Without question the best tip for an organized home is to make boundaries the bad guy. In other words, put a limit on the things you own by creating boundaries for your stuff. Once I created boundaries for me and my family’s books, toys, clothes, and more, decluttering became easier, purging unnecessary items from our home was quicker, and the best part is my home was tidier!
It took a pandemic and a surprise twin pregnancy for me to adopt boundaries for all of our things. In late 2020 our family of three was about to become a family of five and I was panicking. We had only been in our 1350 sq ft. townhouse for a year and already it felt like I was running out of room.
Purge
I admit my gut reaction was to go online and buy more storage solutions. Another shelf for books, a bigger dresser for my clothes, and more plastic storage bins for random recreational equipment. But I looked around and realized most of the books had gathered dust, I was keeping clothes I had never worn, and I learned we owned things like snowshoes. I don’t even like snowshoeing.
Stop Pinning
So, I stopped pinning beautifully organized rooms on Pinterest and googled ‘minimalism’ instead. I learned I could work with the storage I have and let go of things I don’t need to create a more organized home. Today we have one bookshelf for kids books and one for adult books. If we have too many books and they can no longer all fit, then it’s time to pass some along to friends or donate them. I donated the clothes I didn’t wear and decided to keep my tiny dresser. I sold our snowshoes.
“the best tip for an organized home is to make boundaries the bad guy”
Since setting boundaries, I’ve been more intentional about what I bring into our home. And since our family now collects less stuff, our home is more organized than it’s ever been.
Ashly is mom to one boy and twin girls. She is passionate about living with less, creating long lasting solutions for an organized home, and simplifying life at every level. She lives with her family in Surrey, BC and loves spending weekends at Crescent Beach and the White Rock Farmer’s Market.
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Great tips Ashley! Less is definitely more!