Life Less Cluttered

A Snake and A Car

Today was a weird day. One that I thought would be filled with much more sadness but as I reflect, I know I’m moving forward in hope. Our house listed in this hot market and we already have 5 viewings scheduled. I’m grateful for it, but it was never the plan. I like plans, but honestly, I like change too so I can see the opportunity for growth here. We bought our house 2 years ago after we lived in our first home for 12 years. My husband, now ex, wanted a bigger house and I wanted a better floor plan. We found both in this house. We bought this house for a family of 4 and now we are a family of 3. I won’t get into the details but it’s what bought me to this happy point today.

Practical DIY No 10: Removing Sticker Residue

I like a good drop-and-go type situation. It makes me feel like I’m working smarter, not harder. For example crock pot meals, drop everything in the pot, walk away and you have dinner 8 hours later. Or using vinegar to clean nasty food off of my stainless steel pans. Fill the bottom with straight vinegar, leave to soak for several hours, then easily wipe clean, spray rinse, done. I like to know my efforts are working behind the scenes when I’m working on other things or spending time with the kids.

Living with Less

When you intentionally live with less, it’s easier to accept that you’re about to have to live with less. Let me explain. Several years ago, I committed to living a life less cluttered. I forced myself through a process of self-awareness to find the habits that kept me in the cylindrical pattern of clutter, purge, rest, reclutter, angrily purge, rest, do it again. Rising above the pull to over spend and excessively consume has changed my life for the better in so many ways.

An Organized Pantry for Less

You don’t have to have a glamourous high end pantry to have one that makes sense and works for your life. Uber organized pantries with clear containers and cutesy labels can be impractical if you live with other people or plan to buy anything except what’s committed to the “special jars”. Ideally, we’d all love to have THAT super chic pantry, but realistically that doesn’t have to be your pantry goals to have a space that works. I strive to help women declutter and make sense of their spaces without spending a lot of money on organization, often using items that already exist within the home. Here are a few tips to organize your pantry keeping products in their original packaging:

The Dead Weight Box

Life is weird sometimes. Sometimes you live through a pandemic and come out on the other end selling the house you bought just before the pandemic. We’ll list the house in 4-6 weeks. Everything is negotiable when you move. Moving is one way to discover everything you have. Moving is hard but on the other side is a fresh new start, a blank canvas. How much do I want to take into a new beginning?

Kind Words

I love the women that I get to meet. One-on-one coaching gives us the chance to work through individual frustrations and personally tailored goals that group coaching is not designed to tackle. Sometimes explaining what I do is better said through someone else’s words. Jenny’s words truly sums up my passion for the goals I strive to achieve with anyone I work with. Living within the means of your house and defining your spaces can create new solutions for organizing your stuff, often times without spending any money. Her story is a great example. Shared with permission.

Chunking Spaces

For Christmas last year, I received a 10 pack of flashlights. I don’t know who looks at a 10 pack of flashlights and thinks its the perfect gift for anyone other than a Boy Scout leader, but that’s what I got. I’m not a Boy Scout leader.

So we have these flashlights and I keep them in a drawer for flashlights and animal leases (because I also have several of those…because we have several animals). After a few recent weeks with power outage issues, these flashlights were dispersed throughout the house. During one of the last outages, I went to the flashlight drawer to grab one and they were all gone.

Kids and Clutter

Stuff is about so much more than the physical objects that create our clutter. The condition of my spaces correlates to the condition of my mood. This can also be true for kids and I believe there are important principles that we can teach our children about their relationship with the things they own.

Selfish Empty Space

It’s easier to declutter a space than it is to maintain it. Once you have a space cleared off, it feels so good, but unless daily habits have been changed there’s reasonable chance that the empty space will become a catch all once again. When you feel like you’re in the constant cycle of clutter, declutter, and reclutter, only self-awareness will bring relief to the frustrations that arise from repeating the cycle. So while it may be doable to declutter and organize a whole room or even an entire house, committing to maintain it is a lofty goal. Decluttering is a slow process. True decluttering is essentially reversing life long habits that we all have because we live in a world that pushes and tempts us to over consume.

Shopping and Self Worth

I’ve ruminated on thoughts for some time to find the connection between emotional shopping and self worth. I think the two connect, if not in the moment, certainly in the aftermath of what emotional shopping leaves behind – clutter.

We may shop because we are sad, lonely, offended, stressed, worn out or a number of other emotions we need to escape from, and in the moment the thought of having that new thing sounds refreshing or finding that great deal is exciting, but when we get home the thing we bought loses it’s newness and becomes one more thing to find a place for. Collectively these purchases become clutter, which plays on our self worth. “How did I let it get this far? Why can’t I clean up enough or keep up with the laundry? Why is my house always a mess? Look at all of the money I wasted. What will people think of me if they see how bad it is?”