The Mom Effect
Have you ever done your holiday shopping only to realize when you are wrapping that you went way overboard? So much so that you put some items aside to gift during the next holiday or birthday? When you see it all in front of you at once, you can easily recognize that it’s…a lot! Well this is what happens when I’m sitting with clients after we’ve sorted the area we are working on. Not all the time, but many times, we end up with a lot of something (sometimes it’s toiletries, socks, or toys) that has been gifted to them over and over by a single family member. This family member clearly has a very big heart and loves this person a lot. But they don’t see the pile in front of them like we do. The full-sized bottle of body wash in that scent they know you like are great…when there is a need for a new bottle. The really nice thick wool socks are amazing…when you don’t already have 3 unopened packages stuffed in your sock drawer. Sending gifts on auto-ship might end up in taking away the beauty of the thoughtful gift in the first place and result in a pile of items that they can never ever get through even if they tried.
Why I Love the Dump
So why? Why would a person enjoy a place where things go to die? While I do not love the idea that we as a species are filling these sites with items that could otherwise be reused, recycled or repurposed, I do find beauty in the act of letting go. Being able to appreciate what we have and know when we are no longer in need of something is a great place to start when trying to take control of our home. Just because you have something doesn’t mean it’s valuable or useful to you anymore. Our things don’t define us.
The Seasonal Switch
Here in Vermont we are lucky enough to enjoy 4+ seasons (don’t forget stick season, mud season and fake spring 1/fake spring 2) every year. While enjoying the weather changes, we also get to enjoy the routines of moving out the old - in this case winter - and bringing in the new - spring/summer.
The piles of wet mittens are replaced with piles of wet pool towels. Coat after coat after coat on the hooks in the mudroom are replaced with hats, bathing suits and beach toys. It’s like starting a new chapter of a book - so much possibility and promise of adventure ahead.
Embracing the Benefits of Downsizing
While generations ago the ideal life included the biggest house, now it’s about the biggest life.
National Get Organized Day is Friday!
If there is a national Eggs Benedict Day (there really is!!) why can’t there be a national Get Organized Day?! I love that this exists for a few reasons. First, it gives me yet another excuse to write about organizing. Second, it gives me pause to re-look at the why behind it. Do we need to get organized? Why should you get organized? What does it even mean?
Teaching Kids the Art of Organizing
Before you assume that my kids’ rooms are perfectly organized, let me just say - they are definitely not! Our kids have a much higher threshold for disarray than my husband and I do, and we try our best to work with that. Just because it is what I do doesn’t mean that it translates into my entire life. If only, right? I try to let their rooms be theirs. That being said, being able to declutter and organize is a life skill that they will take with them as they grow up and live outside of this house. So how can we as parents guide, encourage, and teach our kids how to take it in their own hands and live in a space that they are proud of?
How to Declutter and Organize your Vegetable Garden this Spring
I know, I know - you think that maybe I’m taking it too far…but my work doesn’t stop in a kitchen or closet. Why not declutter, simplify and organize the garden too! Simplifying your garden can make your summer not only more enjoyable but more bountiful as well! I am far from a gardening pro, but using what we know about our goals and strategies for our minimizing clutter in our homes, we can make great strides in the dirt too :)
5 Ways to Make Spring Cleaning More Bearable
I know. It’s probably not the highlight of the season for most people. Not even on the top 3 list of what you are looking forward to - but also, it is what we make of it, right? Right. Spring cleaning can suck or it can be a way to refresh (reinvent?) your home for the new season. I choose to embrace it and if you do too, read on for some tips on how to make it more fun and productive!
Multi-tasking vs. Single-tasking
It turns out that this whole time we’ve been multi-tasking through our lives, we’ve instead been diminishing our productivity and effectiveness in these very tasks.
How to Hygge-up your Spring
As much as hygge seems like winter weather indulgence, it’s something we can enjoy year round. Home is the easiest place to start.
The Paper Situation
Deep in the “fun” of tax season, and despite being in the digital age, the flow of paper coming into our homes is at a high-point. If not tended to immediately, it can get out of control and add to the visual clutter that is already stressing us out in our homes.
Maintaining a decluttered home
We have to be diligent about controlling this influx in order to preserve all that hard work & time you have been investing in your home.
1o ways you can declutter your digital life
For most people when we think of clutter, we think of visual clutter - what you see piling up in your home and office. Digital clutter can be just as important to address as we delve deeper into the digital age.
Progress over Perfection
When it comes down to it, a cluttered home is a home full of delayed decisions.
Making sense of it all
ADHD is Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Symptoms might include: a hard time keeping track of things (keys for example), not being able to focus on jobs, activities, conversations, and tasks for extended periods of time, talking too much, not being able to settle down/sit still, fidgeting, difficulty waiting, and more. As you can imagine, these symptoms often result in a disorganized mind which can lead to a disorganized home.
Allergies at home
How can we support those we love while maintaining an organized and efficient home?
What happens next?
When you look around your home do you see a curated collection of what makes you happy or a bunch of….stuff?
Best of 2023
If there is one easy tip you can get started with, it’s the one in, one out method. It sounds like birth control, but really it’s much easier than that ha!!
From store to storage
Try this: next time you think to yourself that you don’t have enough space - stop for a second to consider that maybe you really do.