Hallway Organization...

Loving this simple and lovely hallway update from {The Yellow Cape Cod}, a new favorite read of mine.

The chalkboard is just a large piece of MDF covered in chalkboard paint {less than $15 total}

 

Definitely go visit Sarah at the Yellow Cape Cod...so many great spaces and ideas

Organization Motivation

Summer is a great time for simplifying and dealing with less!

Less busy schedules (hopefully)....less clothes (definitely)...and maybe, just maybe, less stress from messy spaces.

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So, as I said here yesterday, I'm going to take a couple days and talk about ways to get and stay organized...especially with kids. But before we can even get that far, you have to figure out what's going to make you actually want to do it! That's truly the hardest part.

Let's get some motivation- what will get you at least a little pumped up to clean and organize?
Here are some things that do it for me...


 One, it's knowing that taking a few seconds to wipe off the counters, or doing a quick vacuum, makes me feel like someone could pop in for a visit unexpectedly and I'll feel ok about how the house looks.
I know my friends and family will love me regardless, and not think any less of me if my house is a hot mess when they come over. But I do it for me. I enjoy having company, and I'm proud to show off my home.

{And please understand this pride has nothing to do with the size, age, or type of home you have! When we first got married we lived in a 379 sq foot studio condo in Greenwich, Connecticut. T-I-N-Y. Insanely tiny. Like the if you get in a fight someone had to leave the condo and go ride the elevator up and down to cool off because there's no place else to go, kind of tiny! And I was just as proud to decorate it and show it off as I am our 4 bedroom home today).

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Two- I also feel like keeping a tidy home is a very small way of expressing my thankfulness that God has always blessed us with a roof over our heads. And I want to use that blessing to provide a relaxing, clean, place for friends and family that come to stay or visit. 

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Three-Another thing that motivates me is probably not my husband's favorite {sorry minks!}
Getting something new or changing something up decorating-wise in my house is enough to push me to want to clean the laundry up off the floor, or mop the bathrooms. If I just bought a cute new set of rugs for my bathroom, I don't want to just throw them on the dirty floor and be done with it. Having something pretty in  my bathroom  makes me want to make the whole room look better to go along with it. It doesn't have to be something expensive...even just having a vase of fresh flowers to put on my dining room table makes me want to clean off the clutter and wipe it down.

Four-soaking up inspiration from pictures of beautiful, well-planned spaces. I could do this all day. As long as you don't let staring at pictures of amazing homes get you discouraged or jealous! Big or Small, owned or rented, your home is wonderful because it's filled with wonderful people. And it's not about magazine perfection...it's about having a comfortable, lived-in, loved-in, space 

that you really want to come home to.

 I'll be back tomorrow with some really easy baby-steps towards giving your home a fresh, clean start to summer :)

An organized house...needless or necessity?

So I would definitely consider myself a lover of well organized spaces. I can't get enough books, magazines or pictures like this...

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porn. straight porn for me, people.

Notice I did not say "keeper of always well organized spaces".
I try. But with a husband, a toddler, and a newly-crawling 8 month old {in order of messiness}...things aren't perfect. And although I would love to have my home look like a magazine all the time, I know that's not realistic. And even if it were, I don't want a home so pristine looking that friends and family feel like they can't relax in it.

But...BUT...I still believe that having a clean, organized house will help you to be less stressed, less frantic, and just enjoy being at home more.
You may completely disagree, but this..

and this...

...annoy me. a lot. 


Seeking unrealistic perfection in your home is ridiculous and exhausting. But I don't think there's anything wrong with striving to keep a good amount of order and neatness in my home, or that it has to be done at the expense of my family and kids.

I know for a fact that both myself and my husband are more relaxed when we're watching t.v. at night in a picked-up living room. There may be stray cheerios tucked in the seat cushions and hand prints on the screen, but the toys are tossed into a basket that hides them, the rug got a quick vacuum, and it just feels...better.

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Even my 3-year old Charlotte seems to play for longer and enjoy herself more when her playroom is decently organized, and every bin and basket isn't tossed upside down on the floor with toys everywhere.

If you remember the day The Key was lost, that stupid missing car key led me to clean out, throw away and organize a bunch of spaces in the house that sorely needed it. And it feels SO GOOD to know my junk drawer has been downgraded to more of a 'random odds and ends' drawer and I know exactly what's in there. And I don't have to spend 20 minutes looking for my chapstick because I finally dealt with the drawers in the bathroom.

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I'm not obsessive about it {mostly}and before I did all that cleaning I wasn't laying awake at night thinking about how awful our bedroom closet was. In fact, our dirty, messy bathroom vanity drawers have been irking my for months, but not obviously enough for me to stop watching Real Housewives of OC and go do something about it! {work that couture, Alexis. work it}
But for me it's kind of like when you have something coming up {like a deadline, or a meeting, or a trip} and you didn't realize how much is was causing you stress until that thing is over and done with.

Right now there is a pile of laundry the size of mt. rushmore in my kitchen waiting to be folded and the sink is full of dishes. And I've ignored them and gone about my day and done all the same things I normally do. But I know when the clothes get put away and the sink is empty I'll feel way better about it.

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I'll feel better about everything in general, actually. I don't know why, but when my house is messy I feel more stressed about other things too...small things annoy me more, I get in arguments about dumb things with my husband, and I start to feel like my whole life is a bit off-kilter.

All in all, I guess what I'm saying is that I do think it's possibly to be organized, even with kids and a busy schedule. {and being organized will help take some of the stress out of that schedule!}

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I am by no means an expert, and there are plenty of areas in my house that I'm not exactly opening up the drawer/closet/room and showing off to company. I actually want to challenge myself this summer to get even more organized. To really figure out what systems work for my family, cut down on needless junk, cut back on spending by living with less {hello, 10 different kinds of shampoo hiding out under my sink, nice to meet you}, and overall just trying to have more simple, easy, organized days and less crazy, messy, stressed ones.

Over the next couple of weeks I'm going to be sharing some of my favorite easy, practical ideas for keeping a bit of order in your home.  I'll let you know which ones are working out for my own family and some before and afters {hopefully!}of cluttery spaces I want to tackle this summer.

What is the one room or space you wish you had the time / energy / motivation to clean and organize???

Fun Fridge Function- say it faaast

My sister-in-law is super creative, and a fellow lover of anytime pretty and organized combine!

You'll have to go check out her recent fridge makeover...

Cutting down on excess packaging, storing frequently used items where your eye wanders to first, and keeping things in super cute (plus re-usuable & eco-friendly!) glass and plastic containers has given her fridge a fresh new look!

Check it out here for all the details