Monday, April 17, 2017

~The Keeper of Home Series: Declutter & Organize~

I would like to talk today about something I feel is  crucial in running a home.  The art of decluttering and organizing.  Both of these steps are so very needed if your goal is to live in a home that is tidy and user friendly.  Meaning it will cut down on the questions where is this or that, because when they are done with an item the children put it in it's home, or you do.  (To be honest, many times in our home it is me that puts it away.)  In our little home, my children know the rule; if it doesn't have a home, it doesn't stay in our home.  This applies to everything, including gifts.  I used to hate Christmas gifts, because the children would get so many gifts from family and such, and our little home was left cluttered.  When your children understand that in order to keep something they have been given, it must have a home, then they will too learn how to prioritize and be mindful about the things they truly want in their lives.  Mindfulness when it comes to what we allow to take up valuable real-estate in our homes is so very important.  I used to feel bad about letting a gift go, but truly it is better to pass it on to be a blessing to someone else, than to keep an item that just will create clutter in your home.
The art of Decluttering & Organizing is a process that takes quite a long time.  It is not something you do in a day.  I will try to break it down in steps.  Step 1: You should go to each and every room in your home and go through all of the items in your room.  The items that you do not truly need, or truly love, you should let go.  So many people hold on to things because they are still in good shape, or perhaps they have a good memory associated to the item, or perhaps it was a gift.  In cases like these, most of the time, I will take a photo of the item and then let it go.  This is the step where you need to get tuff with yourself if you want to truly live in a tidy space.    Living in a cluttered home does not give us a sanctuary, a place that we can truly relax and get away from the stress of the world.  To me, this is something your home should do for you.  I also believe we can get a long with a lot less than we may think.  If you have ever read the Little House books, you will find that they had mostly what they needed and not a lot extra.  In our times, we tend to have such an abundance of items that is just is hard to care for all that we have.  I personally find having less makes me a happier person and provides space to have the things I truly love and need.
      Step 2 is go through each and every closet and drawer and purge the items the same way you did in the rooms in your home.  (remember to do this successfully, you must get tuff with yourself.)  It is a good idea when going through a child's or spouses items that you allow them to be a part of this process.  This way you don't let go of something that is very special to someone.
 Step 3: After you have purged all of your items, it is now time to create your "homes", I refer to these as systems.  When creating a system you must first identify the need.  In this photo, I have a system for shoes.  The closets in our little home are not big, and we must use them to keep more than shoes and clothing.  So I have incorporated shoe bins in the children's closet.  They can stack on top of one another so that the shoes do not take up as much space.  It is very important to label them, so that they can easily see what shoes they are wanting to grab.  Places like Walmart and Target have many nice organizing solutions.  Walmart does seem to have the best prices and a good selection of cute colors and such.  I personally use both stores, but most of the items I have to organize our home are from Walmart.  This process does require purchasing items, so if that is not in your budget, be creative and try to find storage solutions that can work for your home.  Another way to do this, is by the little by little rule.  Each payday, purchase the items you need for one area in your home, and just do this little by little until you are done.  There is not a way to organize that is right for everyone, you need to customize your organizing to your own need.  Again this process will not get done overnight, it is something that may take a while and can be done room by room as time and money will allow.
I will share a few of my organizing systems that we use in our little home.

 Here are some organizing systems that are in my daughter Megan's room.  She had a bookshelf that happened to work perfectly for these bins from Walmart.  In theses bins, she can keep things such as nail polish, and body care items with out the look of clutter.  Up in her closet we keep things such as Halloween masks and such.  A lot of the bins are empty, and ready for use if the need arrives.  Again, make sure to label, so that you know what is in each bin.
Above our oven, I keep our medications.  I have a bin for random medicine, such as Sudafed,  Cough drops, our thermometer and such.  In the other box, I keep prescription medication.

Here is a photo of our laundry room.  I put my laundry soap in the glass jar on top of my dryer.  I think it looks nicer than the box.  I am a person that truly enjoys things to look tidy and nice, it makes doing the work I must do a more pleasant experience each day.  This photo is kind of dark, but if you look on the floor beside the dryer, I have a bin that I keep my Shout and laundry scent packs in.  It helps my laundry room not look cluttered.  Lastly, on the wall in the green bucket, I keep my laundry scented wax melts.  I like my laundry room to smell like a laundry room, and we use unscented detergent.  Scenting my home is something I love to do!
We take our shoes off when we come into our home. (Most of the time) We use our cubbies for our shoes that we wear all of the time.  Our home came with these cubbies, but if it had not, I would have a little shoe rack, or cabinet that we could put shoes on, so that we would have a space to put our shoes when we first arrive home.
 This is my daughter's Lauren's closet.  One thing I like in the closet's is to have all the hangers the same color.  This simple system gives the look of organization and tidiness.  This is my three step system to helping your home be both decluttered and organized.  If you do choose to try this, just remember it takes time, so don't feel bad if it does not happen over night.  I truly feel it is worth the effort, because when everthing has a home, it is fast and easy to quickly tidy up.  You don't have to stop and figure out where it will go, or just shove it into a overflowing closet.  Simply put it in it's home.  My wonderful Mother once told me that I should work as hard for our family as I would for any other job that I have had.  I took these words to heart and truly keep this at the front of my mind when dealing with our home.  You may not get a pay check, but you and your family will get a great deal out of a well run home.  I hope that you may have found some of this post of help to you.  Have a good week.  Hugs.  Juli

1 comment:

  1. Juli,
    You are truly an inspiration.
    Your vocation to motherhood and homekeeping is wonderful.
    I am trying to start letting go of things...
    Thank you for sharing this!

    ReplyDelete