Decluttering » Making A Home And Family

Archive for the Category »Decluttering «

May 2010

Welcome to my Home Wednesday ~ Settling Back In

When we were on the road back to our home in Michigan, I had daydreamed about a new weekly update for my blog called “Welcome to my Home Wednesday.” My daydream included lots of video blogs and pictures, but as I attempted that last week not only did I fail at video editing, but I was overly critical of myself on camera too. So instead of putting it off until I feel comfortable, why not just start it with me typing? That’s okay, right? Good!

We are settling back into our life in our home, and it feels pretty good to be back. It’s still a little in a flux as we are trying to decide on some things yet. We have our house up for sale right now, but our contract will be up soon and we may just not relist it for now. We are thinking we will stay for a little while longer and save up our money for land in the country where we can build our home (maybe a Cordwood house or something else we dream up in the mean time). We are also trying to sell our second car and the RV, so that we can simplify and reduce our debt to make this dream come true sooner rather than later. Helloo homestead! Helloo chickens and eggs! Helloo gardening and preserving!

Things are still a little disorganized around here as we are decluttering to a large scale. We realized on our adventures how little we actually need to LIVE and be HAPPY! All this other stuff is just clutter and it makes us uneasy. So out with it! We took out 42 POUNDS of clothing out of our small bedroom closet. 42 POUNDS! You read that right. Ugh! But now our closet has the clothes we like in it, and it’s not a struggle to dig through it to find something worth wearing. I hope the decluttering bug stays around. It makes me feel so much better to be surrounded by things we love and need.

So that’s what is going on in my home. What is happening at yours?

Category: Day to day, Decluttering, Welcome to my Home Wednesday One Comment

Jan 2009

Look!

Jennie

I was featured on Cleaning up the Clutter!! I cleaned my coffee/tea cupboard, and she posted pictures of it.

Category: Decluttering Leave a Comment

Oct 2008

Stepping Lightly v2.0

Jennie

On our quest of living simply and stepping lightly, I have been drawn to my home and my family. DH and I have taken the time to enjoy each other’s company more instead of resorting to a form of technology all of the time when we get “bored.” What a joy it has been!

Some nights, we had been known to just take our plates and sit in front of our computers *bag over head*. I can’t believe I even admit that, but I guess it’s not much different than some families that do the same thing but sit in front of the TV. We have taken our dinners back to the table, and what a great time we’ve had chatted over a good homecooked meal. Last night we discussed religion vs. spirituality and how we want to raise our little Sprout amongst it all.

We have used our evenings to work together on the house together. The other night, we worked in our garage for a few hours and now it is organized, things we didn’t need are no longer there, and it’s all ready for a vehicle to fit in it this winter. During that time, we had a lot of time to talk about what we want to keep and what we need to keep and why these things are important to us. It’s so fun to be on the same page about our home and making it a simple and peaceful place to be.

I think I have also manifested ways of staying at home and not rushing around outside of my home. Yesterday, I had planned to go to the high school to pick up some paperwork before rushing home to get dinner on and leaving again for the Tolle group. But I had a soft tire, and instead had to call for an appointment for my tire which couldn’t happen until today and it is right next to the high school. So, I will combine that trip and do both of those tasks today and WITH James.

How are you spending time with those you love?

Picture courtesy of ~ http://www.4simpleimprovements.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/.pond/simplehome.jpg.w300h300.jpg

Category: Decluttering, Stepping Lightly Leave a Comment

Oct 2008

Stepping Lightly v1.0

Jennie

Have you ever, in your life, kept running across phrases or people who bring you the same theme? Do you think it is coincidence or do you take it as a sign to begin questioning yourself and finding an answer?

It all started for me with Michele’s blog, and her newest venture about writing about her Simple Life. It all sounded so peaceful, so thankful, and yes so simple! Many people may think I have a simple life – I work from home and have all of the freedom in the world to do what I please, but do I relish in it? Not as much as I could. Do I take time to find simple, efficient, and frugal ways to handle my home? Not always. Do I take time to enjoy the present moment as I learned from Eckhart Tolle? Gosh, how I let that slip away so fast when something heated arises.

DH and I started reading Walden together about a week ago. We haven’t made it too far because we get about 1 page through it and we get inspired and talk for 30 minutes about the world, the economy, the state of people living beyond their means, and the state of our hurried and cluttered lives. He wants a simple life too!

The last straw was at the Tolle group last night, and as we were listening to his audio these words stood out to me. STEP LIGHTLY. Don’t walk with your burdens, don’t let things drag you down, live in the moment and enjoy the air you are breathing, your heart that is beating because the moment isn’t bad. It’s all you have.

I’ll be Stepping Lightly and blogging about it on Thursdays. Be sure to join me!

Photo courtesty of ~ http://zenhabits.net/fotos/20070905simpleliving.jpg

Category: Decluttering, Goals, Spirituality, Stepping Lightly 2 Comments

Oct 2008

Simplify your kitchen!

Jennie

At the end of August, I decided to start decluttering my house. One place I started was the kitchen. I had been fighting with my kitchen for awhile trying to keep it clean, and it finally dawned on me that I had too much STUFF!

