I absolutely loved. It taught me so much about what decorations brought me joy and what made our home feel cozy and Christmas-y.

Christmas ornaments are one of the things I love and always bring about nostalgic feelings. Our ornament boxes are chalk full of beautiful pieces of our family’s history. I enjoy touching each one and remembering the Christmas’ of my childhood and telling my babes stories from when I was a little girl on December 25th.

Each one of our kids has a small designated box for their ornaments. I love seeing their faces as they open their ornament boxes. They each have a sense of pride and wonder as we go through the box and talk about who gave them a specific ornament and why. Decorating the tree is a special afternoon every year, largely because we are only putting out what we absolutely love.

Tip #3: It’s okay to donate the rest

It’s okay to let it go. Even if it was gifted. Even if you’ve had it forever. Even if it was handed down (gasp). Something that always helps me when I’m having a hard time letting go is this:

If I’m not using this thing, someone else could be.

Whenever I let go of something and either find someone else who can use it or donate it, I feel good knowing it will have a new life instead of sitting in a box for another year.

Tip #4: Decorate with consumables

Candles, fresh cut flowers, soap, and evergreen branches. Instead of having a bin loaded full of Christmas paraphernalia, I try and use things I don’t have to store year after year. Peppermint hand soap in the bathroom, a cinnamon scented candle, cranberries and a poinsettia plant from Trader Joes, some cut evergreens from the backyard…they all help make our home feel Christmas-y without having another red and green tote.

Tip #5: Let go of the pressure

Alexandra Kuykendall calls us the ‘orchestrators of Christmas’ in her book Loving My Actual Christmas. If you are the orchestrator, I want to give you permission to not go mad making your home magical for your babes. Sometimes the most magical moments (and best memories) come when we least expect it. The crookedly hung twinkle lights. The broken ornament. The ‘we trudged through mud and rain to pick out a Christmas tree’ story.

Sometimes when it seems the least magical in the moment, it will be the most magical in our memories.

We will all have an imperfect Christmas this year (sorry, just slinging truth). My hope is I will embrace the imperfect. I will roll with the punches and the crooked lights my seven year old puts up. I will keep my cool when my two year old falls in the mud in his new ‘Christmas’ pants on the way to pick out our tree. #thankyoujesusforoxiclean And I will smile and move on when a special ornament falls to the floor. Letting go of the pressure to orchestrate the ‘perfect’ Christmas is my hope for my family and yours this year.

Christmas decorating is just one of the ways we moms can ready our home and our hearts for the season. If you want to read more about my Christmas Plan check it out here. I think it’s valuable to be intentional and decide what is enough when it comes to decorations. Tell me, how do you simplify Christmas decorating?

October 29, 2019November 1, 2019 Vanessa

Beeswax Candles

A Simpler Home, A Simpler Motherhood

I’m a wannabe DIY gal. DIY-ing doesn’t come naturally. It doesn’t come easy. It’s not ‘in my blood’. So if I am making something, it has to be simple. And these candles are it. Simplicity at it’s finest in terms of assembly and beauty.

The first time I made these beeswax candles was last fall. I discovered them over at The Quick Journey. Liz makes them each fall with her kids and she inspired me to try them at home. I was able to make them easily with no frustration or sweaty palms. I gave them away as Christmas gifts and the plan is to do the same this year. These candles are part of my Christmas Plan.

These beeswax candles are simple, beautiful, and make my home feel extra cozy. If you are looking for a simple DIY Christmas gift or just want to make some beautiful candles for yourself, these are perfection.

Here we go…

Collect Supplies

I ordered all my supplies from Mann Lake. You can get supplies on Amazon as well, but my MIL suggested Mann Lake because she gets some of her beekeeping supplies from them. This was my order:

3 packs of Natural Honey Wax

2/0 Cotton Wicking 100 feet

With these simple supplies, I was able to make 60 candles for about $1.25/candle or $2.50 for a pair.

