How I Am Organizing My House – And Why.
My goal for 2014 is to organize my house. How am I going to do this?
Declutter, make goals, declutter some more, pray hard, stay motivated, and declutter even more. 🙂
I don’t feel like I have an excess amount of items for a family of 7. We homeschool, love books, have a business run from our home, and live in a 1000 square foot house! But clutter has a way of creeping in. Do I really need as many clothes as I have? Can we get rid of a few books? Can I organize our homeschool items better?
When I stop and think about my house, I’ve found what makes my mommy brain go crazy is not the amount of decorations I might have on the wall. What makes me want to go on a cleaning rampage is the stuff on the floor. The things we trip over for days because nobody picks it up (I’m guilty of this too!). The crayons that fall under the children’s desk and sit there for weeks.
So why do I want to organize my house? It really is for selfish reasons.
I want more time with my husband and children. Time to snuggle on the couch and read stories. Time to do some of the fun Pinterest homeschooling actives I have pinned. Evenings spent talking with my husband instead of working.
My children are happier when the house is clean. My marriage is better, my husband is a perfectionist and nothing makes him happier then when the house is tidy.
Resources
Some resources I’m using as I start organizing my house. (Affiliate Links Included)
I’m Pinning my favorite ideas onto my Organization Board. Pinterest is such a wealth of ideas!
When I was sick in bed over the holidays I pulled out my copy of Managers of Their Chores and read through it again. I’ve been working on creating a good chore schedule, which will help keep the house cleaner.
Motivated Moms has an excellent online app or a printable chore list. I love the checklist’s that are used in this form and the prices are very affordable for the year!
As I go through my house I have a box for things to get rid of and a trash bag for, well, trash! It’s amazing how many things really need to just be thrown away.
As I go through items I think about getting rid of, I ask myself these questions.
1. Have I used this in the past year?
2. Do I have something else in my house that I can use in place of this?
3. Do I have duplicates of this item? For example, do I have two flannel sheet sets for the same bed? I probably only need one set.
I’d love to have you join me this month as I work extra hard at purging and organizing!
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One item I won’t purge out of my home are my Flexi Clips! I do need to organize mine however, because I’ve built up quite a collection of them! This beautiful peacock clip and matching headband have just been released for January only! I think the colors are beautiful!
I was just talking about this last night. My word for 2014 is organization. I feel like I waste so much time picking up clutter. It would be wonderful to be able to spend it enjoying time with my family or serving others instead!
Please consider posting pictures of your home. I am a homeschooling mom to 4 kids and my husband would love for us to have a home business, but I can not wrap my brain around being able to do that in 1000 sq ft. And not go crazy from feeling claustrophobic! Our home is about 1600 sq ft and I admit to being a sentimental pack rat…I have such a hard time decluttering! My husband loves an open and clean feeling in a home and I am not very adept at providing that for him. I ate the clutter, but have a HARD time decluttering!
Lol! HATE the clutter, not ATE the clutter! Oops!
I am constantly purging. It’s just a necessity. Just a thought. We have four sheet sets. Two linen for the hot season and two flannel for the cold. Here in Colorado, most of the time, it’s a fairly even split. One set is clean and ready to put on the bed as soon as the dirty set is pulled off. That way the bed is ready when we are ready for bed.
I had to chuckle about the crayons behind the desk for weeks. Just this morning I pulled the drawer beneath the oven all the way out as a cookie sheet fell out of the drawer MONTHSSSSSSS ago. And I wasn’t sure how to get it out, until I mentioned it in passing to a friend. The I felt stupid for not thinking of it myself lol. (Of course my brain was also thinking will the drawer go back in?? Let’s just say the drawer went back in easier than a dresser drawer!).
I am in with decluttering. We are in a rental so there is nothing hanging on the walls, but piled up around the edges of every room is stuff. And there are quite a few boxes in the basement we just open and dig out what we are looking for and then push them around. We need to sell some things that we can, donate what we can’t sell that is usuable, and trash some things we have just been holding onto. Our income got cut by about a third this past year and we are so behind, we don’t see the end of it yet. Bit by bit, as we declutter and sell, we hope that it gets easier – to live better, simpler, and more frugal. And more in line with what we feel God is bringing us to.
We have two sets of sheets in flannel and linen. Flannel is for winter and linen for summer. Two sets so we can make the bed right away instead of trying to get the sheets through the wash before bedtime.
Same here! I need to unload about 50% of the toys in this house. 🙂
I’ll be joining you for sure. 🙂 We are constantly purging here but it seems to be a never ending battle..especially when you have five kids. 😉 Ours are 9 and under, too. (All born in six years) I’m anxious to see your progress and hopefully stay motivated with you. Lol!
I just read Large Family Logistics….I got it for Christmas. I am already pretty organized but I still found it very helpful. Have your read it?
I loved your organization pinterest board and really feel inspired to get stuff done. My husband would be so happy if I was way more organized. I LOVE you blog.
This is EXACTLY what I needed!! Have this urge to totally organize my house and Declutter! Love the tools you posted! And LOVE your blog!!!! Blessings!