The Cottage on the Hill

My denomination in general does not observe Lent. Every year, though, Lent feels like something I should make a point of. This year, things are a bit discombobulated, so I'm settling for using the Lenten season to purge my home of excess STUFF. This past weekend, I went through my dressers and closet to purge and organize. I already feel better! I plan on repeating the purge with my children's clothing and toys, my kitchen cupboards, paperwork, catalogs and magazines, and excess baby gear. If I have time, I will tackle my sewing supplies.

Does this happen to you? I have noticed that I do not sleep as well in a bed that has not been made. My family does not seem to enjoy dinner as much or eat as well at a dining room table that this cluttered from the day. I do not cook as well or as healthfully in a messy kitchen. It is hard to relax in a living room that is cluttered. Shopping is more stressful when my purse (rather diaper bag) has exploded on the inside. Car rides are more uncomfortable when the car is unkempt. Life can get overwhelming. Days can get busy. Time does run away from us, but it is helpful to set aside a time, (and train up my children) to clean up the best we can. I've gotta be honest with you. I find it more relaxing to be able to sit down for 5 minutes after an hour of cleaning than sit down for an hour after 5 minutes of making up excuses not to clean. Here's to a clutter-free dining room table today!

In my never-ending quest to feather this tiny, ever-changing nest, I'm thankful for the tips I learn out of magazines that celebrate small homes, such as Cottages & Bungalows. One thing I learned is that if you have a large piece of furniture in a small room, a way to minimize this "elephant in the room" is to paint it the same color as the walls. I'm thinking of employing this method, myself. To make room for the spinet, I have to create or buy some sort of storage unit that'll fit in the remainder of the space. The best way to utilize space in a small area is to go vertical. The problem with that is then you have this looming piece of furniture that just might not compliment the space, or it'll create a focal point you may not want to have! Painting it the same color as the wall takes attention away from it. Have you done this in your home? How did it turn out?

Did you ever walk through your house and see something completely out of place and wonder why in the world it is there? I was walking through my house after getting the kiddos to bed and noticed one of my dryer balls sitting on my dining room hutch. I shook my head, AND LEFT IT THERE, making a mental note to get things organized-my never ending task in this tiny house. Well, the dryer ball on the hutch has since disappeared as one child or another has moved it elsewhere after a bit of play. A plastic cow took up residence on the cool-mist humidifier, also, but has since moved on to green pastures. Last I knew, he was living in the wooden block box.

I find this so interesting....and challenging! I love finding ways to reduce my garbage and excess. But, what else I liked about this video is how organized and tidy their home is! While I don't go for the black and white sterile atmosphere, personally, I love how crisp, clean and organized it is. There's no ridiculous excess!

Well, I did it. I finally managed to get together 25 toys to toss. I'm not posting any pictures, though, in case my children see my blog over my shoulder and start asking for toys back that they haven't played with in over a year! I put all the toys in a storage tote for now. They'll be sorted and passed on to Goodwill soon. In the tote are some stuffed animals, some toy cars that aren't played with or parts of sets, an old broken fisher price house, a barbie-sized bicycle (we don't have any barbies), an extra dolly, a pirate ship tub toy that never gets played with, and other things. The nice toys will go to Goodwill, the others recycled if they can be. There. I got rid of some toys just in time for birthdays to start coming up. I'm being very particular this time around (my family ALWAYS asks what they can get the kiddos so we've settled on a system like a baby or wedding registry even for birthdays.) I'm thinking lots of art supplies, things ...

This challenge was harder since I had recently cleaned out the master bedroom. I did find my 25 things when I opened up my stationary drawer. Are you noticing that I'm putting off going through the kids' toys?

25 catalogs after Christmas? Not a problem! I easily tossed 40, yes 40 of them!! Magazine challenge? Now that'll be hard. I'm a magazine hoarder! I also have the toy challenge looming ahead of me. Can I really get my children to collectively toss 25 toys?

My Grandmother is an inspiration in more ways than one, but one of the ways she's an inspiration is with her housework. I blogged about her white socks floors and my subsequent failure in the past. Recently, I've been wanting to simplify again, even farther. My mind once again returned to my dear Grandmother and her simple, uncluttered home. Grandma doesn't have a big desk stuffed with papers. Grandma doesn't have piles and cabinets filled with this and that. So, what does Grandma have for organizing her bills and mailings? I didn't know. Or rather, I didn't remember. I thought, and thought and it came to me. I remember, a summer day at Grandma and Grandpa's needing a pen and Grandma pointing me to a drawer. In that drawer, neat as can be, was Grandpa's "desk." One Drawer. How simple is that!? I thought, if I had just one drawer, I'd have extra drawers to better organize in. Maybe I'd even be able to get rid of an entire...

Most people come in the back door, including hubby when he comes home from work. With the help of the kiddos, we redid the stairway going up to the kitchen porch. The kitchen porch is incomplete, small and messy right now and the door doesn't open all the way because of stuff piled. Then, you enter in the kitchen, which I try to keep tidy, but it is the hub of the house and main entrance. Lately, I've felt burdened to make a good first impression by cleaning up an organizing the porch and kitchen. You see, hubby needs a haven of bliss. Our little cottage should bring him peace as he walks in the door. He doesn't need to fight with a door that swings back at him as he tries to enter because stuff is piled behind it. He doesn't need to trip over shoes or not have immediate access to drop his lunch pail after a long, hard day at work. He doesn't need to see clutter. Hubby doesn't complain a bit, nor has he given any sigh or disapproving look. He's tr...

In one section of our TV armoire the children's DVDs were housed. Daughter grew tall enough to easily reach the bottom row and pull them out. Then, she learned that climbing on something gave her access to the entire load. Consequently, I ended up picking up DVDs several times a day. Also, several of the disks became unplayable since she'd remove them from their boxes and leave them on the floor. Some of the boxes were cracked, too from her standing on them. I tried teaching her not to pull out the DVDs, but they proved too much of a temptation for her. So, I found a CD/DVD storage case that holds 96 disks and zips closed and placed all those DVDs in there. As for the DVD cases, I boxed them up and put them in storage. I love not picking up all those DVDs day after day and I love having extra space.