Christmas was approaching and I was getting all claustrophobic in my house. The holiday decor mixed with all the new items I knew Santa was bringing had my mind on hyper-drive and I was feeling anxious. 

I thought: “Where was it all going to go?” 

I needed to focus on what was important and I realized an organized less “stuff” home was what I needed. 

Over the past few weeks, I have been “cleaning house” and I feel I can breathe again. 

Here are 5 easy tips to start to minimize your house.

1. Take Ten

• 10 minutes out of your day to start the purging process. I literally started with a junk drawer in my kitchen. I shifted my attention on to toys and placed them in donate or sell bins. On day three I attacked the pantry (let me tell you what I found in there.. I am ashamed).  Just keep at it a little each day and it will make a huge difference.

2. Less Toys = More Fun

• The less toys I have around the more my kids actually play and use their imagination. We have a dollhouse that my kids haven’t touched in months. I focused on keeping toys that are simple, pretty, and have minimal pieces. As I decluttered the play-space a whole new world opened up to them. The imaginary play flowed. 

3. Bins

• Buy bins and a lot of them. It will instantly make your space look collected and clean. Bins are wonderful in my toy room for Legos and doll accessories. They work well in a pantry for all your items to group help group together. I have a snack bin, a breakfast bin, a bin for bins (hehe). Try it in all your spaces and you will feel better about life. 

4. Donate

• I live in Hilliard and there are two Goodwills and a Salvation Army all within 5 minutes of me. They all have convenient drive-through drop-off and are willing to take loads of items. Donating is the quickest way to clean house and you are doing so much good to give to these organizations. I found that I need to get things out of my house quickly or it won’t happen. Visit the website for donation drop-off hours or check out this post Let it Go: The Purge Begins for local places that accept gently used items.

5. Focus on Your Closet

• This was the biggest difference in the world. My biggest stressor in my home is always clothing. Cleaning, sorting, folding and putting it all away. I needed a way to make this all easier. I took to the internet and found loads of sample guides to help minimize your closet. Here are some of the main tips I found and how to focus minimize the closet. Do it you will love it:
  • Hang majority of your items. If you can see it you will wear it.
  • Bins for your accessories (scarfs, hats, purses)
  • Everything has a place
  • Items to focus on for the closet 
    • 2 nice dresses
    • 2 Jackets
    • 4 sweaters
    • 2 pairs of jeans and 2 pairs of trousers
    • 7 or 8 Favorite shirts (look for cotton and good items you can layer)
    • 2 pairs of shorts
    • 2 skirts

 I hope these tips help and cheers to making your house less stressful and more zen in 2017. Follow me on @simple.pearls on Instagram to see what progress we have made.