Ready Materials

When I received my order and set aside of chunk of time to roll candles, I readied my materials. These are the items I gathered:

Beeswax

Wick

Hair dryer

Scissors

Tape measurer

Wax paper

Cut beeswax sheets in half

Lay down the wax paper and then put the sheet of beeswax down. (Crumbs can stick to the beeswax and the wax paper protects it.) Simply cut each sheet into half. Each sheet should end up being 8 1/8 inch by 8 1/2 inch. The candles will be 8 1/2 inches tall.

Cut wick to 8 1/2 inches

I like to get all my supplies ready so I can start rolling assembly line style, so I cut all the wick right away. Using the tape measurer, cut each wick 8 1/2 inches long.

Heat beeswax

Using a hairdryer, lay the beeswax out and heat it. Don’t overheat as it will start to melt. This process makes the beeswax more moldable.

Roll candle

Find the flat side of the wick and look at the V’s. The V’s should NOT look like this: ^. The V’s should be right side up. Place the wick on the beeswax and roll the candle. Roll as evenly and as tight as possible. When the candle is completely rolled, use the hair dryer to ‘cement’ the candle ends together.

Repeat!

Do the same with the other half of the beeswax. Two candles made in 5 minutes! Pat yourself on the back.

These beeswax candles are beautiful, nontoxic, and a great way to add simple coziness to any home. Let me know if you try!

October 17, 2019October 17, 2019 Vanessa

Pantry Refresh

A Simpler Home

Believe it or not, the holidays are almost here. November and December seem to be our fullest months as a family. November is a month brimming with birthdays and December is 24 days anticipating day 25.

Before we are knee deep in November, I wanted to prepare my pantry for the upcoming months. This is a straight forward, worthwhile task, but can get overlooked with all the other to-dos on the calendar. However, I think it’s a time saving, money saving, sanity saving task. Readying the pantry now can help avoid possible oversights (which equals stress) later.

Here is the step by step process I followed to ready my pantry for the upcoming months.

Round Up Containers

Before I even went into the pantry, I rounded up containers to hold a variety of items. Baskets for breakfast oatmeal and granola. Glass containers for baking supplies. As The Nester teaches, I ‘shopped my house’ to find things I could put to work in the pantry.

Empty Each Shelf

I emptied each shelf, even if I knew I was going to put everything back on it. I then gave it a thorough wash down. I went through each and every item, checked expiration dates, and decided if I needed a container to organize the shelf. I threw out expired items and put things back on the shelf.

I did two shelves at a time and placed things in a pile I thought might find a home on another shelf. If you have a small pantry, it might be a good idea to empty the entire thing first, then wash down, then organize and put back together.

Make a list of supplies and shop

The most helpful part of this pantry refresh was seeing what I have and don’t have. I checked my master list of meals I cook this time of year and added ingredients to my Wal-Mart grocery app. I added items like chili beans, white beans, and diced chilis to my grocery cart.

The abundance of harvested produce in the fall gets me in the mood to bake. It helps that the cooler temps make it easier to turn on my oven. I went through my Pinterest baking page and looked at my fall recipes. I added to my grocery app canned pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, yeast (for homemade bread) and chocolate chips, as well as the essential baking items like sugar and baking powder.

It’s incredibly easy to just add ingredients to my Wall-Mart grocery app and pick them up the next time I place an order. Knowing what I have and don’t have in the pantry helps me to be prepared for the upcoming full months. I will do this last step again right before Thanksgiving to get ready for the month of Christmas!

Readying my pantry has made me feel confident I have the things I need to make the holidays less stressful and more joyful for my family. Tell me: Does your pantry need to be readied? Do you have any tips for preparing your pantry for the upcoming holiday season?

April 4, 2019April 4, 2019 Vanessa

3 Ways to Take Control of the Clutter

A Simpler Home

We all know what clutter is, it’s the stuff, the piles, the things that get in our way. Merrian-Webster defines clutters as: a crowded or confused mass or collection. Clutter is the thing that gets in the way of us being able to do the things. It’s usually unimportant stuff or stuff we just don’t have the energy or time to deal with.

Clutter can lurk anywhere in the house, but today I want to hang out in the main living areas. If the main areas where we do life are full of clutter, it will be hard to live the way we want to live and be in relationship with the people who live under our roof.

