A Sabbath Space

So, it's been awhile...funny this is called "life~uncluttered", cause I've been a little cluttered myself. My move a year ago coupled with all the work that we've had done to the house, and the fact that I piled on too many commitments, has made my blogging take back seat. Who knew I loved writing? And how I have missed it so. Maybe it is the subject matter that I really am passionate about...all that aside, I hope to be back more regularly, and have adjusted my self expectations to once a week writing...hope that's good for you....and hope I can meet my new goal.

If you are looking for concrete organizing ideas in this one, I apologize. Dare I say, though, that this topic is far more important than any bin, basket, hook or closet space.

I am nearing the end of an amazing bible study/book reading of the Resolution For Women, by Priscilla Shirer with some truly amazing women. A chapter that we just finished reading and discussing this week was titled "Sabbath Spaces". In a jist, it was about intentional time set aside for rest, rejuvenation, and time to reflect...but not only that. To my very pleasant surprise, she spoke of actual Sabbath "Space". I know, for myself and my family, that having an organized, clutter free home is something definitely of spiritual matter. Come on y'all, we all know that grace, patience, kindness and gentleness are NOT virtues we exude when we are knee high in stuff and clutter. To put it in my own words would be a mute point, because Priscilla Shirer did it so well.

She says "in order to protect ourselves from being controlled and enslaved by our chaos, we must become women who intentionally create "Sabbath Spaces"- margin in our lives (and homes) that are left purposefully clean and clear...failure to do so will only create more bondage".I, for one, desire to absolutely be free to live and love with NO bondage...and you?

She goes on to say that "as easy as it is for our calendars to be overrun with responsibilities, our own homes can also turn into pits of clutter and chaos, causing them to fell like less of a haven and more like a dungeon we want to get out of". I, for one, want my home to feel like a haven, a refuge from the nutty world out there...a place where my family and friends can come and relax. Shoot, I want it to be a place where I can relax...there's a good one...us? The ladies of the house? Relax? Well, I am here to say that if you will work to create the "Sabbath Space" in your home and schedules, you can do it too...

Work this week to look around. Where does your family spend the most time? That's where you may want to start. And start small if the task seems overwhelming. For gosh sakes, just having the kitchen table clear may be all you can do one day...or the garage cleaned out enough to park one car. Just begin to create a few Sabbath Spaces. You"ll get hooked....I promise.

Here are a few more thoughts to help you get started:

For a moment, put yourself in your husband's shoes ( if married). Many of these guys have stressful dog eat dog jobs out there. We need them to look forward to stepping through those doors where they can take a deep breath and just, be...
Same for the kids..school is stressful, chaotic at times and full of pressures...it's never too early to teach the kids the importance of their own lives and spaces to be less cluttered...their bedrooms should be a place of their own,.,their "Sabbath Space". You get the point.
Maybe you should start in the master bedroom...This is one of the first rooms I advise people to work on. This is a space I believe should be pretty, and special. Simply close your eyes and imagine the room you would like it to be and go for it...just because guests may not see it doesn't mean it shouldn't be free of junk and stuff. WE know it's there and it messes with us on the insides...just like loaded down drawers and basements...

I hope this has given you a glimpse of what it is that makes my passion for organizing and living simply so fierce. I know from personal experience and from working with people on projects, it changes you. On the insides. You have a choice. Clutter and chaos or simplicity and order. Or a mixture of the 2, which happens to the best of us at times:) next post, I promise, will have photos! Thanks for reading this far down..I know I was long winded.

~Jennifer

A Place For Our Jewels!

On the hunt for cute jewelry storage for my little girl's 10 year old room up-do...and found so many inspirational pictures..thought you all might enjoy!

This is actually made out of branches from the yard,
spray painted white. Glued into a painted wood block! Very eco-chic!

Beautiful...just super relaxing to look at!
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LOVE This one..personal fav for my own dresser..but need other colors!
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See how to do this!
You could use anything..chicken wire, twine, yarn..endless possibilities!

Easy DIY! Too cute! Source

Love this too! Especially for the sewers out there!
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I would probably paint this a fun color, but who can't find a chair at a garage sale? Wow!
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Hope everyone is having a great week~Jennifer

Yes, I am cluttered too..

I hate to admit it, but I will. My life is cluttered. There you have it. I am human. I am just like you. I have stacks of mail right now and what I guess will be hours of filing and sorting to do. Last week I forgot snacks for my daughter's basketball team, and realized, by a few comments and looks of disbelief from my friends, that they had the idea that I have it all figured out...the whole uncluttered, simple living, orderly home thing...nope..I just love the idea of it...the pursuit of it...

See, here is my mail clutter..i am willing to bet I need about 1/3 of this! Now ya'll know one of my dirty secrets! I don't always practice what I preach..usually around holidays:)

Come on, we all know that sick feeling in our stomachs when things are out of control, either in our home or in our schedules, or that "monkey on your back" feeling when you have drawers full of junk, basements full of things you'll never use, or attics splitting at the seams with boxes that you haven't opened in years..I seek simplicity and order because I loathe those feelings...I detest what clutter in my life does to my insides...then it, in turn, affects all relationships that are important to me...and usually the one that suffers the most is the one that I have with my heavenly Father!! the first thing that goes is my quiet time...and that is the one thing I need the most..time with Him! 

