blogs

There are so many wonderful blogs that I read and want to share with you. These are two of my favorites....

'Ridiculously Extraordinary'  is outstanding to say the least. Karol is everything a blogger should be. His travels and subject matter is unparalleled. Subscribe and you will see what I mean.

'The Gardeners Cottage'  is just beautiful, as is Janet. Her home, garden and photos make everyday things special. You won't want to miss a single post.

check them out!

Kitchen

We're working to simplify here so no need to haul everything out of the kitchen cabinets and have a total mess. Start by going through your cabinets and removing broken, chipped and unused items. If there are two people in your home maybe you don't need 15 juice glasses. It isn't always easy but be ruthless....let the duplicates go, decide what is a reasonable amount of each item you need and donate the rest. There are no hard fast rules, you know what will work for you. It helps to ask yourself why you are hanging on to a specific item and if you have some attachment to it or is it there because it has always been there?

Now, take a look at your kitchen. Are your dishes and glasses in a cabinet near your dishwasher for easy unloading? Pots and pans near the stove? All baking items together? Trash bags near the trash can? Start working toward like items together and in the most logical place. Seldom used items can go in the cabinet over the fridge or high places. Save your most convenient space for what you use most. Swap things around until they work for you. I like my mugs we use everyday in the cabinet with my coffee supplies while my cups and saucers are in the cabinet with the plates and bowls. 

Don't the drawers seem to always be the worst? I have two.  One for silverware and one for cooking utensils.  My husband built dividers in both so like items live together. I would love a big deep drawer for dishtowels and pot holders but must make do stacking them in a cabinet. I could put the utensils in a crock on the counter but space is an issue. My silverware drawer has  a section for a skinny pad of paper for grocery lists, a pen, scissors and the few odd and end things that always wind up in the kitchen. I don't have a junk drawer because they always end up being a place to dump things instead of putting them where they belong. Sound familiar?

Take your time or do it all at one time. You will be surprised how quickly your kitchen will come together. Letting go of what you never use frees up your space for what you use and enjoy.  It really is simple. And don't be discouraged if the first sweep doesn't have your kitchen in perfect order. It may take a few times but little by little, each step along the way brings you closer to a more organized, workable, simply  irresistible kitchen.

If you have specific needs send me a comment and lets work on them together.

planning and systems

Simplifying our lives is a big project and requires some planning  (not to mention a good sense of humor) before we even get started. When my husband and I moved into our house exactly 3 years ago this month, we downsized from 3000 square feet to 1700 square feet. It's just the two of us so a house that big was ridiculous to say the least. Now, 1700 square feet is too big for us but we'll talk about that another day. Anyway, before moving day, I drew a floor plan of the house and was penciling in where the furniture would go and which closets would hold what when I realized no matter how hard you try, you can't fit 5 tons of stuff in a 2 ton box. Yep, poor planning. So, we moved everything and stuffed it all in the house, attic, garage, etc.

Better planning would have definitely been the way to go but at that point I could only start from where I was and get my house in order. Little by little as we've worked through every corner, closet and drawer, our systems are for the most part in place. Since there is always room for improvement, I'm hoping here on this blog we can all  share how we plan and simplify our homes and lives and the systems we have set up.

Next time we meet here, I want to start our simplifying in the kitchen. The heart of the home. We all have one and use it many times a day so what better place to start? It's a big project but so worth it when it's streamlined, clean and free of the unnecessary clutter.

Until then, I wish you peace and a life that's simply irresistible!

Sky