Every year I go through and organize one space of my home at a time. I’m going to take you with me each room of the way. Let’s pare down and declutter!

I’m a moderate minimalist. I don’t want our home to be sparse and bare, rather selective and edited. Living simply doesn’t exactly come easy to me, but I’m learning, and it’s making my family’s life easier.

Some positives I’m seeing from living a more minimal life:

1. Less mess to clean up.
2. Saves money not shopping for unneeded things.
3. Makes everyday life and trying to find things simpler.
4. Helps use available space to its full potential.
5. Feels peaceful in a clutter-free home.

Simply put, the less you have, the better it will fit into your home and the less organizing you will have to do. These are my personal guidelines for owning and editing the things at our house:

Mindset

1. Every thing needs it’s own spot to be put away. 

A place for everything and everything in its place, as they say. Bills, bags, books — each item needs its own space. If there isn’t a specific spot for an item on a shelf or in a basket somewhere, it will never be put away, and be left to sit out (right there on the counter, if your family is like mine!).

2. Try not to own more than one of something.

I understand this doesn’t work with everything, because we each have a passion or two that calls for extras. For example, my husband likes to cook and has, in my opinion, a knife or 10 more than we need. (And wine glasses — you’ll see.) But I think he’d tell you I don’t need to keep 10 cans of paint sitting around in the garage for my projects. But when we were purging, we both agreed we didn’t need two weed wackers or five kinds of pasta strainers, etc. Ditch the duplicates.

3. If you don’t use it (or like it), lose it.

Some items might be difficult to part with if they have sentimental value. Only you know if it’s worth it to hang onto, but if it’s weighing you down, consider giving it to another home to love.

4. Keep it up.

It takes time to go through your house and cut out the clutter, and really it’s a never-ending task. Stuff will always find its way into your house — especially with kids! Take the time to keep evaluating and editing what you’re accumulating.

Shopping

Here are some questions to ask yourself when you’re shopping — and the same goes for donations or garage sale treasures. Just because it’s free doesn’t mean it belongs in your space.

1. Is it something I will use on a regular basis?

Do I actually plan on juicing things weekly with this juicer my friend is giving away? Or will it just take up valuable cabinet space after I lose interest?

2. Do I already have something similar?

Don’t we all tend to buy a couple of the same pieces of clothing over and over? For me it’s stripes. I would really think I would be sick of them by now, but I’m not. I blame my mother. We both usually look like we’re ready to go yachting or something. But no one ever asks us.

3. Where will it go when I get it home?

If I can’t think of a place where it can have it’s own spot, then I probably won’t buy it. It will just add clutter.

• Ready to get organized?! 
• I created this organizing planner that helps guide you through each space. I will link it below if you would like a copy.
• Because I do this annually, and occasional purging throughout the year, things aren’t too messy over all, 
• but some places are definitely out of hand! Yikes.

Planner

Check out my YouTube video to see me go room to room, decluttering and editing our things. I based it off my best-selling Ultimate Organize House Planner.

Now that I’ve spent time editing our home, it makes me want to be more careful about what comes into my home. When we shop for pleasure we not only spend money unnecessarily, but we also add to the amount of things in our care. And it doesn’t have to be bought. We should pay attention to the thrifted or free things we accept into our life. Just because it’s free doesn’t mean it needs to go in your space. Simply put, the less things we have, the easier it is to stay organized.

If you feel overwhelmed, start somewhere. Anywhere. Do one drawer. It’s not a race, just keep moving forward. This is going to be so freeing!

Perfect isn’t the goal, but simple is.