While we are embarking on my favorite series of seasons and the beloved (or dreaded, depending on your perspective) “Hallowthankmas” series of holidays, September and the months that follow certainly tend to derail any of my summer-accumulated simple living ethos.
I have the luxury of being able to be home during the summer and that gives me a once-a-year opportunity to really declutter and organize my home.
This summer — again, that one that went by sooooo fast — I did not get that chance to declutter and purge all my closets, cabinets and storage spaces so when the calendar reached late August, I suddenly had a bit of panic about how to stay organized during my busy season (aka September through June) when I hadn’t had time to reorganize the chaos during my non-hectic season!
In essence, no matter how organized or decluttered you are, a key to simple living is to keep the things you need and use the most at close hand — and either eliminate (or if needed, put in storage) those things that you don’t.
Don’t have the time for a major declutter? I’ve got you!
All you need is half a Saturday and some dedicated time to streamlining your house! Ready?
• Simplify Your Space: Decluttering the home is an ongoing battle but there are some things you can do to streamline this.
Take everything off your counters and walls and see what you think of how that room looks without it.
If you can’t bear to part with an item, can you streamline things — perhaps consolidating items to one area or finding cute storage bins to keep items that offer no real decorative value to the room?
Instead of five picture frames on a table, could a nice wall collage make a bolder yet simpler design statement?
Are there things on display that don’t mean anything to you or provide any real function?
As Marie Kondo so famously reminds us, if it doesn’t spark joy, you can let it go!
Let’s take this a step further by breaking down this very process, room by room.
• Kiss the Cook-ing Supplies Goodbye: I used to keep every single appliance that I owned on my counter.
I displayed almost every cookbook in a neat nook in the corner and I had storage crocks and cookie jars galore.
Seriously. I never noticed how cluttered that made my already tiny kitchen look until I visited friends who quite literally, kept nothing on their counters.
I loved how it looked so I tried it in my kitchen — and found that while I loved how clean and sparse everything looked, the practical utility of having nothing that I needed when I was preparing a meal was lacking!
My compromise that works very well for my kitchen is this: I keep my top five kitchen supplies within an arm’s reach from my main cooking area — and everything else has its own dedicated storage space.
To do this in your own kitchen, start with your pots and pans — pick two or three that you use frequently and store those in a spot that is easy to access and put the others away.
Now, move on to your kitchen utensils. I used to fight with my potato masher daily as it would fall out of my storage crock every time I needed a spatula.
I use my potato masher once a month at most so it doesn’t need a spot on the counter! So. Much. Easier.
If you have all of your small appliances on your counter, do a week-long inventory of how often you use them.
Maybe the coffee pot stays but the blender is only for your Saturday morning smoothie?
Move that blender into a storage space and enjoy the extra space on your counter!
• Zen Your Living Room: We spend a ton of time in our living rooms and they tend to pick up all kinds of clutter in no time,
How can you toggle between cozy without being too cluttered.
Pretend you are staging your home for a real estate sale — you want to look inviting but not messy, right?
The items you want to keep close at hand should always be displayed in style — without all the extra clutter.
Use decorative containers to streamline clutter on bookshelves, let magazine holders mask catalogs, while woven bins or fabric bins can house (and hide) household supplies you like to keep on hand.
• Rest Rooms: Whenever I am feeling stressed or anxious — or feeling a little overwhelmed at how messy my house has gotten in the daily course of living — I always start with my bathroom.
First, it is smaller and easier to tackle.
For some reason, if that room is clean and tidy, I get my second wind to tackle the more challenging and larger living areas of my house!
The same concept that you applied in the kitchen goes here as well — you don’t need every hairbrush, hairdryer, waterpik along with every other toiletry on your counter.
Buy some fun baskets to keep everything in and again, choose those things you use every day and keep those on the counter or in a basket just nearby.
I always tell folks to think about when you stay at a hotel — they usually have a basket of the things you need on the counter.
Aside from the shower caps, most of those items fall into that daily use category and certainly have earned a spot on your counter.
If they don’t — find a home that is hidden away yet still close and enjoy a far more relaxing vibe in your rest room!
If you are like me, that room may be the only time you get any peace and quiet in the course of the day!
(Editor’s Note: Kristine George is a freelance journalist who resides in Easton.)