Whatever your belief, I feel sure you can relate..clutter just sucks the life right out of us!! We simply get so bogged down in it that we miss much of the joy that each day can bring. So there you have it..I don't have it down to a complete science as of yet, but I work steadily in my home, on my schedule and on my "insides", to keep things simple!!! 


Here are just a few things that I have found helpful on my journey to de~cluttering my life. Hope you enjoy and can use at least one!


1. Wake up 30 minutes before the chaos begins..have your quiet time, prayer, cup of coffee and then get moving!
2. Do not buy anything that you do not LOVE or NEED!..stop the thought process that you have to fill every nook and cranny of your home!
3. Create a Family Communication Center
4. Never leave dishes in the sink at night..if you awaken to clutter, your day is pretty much determined to be just that! (in my experience)
5. Make your bed! (And teach your kids to make theirs..how nice would it be for them to come home to a neat rom!)
6. Pray before you commit!..now I'm not saying here that I will pray before I commit to lunch with a friend..but before you commit to anything that may take your time and attention from your family.
7. Sort your mail every day..and be real with yourselves about coupons, catalogs..will you REALLY use them or will they end up in a drawer? Usually the latter!
8. Keep a bin somewhere handy that you can toss things in that no longer belong in your home..then you can sort at a later date..(ie:goodwill, give to friend, consign)
9. Put away laundry before beginning more..and if your children put their own away, help them learn to make it a priority!
10. CHALK BOARDS! Have them, use them!


I have many more..but we can start with these..Now off to sort my mail that got way out of hand over the last month...


Now take a listen to this...She speaks right to me!! De~cluttering is more than just organizing your linen closet and cleaning out the basement..it is about getting rid of all that junk INSIDE too! I hope this blesses you as it has me!

Happy Tuesday! Jennifer

Seize The Moment!

Don't you just hate when clutter costs you money? Man, I do..it drives me nuts..I went on a major shopping trip today. Came home and found that I bought some things that I already have..grrr..

I dropped everything and cleaned that bad boy out, the refrigerator, I mean..and his brother the freezer..looked at all expiration dates..toss..toss..toss..

A little wipe down here and there..and wham! I had a clean, clutter free fridge and freezer...sometimes you just can't plan these things..seize the moment when you are frustrated with something and you will purge with gusto as I did! 

Conservation Clutter, that would be..I guess..some things I tossed from the freezer that might have been edible, but, really, am I going to make homed dumplings anytime soon? Or frozen quail that my dear dad gave me a year ago? Don't think so..toss!

So it took me 45 minutes or so..like I had an extra with company coming for dinner? NOT! but now it's done and boy, do it feel good!

Same type of thing happened a few days ago..had been living without my "family communication center" ever since we moved into this house in April...missed it so and I recommend that all my clients have one..so, I got to work and made it happen! No time the the present..and I am so glad I did!! Here is a peak...will feature several on another blog another time..have a great weekend!

I love how it turned out:)

Jennifer

Let's Begin Our Decluttering Plan! No better time to start!

“Order is Heaven’s first law.” 

Alexander Pope

I sit here this morning, several days before the beginning of a new year, with great anticipation for 2012! For some reason, deep inside, I have a feeling it is going to be something special. It has been years since I have made " resolutions", for I never seemed to obtain them when I did. This year, though, there are several things that I want to do, so I am making a 2012 "bucket list".  The most exciting things on my list are to grow my organizing business,  raise baby chicks in the spring and to learn how to crochet. These things aren't just going to miraculously happen, so I am beginning to take a few deliberate steps. 

Is becoming more organized and less cluttered one of your goals for the new year like it is for so many others? Studies show, and this is obvious by all of the magazine covers at the grocery store, that most Americans long for a more organized environment in which to live, work and play. Has it been one of yours for many years? What has kept you from obtaining it? There are lots of random reasons that I have heard over time and here are just a few...

There aren't enough hours in the day

I don't have enough space

I don't have enough money

I don't know where to start so I just don't

I could sit and write a rebuttal for all of these but why should I? Sometimes I feel the same way..but at the end of the day, I know what it does to my insides to have things orderly and simple...to have drawers cleaned out, filing cabinets orderly, all things in their places and the excess gone...all you have to do is live that way briefly and it will change your world. I am not kidding. There is something that happens inside when things on the outside are uncluttered. You see, I was not just born with the uncluttered gene. It was forced onto me by downsizing to a small home years ago...and I thank God for that..otherwise, my currently larger home would be busting at the seams with a bunch of stuff that I do not need or want. You do not have to downsize to get there though...you just need to make the choice to make the change...little by little, with no excuses. And if the queen of "I can keep that and make something out of it" (me) can do it, SO CAN YOU!!

