Organizing Your Summer with Your Kids

It's been officially one week since my kiddos had their last day of school before summer. So far, they've enjoyed sleeping in, lounging around the house in PJs, some crafts they've been wanting to get to, and taking a road trip to visit old buddies in Asheville. Thankfully, we're off to a pretty good start.

“Summer will end soon enough, and childhood as well.”

— George R.R. Martin

With that said, summer with school-age kids home can be a bit overwhelming without a plan. It can also be a wonderful time for kids to explore, relax, create, and enjoy the freedom of days without the time restraints of the school year. All you need is your time, a little rhythm in your day and a brainstorming session with you kids to make the most out your family's summer.
Here are 7 tips to get you started:

1. Make time each day to play or connect with your child.

Take the time to play a board game, make a milkshake or catch fireflies. It doesn't have to be an elaborate project or outing, just a few minutes of your attention can make simple moments last forever.

2. find the balance for structure

After the long school year, kids need time to unwind, relax and let their brains and emotions take it easy. Kids also need a routine so that they know what to expect. Come up with a loose plan for each day, like hang at the house in the morning doing a small job or working in the garden, afternoons are spent running errands, at the pool or splash pad, or visiting a friend. The summer is a great time to teach kids how to do certain chores well so that during the school months, they can continue contributing to helping the house stay in order.

3. help kids develop a healthy relationship with time

"I'm bored" is a phrase we can all remember using at some point and one I'm sure you've heard from your child as well. Use the summer as a time to help your kids be comfortable with themselves, without technology. This may be hard to commit to at first, but don't lose heart. Here is more on why being bored can be a good thing and ideas for kids when they are.

4. Strictly limit screens

Give your kids certain times of the day for technology. Kids are less likely to bug you about it and more inclined to use their imagination if the option of being on a screen is off the table until a certain time.

5. establish daily reading / quiet time

Setting up this time during each day keeps your child's mind engaged and growing as well as gives you time to yourself. Here is a great list of summer reading ideas.

6. plan memory making activities

Get the kids involved in this brainstorming activity. Here's a list to get you started...
- Play an outdoor movie in your backyard
- Have a lemonade stand
- Make a firepit in your yard and enjoy s'mores together
- Have a water party with sprinklers, water balloons, water guns, slip-n-slide, etc
- Plan a bike ride and pack snacks for a picnic along the way
- Go berry picking
- Make your kids breakfast in bed (or encourage siblings to do it for one another)
- Surprise Dad (or Mom) at work with lunch
- Go hiking, camping, kayaking or canoeing
- Plant a small garden or even just a couple of pots of plants
- Host a pot-luck outdoor party, let your kids help with the guest list

7. capture the summer in a photo album

My kids love to look back at photos from previous summers. As you embark on this summer's activities, grab your camera to snap shots along the way. The week before school starts, have your kids help put an album together as a way to celebrate the priceless memories you've made. It will be time very well spent.

Capsule Wardrobe: A Help You Dwell Challenge

I'm taking the plunge and I'm inviting you to join me.

If you aren't familiar with the concept of a capsule wardrobe, essentially, it is a simplified wardrobe of versatile pieces that you love wearing. In other words, for each season, you pick a certain number of items and wear only those. For the Summer season, I will be picking 37 items (including tops, bottoms, dresses, outerwear, and shoes) and donating, or packing away the rest.

I have a closet and a dresser full of clothes that don't often get worn. I gravitate towards a handful of clothes that are my favorites. I love clothes but I hate my tendency to try on 85 different outfits only to go back to those favorite pieces that make me feel awesome. In an effort to practice what I preach when it comes to an organized and decluttered life style, I am committing to a capsule wardrobe plan for my summer.

One of my 2 closets currently

Why am I doing this?

1. I want to buy less but buy better quality.

2. I want my mornings to be more simplified

3. I'm interested to see whether I get bored wearing the same items in various combinations or whether it's freeing to have less to choose from.

4.My closet space is limited and not designed well. I want to be able to see clearly what I have and currently I have too many clothes for my space.

So, over the course of the next week I"ll be narrowing down my wardrobe and will report back in 2 weeks to let you know what items I chose for my Summer Capsule and how it's all going.

For more information about what a capsule wardrobe is, check out this description. Want to know how to build one? Here is a guide.

Yard Sale 101

Help You Dwell has been busy lately clearing the excess from houses, garages and basements.  Springtime is a great time for this!  And working alongside our clients as they let go of all kinds of items to go to new homes is so satisfying both for us and our clients.  One way several clients have decided to go about the purge is with a yard sale.  A yard sale is a great choice if you have the time, energy and neighborhood to pull one off.