Here are 3 ways to get control of the clutter in our homes today.

Clear a surface and keep it clear.

We all have, on average, 300,000 items in our homes. I’m wondering how much of that stuff is clutter? When I look from where I’m sitting on the couch, I see mostly clear counters, but then I see an unused Kleenex on the dining room table, papers on the bar counter from the mail today, and the kids’ cars and toys still scattered on the rug from before nap. These things aren’t bothering me because my main surfaces are clear. Eight years ago in our old house where we lived without kids, the surfaces were full of decorations, kitchen gadgets, mail and random papers: all things we had to move if we wanted to sit down and have a meal together. Today our island counter is a clutter free zone. Currently our Easter tree is sitting on it, but the rest of the space is clean. It’s where I prepare meals and where we eat together, so it just makes sense for that surface to stay clear.

What is one surface you use daily where you have to move things to use it? Focus on that specific surface. Make it a goal to have the surface clear each and every day, except for when you need to use it. I had a friend tell me a few years back her dining room table was where her family spent the most time. She put a tablecloth on it and kept one small napkin holder in the middle of her table. Every night she cleared the table and left only the napkin holder. It made her feel good to see the surface clear and allowed her family to use the space in a way that served them. Having one designated clear surface where you can work, eat, and live makes a difference.

Go through the mail everyday.

We all get mail, some of us more than others. One thing that has really helped me eliminate clutter on our surfaces is to go through the mail as soon as it comes into the house. I don’t sort it and put it in envelopes or cute storage containers. I open it right away, sort it, and recycle the junk and deal with the rest. If it is a bill that needs to be paid or a letter from a friend, I open and read it right away. Letters and notes are read and placed in a special basket while bills are looked over and either paid right away or put by my laptop and put on my to-do list for the next day. I try and not let mail sit unopened on the counter if I can help it. Usually Kevin has a few things, so I put them in a pile where he lays his briefcase and he looks at them when he gets home.

Agency Sales Magazine reports that we never use or look at 80% of the papers and information we keep. If you’re anything like me, I am more likely to ignore a big pile of papers than a small, manageable pile. A study done by Dr. Ferrari of DePaul University in Chicago even backs this up, saying procrastination is closely tied to clutter. If we tackle the mail everyday, we will eliminate clutter.

Keep fewer toys out.

If you’re a mom and have kids with toys, this could work for you. I have spoken with so many moms who have the problem of keeping toys out of the main living places. And I get it because I have had the same problem.

Our kids are part of our families and we want them to feel our home is a place they can play and be themselves. I enjoy watching the kids play on the rug in my living room while I’m cooking dinner or cleaning up the kitchen. The problem always comes when it’s time to pick up because there are a plethora of toys out and who wants to pick all those up? Not me and not my kids.

What I have found to work is keeping fewer toys at kids’ fingertips. The fewer toys they have to get out, the fewer toys strewn all over the house and the fewer toys to pick up. I am not trying to deprive our kids here, but less toys can sometimes mean more engagement and definitely less clutter. British research found the average 10 year old owns 238 toys, but plays with only 12 on a daily basis. My kids are not playing with all of their toys everyday anyway, so why not cut back on the toys at their fingertips?

Currently, in our living room there is one basket of manga tiles and one small basket of toy cars. These get played with on the regular. I rotate wooden blocks and mega blocks to switch things up.

We have a small playroom/school room off our main living area that houses the rest of the shared toys. There are some books, a play kitchen, and a bookshelf with 4-6 baskets of toys. These toys get rotated every month or so from our toy closet.

A couple advantages for keeping fewer toys out:

Kids get to play with ‘new’ toys every month or so when toys are rotated.
There are fewer toys to pick up and less toy clutter around the house.

If you are ready to get the toy clutter under control, I think the first place to start is the main living area. Only keep a few toys there that are played with often. They can be stored in baskets or an ottoman so the living room doesn’t look like a playroom. Wherever the rest of the toys are housed, only keep about one third of them out. Designate a toy closet or a bin where the rest of the toys are kept. Every month or so rotate toys out so kids have ‘new’ toys, but less mess to pick up. I can’t stress enough how this has saved my sanity!