Let me give you some nuggets to start your wheels turning before the new year...I am reading a book right now that my dear friend Susan gave me called "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin, and in short, she is on a year long mission to find more "happy" in her life. She tackles a different area of her life each month..amazing, isn't it, that the first thing she goes for is her "stuff and clutter". She says that she "craved a existence of order and serenity". Does that speak to you like it does to me? go figure that I LOVED this chapter. Here are the "kinds" of clutter that she talks about in her book. Think through these one by one, and can I suggest that you even write them down on index cards of a sheet of paper to refer to when you are doing your clutter clean up in the weeks to come? I am..and over the next month, together, we will use these categories as we get rid of our unnecessary "stuff". 

Nostalgic clutter- things you hang on to from your earlier life that do nothing for you now..(5 million sorority tee shirts)

Conservation clutter- things that in their own right are useful, but completely useless to you. (30 florist vases in your cabinet)  

Bargain clutter- things that we have purchased because they were a great deal, but you now find little or no use for them. 

Freebie clutter-  things that have been given to you because someone else had no use for them and thought you did! Thanks a lot for that!

Crutch clutter-  things you use, but know you shouldn't..can't wait to tackle this one.

Aspirational clutter-  things you have that you want to use...but end up just causing you guilt..like my scrap booking paper....it's been in the house for several years...and not moved..it's not going to happen..its not in me..it's going bye bye!

Buyer's remorse clutter-  okay, we all know what this is...the shirt that has had the tags on it for a year...or the shoes you have worn twice in 2 years...

Okay, now instead of feeling overwhelmed, you need to try and think of this as fun...keep in mind how exhilarating that it will be to have closets, drawers and cabinets clean and orderly. And to be able to find things when you need them. Take baby steps...one day at a time...one drawer at a time.

I hope that you will journey with me, and If you know someone that may find this useful,  please share this with them..and encourage them to subscribe to my blog!!

Amazing Idea For Christmas Loot!

Just had to share this..For those of us that don't wrap....If you are like me, at the last minute, I fear that I don't have enough "stuff" for the wow! factor on Christmas morning..What? Really? Well, yes, unfortunately, I do. This morning we got it all out and took a look..and I had a grand idea..Get it all ready, out of packages, tags gone..and put it in clear plastic bins..DONE! Then, Christmas Eve is simple and stress free..and QUICK...for those of us that love our sleep:) Hope this helps! It took me all of 20 minutes! I'll never NOT do this again! 

Happy Birthday To My Savior!

My Un~cluttered Christmas!

Ok, are you taking slow deep breaths? I am having to remind myself to! 

Do you, like me, find it a little annoying that every time you turn on the radio, they are reminding us how many more days until Christmas..as if we don't know!

LOVE THIS SIGN..AND NO IDEA WHERE THIS CHURCH IS!

How are you doing at keeping your Christmas season un~cluttered? I would say mine has been marginal. There are some things that I wish I had done different already. But instead of making myself feel guilt or frustration about my moments of disorganization, or things we missed, I am making notes and reminders for next year..and, yes, putting them in my calendar with reminders. A peak at a few of mine..there are lots!

Note to self, dated Sept 1, 2012: Do not sign up to be party mom for both Holiday parties..YIKES!
Note to self, dated October 15, 2012: Make list of people to buy for and begin buying locally made, unique items!
Note to self, dated Nov 15, 2012: Refer to folder on desktop that contains simple Christmas decor ideas

Ok, so you get the point...no reason that we can't get better and better at managing our holidays so that we have more time to spend doing the things that matter most this time of year! Maybe this is something that you can try..love my iphone for this...so easy to make reminders on the fly!

Funny, we had a "family meeting" of sorts this year at Thanksgiving when we discussed what each of us loved the most about Christmas..Our tops were sparkling Christmas lights at night, decorating sugar cookies, finding the elves and their mischief, watching a few of our favorite Christmas movies together, LOTS of board games and Christmas Eve with our church family and friends! Those are precisely the things that I have made sure happen for us....so I may not have the perfectly decorated home this year, (it's not even fully furnished) or have gotten my cards out on Dec 1st, but so far, though there are a few moments of panic here and there, The McClures are keeping it fairly un~cluttered!

Please take a minute to read this blog from I.N.F.O. if you want more inspiration on making your Christmas the best that it can be! Look forward to checking out some of the suggested readings..may, as he says, "kick my butt", but sometimes it needs to be kicked! It's never too late to slow the bus down!

And might I suggest, if you have not already, before Saint Nick arrives, supply each of your children with a clear plastic bin of decent size, hand it to them and tell them to fill it up with toys that can go to another child, things that are broken or that they simply do not play with..that is on the schedule for this afternoon! Then take off of your premises quickly!!!! Wish us luck!

Wishing all of you that read this, a very Merry Christmas! Looking forward to organizing in the new year, and continuing to strive for simplicity, order and contentment!

Luke 2:14
"Glory To God In The Highest, and On Earth Peace, Good Will Toward Men."


See ya in 2012!~Jennifer