So I read the very best book a while back – Organized Simplicity by Tsh Oxenreider and ever since then I’ve tried to live a much more simple life. It doesn’t always go so well, especially when the kiddos come home from lunch with a new toy that they just ‘have to have’ or I come home with a mountain of papers that ‘I’ll sort through later’ or the hubs comes home with a new chiropractic something or other that he just has to have… you get the picture. Living simply is not for the faint of heart. I’m convinced that it is however a skill, and like most skills it can be honed and refined over time.
I spent a good bit of time this weekend simplifying our new found spacious home. Gone are the days of literally living on top of each other because of a lack of space and now have come the days of literally living on top of each other because we just have too much stuff everywhere. I’ve tried organizing up the wazoo, instilling clean up time with the kiddos on a daily basis and the dreaded nagging of the hubs to help keep things tidy. But for some reason I find us right back where we started before all the organizing began, and I think I’ve stumbled across the answer to it all.
You see, I though I could simply tidy up the room, organize the shelf and clear out a few items and that would make the space stay clean and decluttered. When in fact, I had done the equivalent of putting a band-aid on a giant, deep gash. I couldn’t ignore the problem anymore. I had to bust out the stitches and fix this thing up right.
I did it the very best way I knew how – I simply stopped trying to organize it all. Why you might ask, and here’s my answer: Organizing is a temporary fix. Stop putting a bandaid on the gash. If you truly want to simplify you have got to declutter your home. Because decluttering is a permanent solution. Getting rid of the extra things, be it too many clothes, too many piles of things all over the place, or too many trips to Target that bring home dozens of bags… whatever it might be cut it out.
Here’s a few ideas on how to do that:
one – Piles. Attack the piles!!! I’ll be the first to admit that I am a pile-aholic. If you were to walk into my bedroom right now there would be a pile of clean clothes sitting next to my bed. Right next to a pile of jimmies that desperately need to be put in the hamper and a box that still needs to be unpacked from the move. But seriously, let’s attack those piles! I did it this weekend with the pile of stuff that had been sitting on the dining room table for weeks. If it hadn’t been used in the past week it got chucked. If it wasn’t something that added value or was a necessary bill that had to get paid, it got chucked. If it was something I wanted to keep, like one of Quinn’s homework assignments it got catalogued. But other than that – the pile is now 100% gone. Finally!
two – drawers. In the very first apartment we ever lived in together as a married couple, I created a junk drawer. I did that because my mother had had a junk drawer in her kitchen and it just seemed like a link that one aught to have. If I could go back in time I would take said junk drawer idea and toss it out the window! All a junk drawer does is open up your home to the idea that junk is an okay thing to store. I’d rather not house junk, I don’t know about you… For all the rest of the drawers, I recommend dividers.
three – closets. This one might be a little painful, but trust me you’ll feel a million times better after we’re done. Go grab one of those awesome black yard work bags from the garage and put it on the floor next to your closet. Now, let’s sift through this closet of ours starting with the clothes…if you haven’t worn it in a year, put it in the bag. If it no longer fits you, put it in the bag. If it’s something your hanging onto just incase someone decides to throw an awesome 80’s themed party, put it in the bag. For the rest of the closet – the same idea. Then, take this awesome black bag full of all of your awesome stuff and put in the trunk of your car. Now drive around town with it for a week or two – I call this the cooling off period, because I tend to get a little overly purg-y when cleaning out my closet. If after the week or two you didn’t need anything in the bag take it to the local goodwill and part ways. Hello clean closet!!
four – rearrange the room. This one might seem odd, but it’s like that part of the movie in Big Hero 6 when the older brother is shaking the younger brother upside down and telling him to get a new perspective. That’s exactly what we’re doing here. Sometimes when things have been sitting the same way for too long it can be hard to see what’s really needed and what’s there to just fill the space. So shake things up, gain a new perspective, move the lamp to the other side of the room or the sofa to the other wall. What can go and what can stay? I’m saying toss your sofa, because you do kinda need that, but maybe the extra ottoman isn’t really a need. Or maybe the 20 throw pillows are just 15 too many…
five – shelves. Right now I have two giant awesomely beautiful black shelves that simply packed with stuff. The lower halves of the shelves are full of toys, but the upper half is just stuff. Stuff I’ve had for years that I’m just not willing to part ways with. Not that I’ve had the occasion to use any of the stuff in years, but it’s the stuff I remember buying and thinking I’ll get to that someday… Well I hate to break it to myself but that someday is not coming any time soon. And that stuff is just taking up space and making me want to pull my hair out. So here we go again, busting out the black trash bag. I’d like to think my shelf items should get some sort of regular use, what about you? If they don’t hold photos and haven’t been touched, read, or played with in the past 2 years put it in the bag. You know the drill, it’s the same one.
Was this useful? Are you ready to simplify with me instead of just organize the madness?
Leave a comment below or share this post if so.
And have a super fabulous day!