HYD recently had the opportunity to help a client from almost start to finish in preparing for a huge sale.  We thought you could benefit from some of the planning tips we used to make her sale a success.  If a sale is right for you, read on for a timeline of how to go about hosting your own successful sale.  This is a great time of year to hold one!

SALE PREP

PLAN A DATE, GET A BUDDY (OR A FEW)

- Yard sales are always more successful, less work, and more fun with friends &/or neighbors

- Saturdays always get the most traffic and Spring or Fall are the best times to hold one

- Check your local weekend planner guide for other events you may have to compete with

- Set time. Sales usually start at 8am and we suggest an end time as well, that way you can do an "everything's half off" when you're about to close up shop

2-4 WEEKS OUT

- Gather items and place in one space in your home

- Store sale items in trash bags or boxes so you're not tempted to extract an item once you've tagged it a sale item (Stay Strong - Let it Go!)

- Plan an exit strategy, either schedule the charity pick up (Habitat for Humanity ReStore or KARM Store) or the vehicle you will load to donate the items that don't sell

- Begin pricing.  Think to yourself, "How much would I pay for this item at a yard sale?" or check online for suggestions if you're not an avid yard saler. This site is helpful.

1 WEEK OUT

- Place Craigslist advertisement.  Read other ads first to get ideas of how to grab shoppers' attention and make sure to be clear on location, date, and time.  Also, adding lists and photos of items helps draw more to your sale.  Lastly, if you're not interested in "early birds," use a phrase like "early birds pay double" or "no early birds please."

- Use social media. Facebook is an easy place to just post your Craigslist ad.

- Make signs. Think less is more. Your sign should be on bright poster board, backed with cardboard and write with a thick black marker. Just write "Yard Sale" plus location, date, time. Arrows are great too especially for neighborhood sales.

THE WEEK OF

- Gather tables, tarps, tents, tablecloths to display and protect items

- Visit bank to obtain change

- Finalize pricing

- Get drinks and snacks for sale workers

DAY BEFORE

- Set up sale area

- Get items as close to prepared sale area as possible

- Gather grocery bags, boxes, and packing materials for customers to use

- Have apron with pockets, fanny pack or cash box ready

- Keep pricing materials close in case you missed any and need to add a quick price

SALE DAY

- Post signs

- Move all items to sale area

- Sell it all!

Mothers Day Gift Guide

Mothers Day is this Sunday and we wanted to offer a few last minute suggestions if you are looking for gift ideas. We picked items that are usable and won't take up long term residence on a counter or a shelf. Keeping in mind that we are trying not to add clutter, we have come up with 5 items that any mom would love to receive.

1. K. Hall Peony Candle : This candle looks and smells like Spring and has a 130 hour burn time. Extra bonus: the tin is definitely worth repurposing once the candle is used up. We would use it to store tea. 

2. Seed Packet Notecard Set: These vintage seed packet note cards are to die for. 20 come in each set.

3. Blue Chair Tomato Jam & 7 Citrus Marmalade: Summer in a jar. Enough said.

4. A potted plant. Perfect pick me up inside or could be replanted in the yard!

5. Yoga classes: Or any other kind of class or event. We love giving gifts that include an experience.

Salvage & Homewares Sale THIS SUNDAY

We're now three days away from our Spring Pop-up with the lovely folks at Mid Mod Collective. It's going to be a gorgeous day to be out and about so we hope you can come. Details here.

HYD is so pleased to introduce to you our artists and craftsmen joining us on Sunday. Some are linked to their web pages, some don't have pages. You'll want to meet them all.

---

Ashley Addair - visual artist

Daniel Aisenbrey - heritage furnishings

Rebekah Campbell - textiles

Adam Henry - wood burning

Rob Laliberte - woodwork, vintage items, design

Sarah Musgrave - photography prints, handmade & vintage items

Ericka Ryba - pottery

Eric Savage - reclaimed wood furnishings

Thress Nursery - plants, handmade items

Blair Wright - architectural salvage

Jordan Wright - mason jar lamps

The Slow Life : Home Tour with Ashley Addair

Help You Dwell sat down with Ashley Addair this week to talk about simple living. Ashley is an established artist living in Knoxville with her husband, two children, the occasional dog, and sporadic out of town guests. To give you a bit of background, Ashley and family have spent the last year or so living a bit nomadic-ally while her husband gutted and rebuilt their home. (Which incidentally used to be a neighborhood grocery store) Their newly finished home is truly a work of art in itself. Ashley is a wonderful thinker and writer and one of her recent blog entries about her entry way inspired us to ask her about her approach to her home and lifestyle.

