Keeping Life Simple at Home

Everyone who knows me and or reads this blog knows that I am always redecorating, decluttering and moving things around.

Only recently have I realized that I like things simple.  I love purchasing decorations and crafting and all of that, but when I bring that item into the house and try and find a place for it, I never can.  It always ends up being returned or pulled out of the room.  I like things neat and simple.  It also helps me to keep a cleaner house, too.  If you think about your home right now and what needs to be done, I guarantee it’s the clutter that needs to be removed so that you can actually clean.  If you can get a hold of the clutter problem you’ll find that it’s actually not that hard to keep a neat and tidy home.

Here are ways that I’m able to keep things relatively neat and tidy looking even if it’s not very “clean”.  (I mean, a 5 and 6 year old, a 4 month old, 2 adults and a beast of a dog keep things pretty dir-tay around here and sometimes it’s just not always clean.  But it’s picked up, I guarantee you that.)

1.  I regularly toss and donate.  I am always, ALWAYS making sure that I love something or else it goes.  I keep totes around so that they can be filled with donations and or trash.  Someone’s trash is always someone else’s treasure.

2.  I stay out of stores like TJ Maxx and Marshalls.  I could live in those home decor aisles.  And I’d bring home crap and then have no place for it.  The world is filled with pretty things and it makes me salivate.  I’m still working on skipping the un-necessary aisles at Target.

3.  I rearrange and that helps me curb my appetite for shopping.  I have a cabinet in the house dedicated to my candles, nick nacks and such.

4.  I have a container for everything and it’s pretty.  Pretty containers are always expensive, but if you shop places like Michael’s with a 40-50% off coupon on top of their sale on baskets, you get quite a bargain.

5.  I weekly look through my baskets and contained items while watching television or sitting next to my husband on the couch.    That way, my “pretty” containers stay pretty.

6.  I follow the Fly-Lady plan.  (Not to a T, but I try) and that keeps my home generally organized and clean-ish.

7.  I always have some greenery or flowers that I have cut or purchased in my home.  It keeps things looking lovely even when there is a lot that is not always “lovely” around me.

8.  I keep my kids involved.  They help a lot.  I keep it simple for them, too.  They know when they come home where to put everything.  I encourage them when they do it without asking.

9. There is a place for everything.  Seriously.  Here is my lengthy example:

The living room has NO toys except an Exer-Saucer for the baby.  The dining room has arts and crafts in the drawer of my decorating cabinet.  Beside the couch are more kids containers that house arts and crafts.  Their books are up in their bedroom on their bookshelf.  So are their Leapster’s.  They also have a rubbermaid tote that goes under their bunk beds where they put a few of their favorite toys.  I also have a small container of his and her legos that go on their shelves.  I keep it simple and the same.  If he has it, she has it.  I keep things that are quiet up in their bedroom.  It makes sense.  The basement houses larger toys and noisy toys.  I feel blessed that we have that space.  The foyer closet has everything from games to coats, to the baby’s car seat and the vacuum.   I realize that it’s ridiculous that I don’t like to look at toys and consider it clutter but I can’t help it.  And I want my children to enjoy life, so I understand the importance of toys, books and fun

10. If we bring home new toys and or if they reaaally want something new, I put other toys on Craig’s List. That way they can buy it and we don’t add more clutter, I mean toys to the home. 

11.  Write it down.  I write lists.  I’ve tried a million different ways to manage my to-do’s, but my perfect way for   me is to write it on an index card.

But if I can tell you one thing that will make your life simple it would be to regularly toss and organize. I keep nothing, I’m ruthless.  I donate most of it.  I’m working on the not buying it to begin with part and I’ve grown.  Oh, how I’ve grown.

How do you live more simply?

~ by bethyoung on October 27, 2009.