Redesigning my blog and vision. Hope you will hope over to my New one and follow there!
Bear with me as I finish the construction.
I will also be setting up a FAMILY blog soon if you want to keep up with our journey of preparing for a year long US tour in an RV.
Stay tuned….
Have a blessed day,
Claire
Are you a ‘slave’ to your clutter? Seriously…think about this. Is clutter causing your life to stall?
I know for myself this can be true! The more clutter I see in my house, the more cluttered I feel which leads to procrastination, feeling uninspired and un-motivated.
There are many days when I have a list of tasks to accomplish, but I must first clean up the visual clutter to feel ready to tackle the list.
So this led me to think…am I a ‘slave’ to my clutter? Does it control or contribute to decisions and actions in my life? Hmmm…deep food for thought.
One thing I do know…I want less stuff. The less I have, the less I need to give it my time.
What about you? Cluttered house, cluttered mind?
Have a blessed day!
Claire
Today we are clearing out the cleaning supplies and getting down to the necessities!
Here is a picture of where I started….
I changed my whole cleaning routine completely back in April 2011. This involved removing all the toxic cleaners and replacing them with natural ones. You can read more about that quest HERE, but bottom line was because they were making me sick.
And this is a picture of what I have now! So much better, right? Waaaaay less to store. LOVE the idea of a concentrate.
I keep everything in a caddy so I can take it with me from room to room and it provides good organization which in turn leads to less clutter.
These 4 bottles and small jar clean everything in my house from the mirrors to the floors. Safe on every surface and safe for people and pets.
If you are curious what I use…you can learn more about it HERE.
How about you? How do you store your cleaning supplies? Are they hidden and lost in cupboards or do you use everything you have? Sort through it to keep the ones use.
Have a blessed day!
Claire
Need to catch up?
Welcome back!! How are the kids rooms going? My kids all grumbled at first when it was time to declutter and now they are soooo happy! It feels more calm for them and my youngest has discovered ‘lost’ toys and has been busy playing.
We are finishing up the kiddos rooms today by going through the clothes. Now, I have all boys….I think it does mean not quite as many clothes than if I had a girl. My boys are no frills…all about comfort. My 14 yr old wears sport shorts year round with short sleeve tees only. The only request this mama has is that he has a pair of ‘nicer’ shorts for church. Of course, this helps keep his laundry under control, too. I had the boys help me with this task so I could get their feedback on what they like and wear. We also take the time to save things they have outgrown to hand down to the other boys or friends. We have appreciated this from others as well!
We also don’t have dressers. We are blessed with big closets so we use closet organizers with drawers. This saves so much space in their rooms for other things.
Here is a pic of my oldest boys’ closet after we cleaned and organized….
He does have a few things hanging out of view…the rest are in the drawers.
Happy decluttering!!
Have a blessed day,
Claire
With 3 boys you can bet we have LOTS of nerf guns and Legos! Great toys….just a lot of pieces.
Finding a home for toys can help eliminate clutter. I have tried MANY different ways to store the legos and our current and last method we have been using for quite awhile and it will definitely stay. I actually got the idea from my mom who did the same storage solution with my brothers’ legos when he was younger.
The bin on the right is where we store the pile of loose legos for building.
The drawers are for storing his special pieces and creations. If they are full then he knows he needs to make some choices on what can stay built and what needs to go back in the big bin.
This is the best part and the tip my mom gave me! Put them in a sheet or blanket inside the bin. We used a twin sheet. Then you can lift the whole sheet out for the kids to play with on the floor. The legos stay on the blanket for easy pick up! Simply gather the ends and put back in the bin. Super easy and the kids like that they can spread them out to see what pieces there are.
My older boys are more lego collectors now so they store theirs on their shelves in their rooms.
Nerf guns are the other toy abundance around here. My husband and I came up with a great solution for us. Peg Board!
This one is under a loft bed.
This one is behind the bedroom door.
So, there you have it! Some simple storage solutions for all you out there with boys like us.
What ways do you control toy clutter?
Have a blessed day!
Claire
This one is a constant clutter for us with three boys! We are always looking for new ways to help the kids control it whether it’s passing it on to another child or organizing.
Here is a repost of how I help my youngest sort his toys….
WOW!! PLEASE tell me I am not the only house with a messy kid room?!
My youngest loves to play and play and play, but when it comes to clean up... not so much.
In his room he has cubbie shelves with bins for all of his small toys.
When the room gets like this, it tells me there is too much STUFF!
Time to SIMPLIFY and declutter.
I like to have my kids help with this process for a few reasons....
1. It's their stuff
2. It's their mess
3. Prime moment to teach the technique
After all, they won't always have mom to help....
So we separated the the legos, nerf guns & bullets and stuffed animals from the small loose toys. These toys get put away in their own place.
I pulled 3 bins out near the pile of small toys and told youngest it was time to downsize. We need to fit all of the STUFF into 2 bins.
He got right on it and was able to sort and toss it all quite quickly. He ended up with a good size bag that he doesn't need anymore.
Doesn't it look fabulous?! He was so proud of himself and I am proud to see him take such responsibility.
He loves it when his room is clean, too! I try to give lots of praise and really hype up how great it FEELS to have a clean room. Hopefully this will pay off in the long run.
He is overwhelmed if I tell him to clean his room, but if I break it into tasks he feels capable.
I think it helped having a specific task.
Give it a try with your kiddo!
Hope it helps you too!
Post a comment if you have tried this or if you have another idea!
Have a Blessed Day!
Claire
I keep my jewelry in my bathroom because of the great storage I have in there. I also have waaaaaayyyy too much that I do not use. In my quest to simplify, I went through it with the thought of keeping my favorite pieces as well as some specialty and FUN pieces.
Knowing what I have and being able to see/find it means it will get used!
This series isn’t about organization, but take a look at THIS by I Heart Organizing! I see this project in my near future. Simple and Lovely…
She is one of my favorite bloggers.
What about you? What type of jewelry do you have? Too much? Does it get used? How do you store it?
Have a blessed day!
Claire
