How 10 Years of Pursuing Minimalism Has Changed Me

Just over ten years ago, I published a post titled “Thoughts on Minimalism,” which was all about this new minimalism movement I’d recently discovered that I quickly became obsessed with. I talked about the modern influencers I’d found whose ideas I rapidly started devouring, and I also talked about classic examples throughout history of people …

What I Learned From Decluttering 1,001 Things {Final Decluttering Report}

If you’re new to this series, in 2021 I’ve been working on decluttering 1,001 items from our home as part of one of my goals for my 101 in 1001 list. Back in 2013, I did a massive decluttering project I called 50 Weeks to Organized, where we got rid of approximately 50% of our …

Why I Don’t (Usually) Hide From My Daughter That I’m Getting Rid of Her Stuff

Note: This post contains affiliate links. All opinions, as always, are my own. Now that spring has finally decided to grace us with her presence, I am in full-on Spring Cleaning Mode over here. I am re-reading Dana K. White’s How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind (which I talked about extensively in …

15 Books to Help You Get Your House in Order

One of my greatest struggles in daily life is keeping my physical spaces clean and tidy. As a kid, I basically always had a somewhat messy room. When I was in college, my then-boyfriend happened to get a glimpse of my room, with its piles of clothes everywhere and teetering stacks of books and my …

Simple Living is About More Than Purging Closets

Simple Living Has to Be About More than Closets and Schedules to Be Fulfilling

Two months ago, I attended a church meeting that has had me pondering its messages ever since. A couple times a year, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints meet together for something called Stake Conference, where all the local congregations of the Church meet in two general sessions over a weekend …

Why I’m Doing a Refresh of the 50 Weeks to Organized Project

Really, I could just post these quote-unquote “Before” pictures and call it good on posting today. But I’m nothing if not a little long-winded, so we just can’t have that. A brief summary for those of you who haven’t been reading this blog since 2013: Five years ago, I decided to tackle my clutter habits …

How I Taught Myself to Be Tidy (in 3 Steps!)

Ask any person who has ever lived with me (especially my college roommates and/or my mother), and you will quickly learn that I was not exactly the cleanest person growing up (or throughout my college days). While I’ve always known HOW to tidy up and the importance of BEING tidy, I’ve just always had a …

On Trying to Say Yes More Often

I started getting more and more into the “minimalism/simple living” movement *just* before it hit mainstream, a year or two before the Internet exploded with posts about how to live slowly and the t.v. started showing couples searching for tiny homes and Marie Kondo showed us all that we should only keep things that spark …