I am sure many of you have seen these memes and pinterest images circulating around for the Marie Kondo perspective of minimalism and organization. I will be honest, I haven’t read through her philosophy yet but I do intent to… Seeing this question though has peaked my interest and set off a good range of thoughts about my current living space. One thing I have realized over the last few years once kids became our world here, is that we feel like this house is overflowing to the point of busting at the seams. There is just so much stuff that comes along with the extra little people in our life. Yes–first world problems. But honestly, it has taken over.
I feel like minimalism and crafting are the nemesis of one another. Crafters know that there are a million different mediums and materials that can be used to create. I find myself constantly ordering new things to try. So, for now my crafting space is my greatest joy (aside from my family), though it will need an overhaul this year for a more functional flow. I digress, that will be a separate entry for sure.
As for the other areas of my house, I have begun this joy-journey. I wish I could be a minimalist, but with a large family it seems like an impossible task. My husband is an avid collector of certain figurines and toys, and it seems like every nook of storage space has something in it. None-the-less, I am on a mission to declutter. Maybe not everything, but anything is better than where I am starting from. My new philosophy is that if it fits and looks clean and organized, then that brings me joy.
For today’s mission, I organized our linen closet. I don’t have a before picture, but it was terrible. First–neither my husband or myself really knew how to fold a fitted sheet… So our sets were a crumbled mess. I have never taken the time to try. We have so many blankets and comforters that were gifts, and this closet was just a thrown together pile of crinkled bed covers, a shelf of home and personal care products, and it had no order.
Today, I grabbed some extra crates from my daughters nursery that are not being used now for infant things like teethers and spit up clothes, and I sorted and contained the “stuff”. I spent time trying to fold the sheet sets-which aren’t perfect but that’s OK. I pulled out a few blankets and a comforter that didn’t fit and we didn’t really need to keep, and these are getting donated. And the end result is function. It’s not the pretty pinterest perfect closet you will find online, but this tiny change has brought me joy.
This year for me is about getting my life organized, one step at a time. How do you spark joy?
xoxo,
Brittany
Modern Mama Life 