Organizing | Simple Mom

Project Simplify: piles

This past week has been a push and pull of moving things around the house, feeling productive as the spring air peeks through the still-wintery clouds—and having to stop and rest my knee even though the rest of me is eager to move forward. I’ve been looking forward to this week’s hot spot with Project Simplify all month, but my body just wasn’t as cooperative as I liked.

(In case you didn’t know, I tore my ACL a few months ago, had surgery a little over a month ago, and am in full-on recovery mode, with physical therapy twice a week.)

But I did what I could, because our biggest clutter culprit since moving to our fixer-upper last summer is piles. Piles of cardboard, piles of linens on top of the dryer until we build a linen closet, piles of clothes lining the hallway to sort through, piles of old house parts from our remodeling work… You name it, there’s been piles of stuff in almost every part of our home.

Just keeping it real here.

I know it takes at least a year to fully move in somewhere new; even longer when that “somewhere new” is a partially-done remodel that still requires your elbow grease. So I wasn’t feeling like we were behind—I’ve just been ready to have it done.

I’m all about less being more and having plenty of space. Most of you well know one of my favorite quotes from 19th century architect William Morris: “Have nothing in your home that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” Well, it was time to purge some of the non-useful and non-beautiful.

So here’s what we accomplished this weekend in the piles department.

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Avoid identity theft

Ready to be scared a little bit? The odds are very, very good that — at some point in time — a website you use has been hacked, and your e-mail and password from that site have been compromised.

Ready to set your mind at ease? It’s simple and easy to set up your online life so that you’re totally safe if that ever happens again (and to protect yourself now, in case one of your passwords is out in the wild).

I know that normally I talk about money stuff, but today I’m going to be talking about you, your online life, and how you can make sure the bad guys don’t get to access your bank accounts, your e-mail, your blog, or the other important parts of your identity on the internet.
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Project Simplify: that pesky closet

When we first bought the house almost a year ago, we weren’t sure whether to christen it Privet Drive or Narnia. It was a closet under the stairs that just screamed extra storage, and we knew right away that we wanted to turn it into a play space for the kids. Narnia ultimately won, simply because Narnia is mostly a happy place, and Privet Drive, well, isn’t.

Even though its shape resembles Harry’s first room, it’s like Narnia in that you have to push through coats to enter the world. The problem was that since we moved in last July, that world hasn’t been too magical. Crazytown mess, more like it.

So in this second week of Project Simplify 2013, I just knew I had to tackle our Narnia as this next hot spot: That Pesky Closet. We all have these places where things just seem to get thrown in—hey, if it doesn’t break or cause major damage to the other items within, why not just throw it in and close the door?

I’m not anti-junk drawer, believe me, but if we don’t eventually address these little areas in our home, the stress surmounts to panic. We’re scared to open the doors lest something unsavory jumps out. Or simply, we just can’t find the darned thing we’re looking for. A little attention, an afternoon devoted to the task, and you’ve got a cleaner, more organized storage space.

So here’s my before-and-after pics of my pesky closet, and at the end, you’ll have space to showcase yours.

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Project Simplify: drawers & shelves

Week 1 of Project Simplify on Simple Mom: Drawers and Shelves

The following content may not be suitable for innocent eyes. Just kidding. But the photos I’m going to show you today will confirm for you that I am, indeed, a normal person. Writing a book about decluttering doesn’t mean I don’t have to all the livelong day. After all, I live with one man, and three children under eight. And a cat. And a hamster.

So this week is our official first week of Project Simplify 2013, and I hope this series truly a blessing to you and your home this month! It’s amazing what happens when we take care of those little gnats that fly around our home, slowly driving us to the breaking point.

And one of the biggest annoyances are shelves and drawers—you know, flat spaces that seem to collect everything. I love how one reader on Facebook described it: Flat Surface Syndrome. Yes. Exactly that.

So no more delaying… Here are my own before-and-after pics of drawers and shelves throughout my home.

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Project Simplify 2013

Every year I get the itch—you know that itch. It comes when the weather warms and you’re ready to get outside, but you first want to get your insides in order. If you’re up north, like me, it’s not warm enough yet to play outside without gear, but as soon as it is, boy howdy—you want to savor every minute of outdoor time and not waste a minute of it neck-deep in dusting.

But I’m originally from Texas, so I also know what it’s like to revel in the gorgeous spring wildflowers and want your insides to match the beauty out. Enjoy your home with the windows flung open while you can, because you know what’s coming this summer.

Yep, I’m talking about spring cleaning. Around here on this blog, we take advantage of that season with Project Simplify. Four weeks, a task at a time, group accountability to make it doable and fun.

I’m going crazy easy on myself this year and telling you EVERYTHING you need to know ahead of time—including all the dates and projects. So? Here they are.

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