What is one thing you can do today to remove clutter in your home? According to the National Soap and Detergent Association, eliminating clutter would also eliminate 40% of the time spent cleaning the average American home. Yes, please. That statistic motivates me every time I read it.

Tell me, how do you take control of the clutter in your home?

January 17, 2019January 12, 2019 Vanessa

How to Declutter By Category

A Simpler Home, A Simpler Motherhood

Christmas is past, decorations may or may not be put away. Opened gifts, books, and leftover candy may still fill your counters and pantry. Remnants of all we were given could still linger from that beautiful season just a few short weeks ago. A good declutter may be just what’s needed.

January brings the promise of something new. We can be who we want to be, accomplish what we want to accomplish, finally live the life we were meant to live. And I love that feeling, but it just stays a feeling unless we take action. If you are ready to simplify a space or multiple spaces in your home, I want to walk you through how I do a good declutter. Here we go.

Start with a Category

I may or may not lose you here, but stick with me if you can. Start with a category of items. Clothes is a great place to start. Get all your clothes into one space. I like to take them out of my closet and lay them on my bed or just lay them all out in my closet where I can see them. Whatever category of item you choose, get them all in one place. If it’s toys, get all the toys in one room. If it’s kitchen gadgets, place them all on the counters. If it’s books, lay them all out in your office or the dining room.

Now that you have all your items in one place, go through each one. I like to touch each and every item. When I do this I ask myself 3 questions:

These questions make decision making easier. If the answer is ‘no’ to any of the questions above, it is okay to let it go. Make a donate, sell and trash pile and sort accordingly.

Side note: Did you know Americans wear 20% of their clothing 80% of the time? I know we all probably have things in our closet collecting dust, waiting to be worn. If you’re not the person wearing the clothes in your own closet, why not give, sell, or donate to someone who will?

Take it one day at a time

Maybe you do clothes one day, toiletries the next day, you work in the kitchen the next day. Choose one category of items to declutter each day and put it on your to-do list or calendar. If you have a plan and take it one day at a time, you are more likely to make progress. Don’t try to declutter your entire house in one day, you are likely to get overwhelmed. At the end of this post I will share a decluttering challenge printable you can use to go through your home.

Stop bringing things in

If you’re committed to decluttering your home, try and keep things from coming into your home and allowing it to get cluttered again. You could go on a ‘buying fast’ for a month or two and see how it feels or make it a rule that each time you bring something into your home, something else must go. If you want to see the fruits of your hard work, it’s important to stay diligent against clutter coming in again.

What about things I can’t decide on?

My decluttering ambitions have come to a stop before because of items I can’t decide on. Sentimental pictures, special trinkets, old school DVDs. My first tip is don’t start with anything sentimental. Start with the easy stuff like socks and toiletries. You can do the rest later. However, if you come to some items you can’t decide on, simply put them in a box with the date marked on the outside. Look in that box in 6 months and ask yourself if you still need those items. Give yourself some grace to make a decision later so you don’t lose momentum.

Give yourself grace

This is hard, I know. If you’re anything like me, you want to see big changes overnight. You want a quick fix for a lasting change. Unfortunately, that just doesn’t happen very often unless you have a professional organizer from HGTV come knocking on your door. Make a plan, put it on your calendar or to-do list, and take it category by category, day by day. Give yourself grace if you don’t get to your decluttering challenge for the day and move it to the next day. Getting frustrated and overwhelmed will lead to unfinished goals and a house still cluttered. Give yourself grace, friends.

A Plan

If you’re like me, you want a plan. I’ve created a free decluttering challenge printable you can use to go through your home piece by piece, day by day. You can start today or wait until the beginning of a new month. I suggest hanging this printable up where you can see it and highlighting each category after you’ve completed the challenge. I love checking things off!

If you want to start small, consider choosing and tackling one way to simplify today. There are three options of short, doable tasks to jumpstart a simpler lifestyle.

Decluttering your home requires some hard work, but the reward of simpler, clutter-free spaces is always worth it. I’ll leave you with a quote from one of my favorite minimalist authors…