Life Advice: Simply Your Home

As January comes to a close, my 2023 word of the year, less, is continuing to weave its way into my life and through my home.

If you watched my Insta-Stories towards the end of 2022, you might recall that I was pursuing purging. As I yearn to maintain a clean and tidy home, the first step for me was reducing the amount of things I have. I methodically worked my way through master bedroom, office, living room, kitchen, pantry, linen and storage closets, daughter's room, laundry room, and finally the garage. The editing process was eerily similar to that of curating a capsule wardrobe. As I approached each room, I utilized the following prompts to assess whether to donate or in some cases trash:

• Are there any items that I do not use currently, or do not intend to utilize in the future?

• Are there any items that I have unnecessary duplicates?

• Are there any items that I can scan and shred to reduce bulky paper or documents, or simply throw away as they serve no purpose? Are there any pieces of paper related to items that I no longer own?

• Are there any items that are either expired, or no longer need to be retained for legal or financial purpose?

• Are there any clothing item that no longer fit, are worn, or otherwise will be unlikely to be utilized in the future?

• Are there any items that are taking up unnecessary space?

• Are there any items that would better serve others than sitting in closet collecting dust?

As I contemplated the above scenario, I was able to purge a myriad of items that I know I will not miss.

In December, I stumbled upon one of my new favorite instagram accounts, thebartahouse. Although I had always gravitated toward the concept of less, and even read the book; Goodbye, Things; I failed to visualize the end result without a real life example. When I found Heather's instagram, I finally understood the power of less and what possibilities it can open in regards to time and energy. I got rid of clothing that I held onto because of money spent, regardless of the fact that I never grabbed it. I got rid of toys that my daughter had in double, did not play with, or had progressed beyond. I let go of financial information that I had not reviewed in years, and no longer had a reason to keep. I let go of every single owner manual ( I simply took pictures of each thing that I still have, in the off chance I need to look up model number. I stored these on Google Photos and deleted off phone).

Through all of this, I realized that all of these things were not only taking up space in my home, but in my head. Having another empty drawer, allows for a quicker clean. Having a tidy systems for toys, allows for a 5 minute clean up each evening after my daughter goes to bed. Having a cleaning schedule, provides my brain the structure to know that I don't have to do everything on Saturday. Having less decor items, provides a clean slate to focus on the things that matter, family. Plus, it calms my ADHD brain as each less item is one less thing to distract me.

How does this work in practice? Read along as I delve deeper into my purging by room.

In my room, I edited both my closet clothing, as well as clothing maintained in my dresser. For items that have continued to linger without any usage, I finally succumbed to donating. I also reviewed toiletry and makeup items and tossed items past expiration or opened with no intention of re-using. I disposed of the products empty or almost empty. These edits allowed me to get a grasp of both clothing and products that had been hiding because the abundance of things in each room. The purge also yielded several empty drawers, which is less spaces and things to worry about.

In my office, I finally succumbed to the fact that not every shelf needs an item. Then, I opened the storage closet and reviewed documentation that I had been keeping, but expiration of time made no longer relevant. I opted to shred these documents to ensure protection of our personal information. I also reviewed our electronic and brought old laptops from 10 years ago to Best Buy to wipe and donate. Finally, I weeded through phone, computer, and miscellaneous chargers, and opted to keep 2-3 of each, no more.

In the living room, I went through both open shelving as well as our built ins full of toddler toys. I donated duplicates and items that our daughter has graduated from. Pairing down toys allows us the ability to have organization by type. For her, she has boxes for music, pretend baby, pretend makeup, coloring, pretend kitchen including food and pans, and area for stuffed animals. As we transition our play, we pick up the items we are no longer playing with.

In our kitchen and dining rooms, I reviewed our pots, pans, utensils and small appliances. I paired down each subset to reduce the amount of items of each type. For example, I don't need 5 spatulas. Also, I let go of pieces that I have had since our wedding, yet never used (6+ years ago) such as a set of 8 nestling glass bowls. Although good in concept, I get much more use out of 3 plastic nestling bowls that are similar.

In our storage closets, I reviewed our holiday decor items and consolidated and organized into new storage systems. I also reviewed linens and got rid of any tattered sheets from college years that I've continued to hold onto, for no reason at all.

In our laundry, I found a myriad of random things that i did not even know I had. For irrelevant things, i donated or trashed, and moved relevant things to the proper place in our home.

In our garage, I re-reviewed storage and donated duplicate items. For example, it is unlikely I need more than 2 hammers, and yet I had 4.

Now, I have a ton of empty drawers, shelves, and space that does not need to be refilled. I also realized the not every space need more. When I pulled back our entry decor, I fell in love with the simplicity.

I am not an expert, and I still have many, many things, but editing my things down has already paid dividends by giving me the calm to put my house and my brain to bed each night.

P.S. I always told myself that I would never have children's toys in our living room, yet here we are with a play kitchen in our living room. Yet, I would not have it any other way. Sometimes, unexpected things bring us true joy. Playing restaurant in our living room is one of those things.