Sunday, March 27, 2011

Making Our House Feel Like HOME



This is not my house.

This is also not my house. 
(picture from Pottery Barn catalog)


But I could picture myself living this way. Peaceful. Calm. Organized. I'm not asking for a showroom of perfection. Far from it! I want my fridge to have my children's art hanging from it, I even welcome the window paint drawings on the backdoor. I want a house that feels like HOME. One that welcomes me in and makes me feel as ease. I just want a place I can sit back and read in comfortably, and not first have to hunt down the book I was reading, finding it 20 minutes later after digging through various "piles" around the house. I want to be able to find what I am looking for within a shorter amount of time that I plan on using said item. 

My first step was to join in the "project simplify" on Simple Mom, as I've mentioned before. I'm working on hot spot #3 currently, the kids' toys and clothes. I've already tackled the papers around the house and the Master Closet. I'm like a little tornado, just quietly whirling about the house, making messes as I organize. 
Living in the middle of the project makes me want to run away. I don't like the uneasiness I feel when I see these unfinished projects, and I am tempted to throw everything back into a closet, have a cleared table and declare it a losing battle. But I won't. I will keep plugging away. I will donate more boxes of "stuff" than I ever expected, and I will remember to be mindful in my future purchases. I will fill my home with things that I love, and not just things that were on sale and "would do for now". It's getting there, I just need to keep plugging away. 




Photobucket

3 comments:

Tanya Ott said...

Okay... I"m going to have to find your post about tackling paper b/c that is a HUGE problem in our house!

With five people (3 of them bringing home school papers every day) we are buried in paper! What's your system?

Christin said...

Hey Tanya! Unfortunately, I don't have a paper system - but I'm working on it ;) Simple Mom has this 5 week challenge to organize your home, and "hot spot #2" was paper. She posted that she received advice like only keeping 3 papers per age per child, 1 hand-print, 1 handwriting, and I think 1 art. I went through my "files" and decided on 10-15 per grade level per child. They are all organized in folders and in the file box with room to grow now. I have also had my favorite kid art made into magnets in the past and plan to continue this tradition. As far as mail, we tend to have junk mail on every horizontal surface. I cleared out room by room, and am now going to try the "touch it once" method where I open mail over the trash can and dispose of what's not needed as I go. I also signed up on a list that promises to reduce my junk mail, much like the "no call" list for solicitors. If you find any systems that seem promising, do share!

Five Bears A-Blogging said...

Keep at it, Christin! It feels great to get one room/area/project finished up, doesn't it? I managed to get all three kids' rooms cleaned out. Ugh! Now I've got paper bags full of "stuff that belongs elsewhere" that I need to go through and put away. After I tackle the basement . I'm kinda afraid to go down there...