slow and steady wins the race





Sometimes even the best plans go awry.  Like mine. For instance, I was planning on having an entirely super clean home that Better Homes and Gardens would have showcased.  I was planning on being the mom that was super in shape Sports Illustrated cover ready.  However, I am not there yet.  I got totally sidetracked with LIFE.  (not the magazine, but the process of being)  The point is that I am not throwing the entire plan out the window and then spending hours re-planning.  I am simply extending my deadlines.  I was the person that at one time thought there was a huge flaw in the planning part and would have done exactly that.  Spend my whole life planning and not doing.  I can see some success, but I am finding it harder to maintain minimalism, even though it brings me peace.  Remember that lovely closet redo?  Well, it is not beautimous anymore, there are dirty clothes outside of my dirty clothes basket and shoes that were too lazy to put themselves up.  It is okay.  All I have to do is stop it before it starts breeding to other areas.

my mom is the bomb. and I am her mini-me.

  On a wonderful note, though, I did go through 2 of my kids' rooms.  you would have been super proud of me.  I probably could've been a candidate for hoarders up there.  Here are the sums...(oh by the way I forgot pics of the before, sorry, but I would not have posted them anyway, they were THAT cluttered) 10- 52 gallon bags of trash out of two rooms!  10- 52 gallon bags of donation clothing and one hockey table and one little tykes dollhouse.  It really is worth it, guys, all my kids want to do is hang out in their rooms!  And now I can actually get to the part where we decorate.  and invite friends over, almost anyway.  How is your journey going?

Dirty little secrets

Ok peeps- The laundry room was de-cluttered. (Dirty little secret number 1- I had sheets from my bed that I had "lost" over a year ago hiding under decorating items and cleaning supplies in my laundry room!)  I still need to move a cabinet out of that room into the office, but I am not ready to do the office yet, so it will stay here until that time period.  I can literally dance in there now, which, of course, I did.  I felt soooo invigorated about that simple success that I went ahead and worked on my closet.  You saw the before- here it is again...

BEFORE

yes the brown pressboard shelf is ugly AND you can see the floor!!!

overwhelmed, sigh...

Honestly, this whole minimalism thing is a bit overwhelming and exhilerating at the same time.  I need to take the journey of a thousand miles, by starting with the first step, I know, I know.  I keep seeing my home all organized and pared down, but I keep coming up with excuses as to when to actually physically make a step.  Then I beat myself up for not getting anything done.  So, I think that I will start in the closet.  My closet.  I am going to get rid of (gulp) half of my clothes.  I have never really done that whole haven't worn it it a year toss before, but I do know what I wear all the time and what I am probably never going to wear.  Easy Peasy.  By the way the dining room table has become my project-craft table-wrap presents-toss the mail area.  Jeff Lewis of Bravo's Flipping Out would be horrified. http://www.jefflewisdesign.com/ He is pretty much the bomb and the inspiration for my house. Chcek out his beautiful gallery, I will post pics of my before and after progress soon. Promise.

A picture of Jeff's old home, what bliss. Perhaps, I should develop a cleaning OCD.