So here are some things I did to simplify and declutter the kitchen ~

I went through all of the cupboards and donated (or gave to family) things I had duplicates of or didn’t use anymore. Nesting bowls went to my mom since she didn’t have any and I had THREE sets. See what I mean? I donated about 4 bags of goodies just from my kitchen alone.
I then organized my cupboards in a way that I could see everything that was in each one. Then when I went looking for something, it wouldn’t be so hard to find.
The pantry was reorganized to put like items together (pastas, canned veggies, baking items, spices, etc)
I cleaned my table so that it wouldn’t be a catch all anymore. I decorated it with a few nice things like a tablecloth and it certainly made my kitchen prettier and a lot easier to set the table for dinner.
One really tiny piece of advice I have for everyone is simplify everything for cooking you can. Last night, as I was spraying my muffin tin with non-stick spray I started complaining about putting the lid back on. It’s so hard to get on and off, and then the lightbulb went off. Do I need this lid?! No! I threw it away, and it sure will simplify the next time I use that spray.

For more WFMW, visit Rocks in my Dryer.

Category: Decluttering, Works for me Wednesday 6 Comments

Aug 2008

Big changes

Jennie

There are a lot of things going on in our household. We figure that if we are expecting a new baby that some things around here can’t lay dormant anymore. The family room was in need of a huge face lift, and we finally had the money and the motivation to get moving on it. Painting, new ceiling, all new lighting fixtures, new flooring, new trim, new curtains, and new rugs. Whew! We’re almost done, and we’ll be moving our things back in soon.

After that, we’ll be hitting decluttering mode full-force. On my good days when I have more energy, which are becoming more and more, I have tackled some things. I declutterd my kitchen, the dvds, some clothes, and my bookshelves. That has amassed almost 200 items! Some of my books I took to a book exchange where I got $35 in credit. The other things will be headed to St. Vincent DePaul’s tomorrow. Once I make room in my house, I believe that I will be blessed with newer and better things. Things that I need, and things that I can consciously make choices about owning.

Not only that, but I am making room for a new life in our home and our family. That makes me feel good!

Category: Day to day, Decluttering, remodeling 3 Comments

Apr 2008

How to clean a fridge – Tackle it Tuesday

Jennie

I cleaned the fridge!

I took pictures and everything, but I was using a camera that I haven’t used with my new computer. Alas, I don’t know where the driver disc is and there are compatablity issues between the camera and the computer. I will explain with words exactly what I did.

First things first, I emptied everything from the fridge and put it onto the counters. I threw away anything that was expired like a salad dressing and a ricotta cheese container. I also consolidated some things by putting all the butter sticks into one box and I had two used syrup containers so I poured one into the other making one full bottle.

Next, I cleaned all of the shelves and drawers with a mix of vinegar and water spray and a towel. Once they were clean and dry, I put things back away. I organized like items together as much as possible. The onions and garlic are together in one drawer, carrots and apples in another, and one drawer is empty. I put the milk, soda, cream, and eggs by each other on the top shelf. On the second shelf there is shredded cheese and tortillas. On the side door, I have cheese and butter together, syrups and biscuits together, condiments for things like burgers and sandwiches together, and finally breakfast condiments together like jelly and juices.

If you think my fridge sounds bare, it really is. I am awaiting a big shopping trip to do my month’s worth of groceries. I wish I could share my pictures with you, but imagine a sparkly clean fridge that isn’t cluttered. That’s mine!

If you want to see what others tackled today, go to 5 Minutes for Mom.

Category: Day to day, Decluttering 2 Comments

Mar 2008

Treasure Mapping and Decluttering

Jennie

Oprah’s episode was about hoarders today, and it reminded me that I really should be decluttering to prepare for the Aries New Moon and the upcoming Treasure Mapping.

Many of you are probably wondering – what is treasure mapping? If you have watched “The Secret,” you have heard of a vision board. You put pictures, phrases, and clippings onto a board in the form of a collage to manifest the things you want in your life this coming year. The Aries New Moon is a good time because it has an energy for a fresh start. It’s also a great time to start your seeds for your garden (I will also be doing this).

When is the New Moon? It starts late on Saturday, April 5th and ends on April 9th. I will be having friends over for snacks and treasure mapping creation on April 8th. I am very excited about this!

What do you do until then? Declutter your home! In order to allow new and better things into your life, you have to clear out the things that are just taking up space. Maybe take a little bit of time each day until it’s the time for treasure mapping. I will admit, I haven’t been busy decluttering, but I will be now. I must prepare.

Since I’m still recovering from the flu and only have bursts of energy, I decided to declutter my wicker drawers in the dining room. I put them all out on the living room floor with a trash bag. I organized the drawers into: 1. notepad, pens, and tape 2. miscellanious/small junk drawer 3. workout things – pedometers, heart rate monitors, and mp3 player 4. paperwork for appliances 5. pet supplies – grooming tools and leashes

In that little bit of decluttering, I found an unused gift card from Christmas 2006 for $25 to Wal-Mart. I really like this organizing thing!