Tell me a little bit about what simple living means to you.

A: In this season I'm learning a lot about letting things be as they are. I'm trying to live out the tension of facilitating change and evolving but at the same time, accepting things as they are; not fighting the chaos of life. I'm trying to posture myself in a way that allows for finding beauty in that chaos and letting that be enough. 

That is such a refreshing answer. On a practical level, do you have any habits or routines that help you accomplish and maintain that simple posture?

A: I recently read a haiku that said "To make a home, start in one corner- Make that yours. Work outwards, slowly." I'm trying to take that and practice "looking smaller". I'm picking little things, small corners that I can work on and letting the rest go. I'm endeavoring to let things evolve without me and it's helping me notice natural rhythms and the beauty of observing from a distance. Basically, I'm working on becoming increasingly slow: on letting life wash over me and recognizing that slow is the gift of this season. I'm becoming more okay with embracing limitations. In a very literal sense, I've picked one corner of the yard and one corner of the kitchen to focus on and I'm venturing to let the rest go. 

One of the hardest parts of simplifying is letting go of all the "stuff". You seem to have a really healthy detachment to "things". Tell me about that.

A: I have moved around a lot over the course of my life. I've found that there is a gift in traveling light. Honestly, at this point having kids has forced me to recon with the fact that things will get messed up and broken. In general, I try to let things be meaningful without being attached to them.

You can meet Ashley and purchase her art at our pop up market on May 3rd from 11-6. We hope to see you there!

Caroline & Taryn

Kickin' Collaboration

The event page is live.
The vendor list is packed.
The garage bays are full.

And YOU are invited!

MId Mod Collective

For Help You Dwell's second Pop-up Market we are so pleased to be collaborating with one of Knoxville's coolest new shops, Mid Mod Collective. We are fortunate to co-host this spring's market at their fantastic venue on N. Central St. just north of Happy Holler in Old North Knoxville on Sunday, May 3 from 11-6.

MId Mod Collective

HYD loves Mid Mod's eye for style and their unique finds from all over the US. The 10 vendors that make up the collective have created a showroom that inspires no matter what your taste in furniture or decor.  Not only have they, along with Dewhirst Properties, brought a wonderful old building back to life, they have given local mid-century modern fans a place to find all their design needs whether you're looking for that rare high end piece or need to design on a budget.

MId Mod Collective

MId Mod Collective

MId Mod Collective

We hope you can join us for this fantastic event. Along with all the great home wares Mid Mod Collective and Help You Dwell will be offering, The Sweet and Savory Food Truck, Old City Java, Wild Love Bakehouse, The Vagabond Roaming Boutique, and Cruze Farm will also be there for the event. So mark your calendars, grab a buddy & come make a day of it!

'The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up' Quick Guide

www.tidyingup.com

If you receive our weekly emails, you may remember us mentioning that we recently read "the life-changing magic of tidying up: the Japanese art of decluttering and organizing" by marie kondo. We highly recommend the book if you need to psych yourself up to get organized. Marie offers so many great tips that we couldn't possibly cover them all in one blog post but we wanted to give you the "Help You Dwell Quick Guide" to the book if you don't have time to read it yourself.

1. Many organizing books and experts suggest tidying or decluttering a little bit a day over the span of one's life. The fact of the matter is, a little at a time is usually not a dramatic enough change to motivate you to purge the way most of us need to.  "A dramatic reorganization of the [entire] home causes correspondingly dramatic changes in lifestyle and perspective."

2. Always begin with thoroughly eliminating clutter. "If you can see the dramatic results, you will be empowered to keep your space in order ever after."

3. "Storage methods do not solve the problem of clutter." Hence the reason that tip #2 is so very important. You can have a house busting at the seams of very organized things but organization alone doesn't make your home a peaceful, welcoming place.

4. Think in concrete terms so that you can vividly picture what it would be like to live in a clutter-free space. Next, identify why you want to live life that. Why do you want to tidy? Finally, examine what you own.

5. When going through your items ask yourself, "does this item give me joy?" If it doesn't.... away it goes! Think of the process as deciding what to keep rather than deciding what to give/throw away. Imagine your home with only things that you love.

6. When you start the decluttering process, start with things that do not tend to hold sentimental value like clothing, books/media, papers etc.

7. If you are having a hard time making a decision about an item try to cut out the rational circular thinking ex: "I might need this later, or it's a waste to get rid of this". Try instead, to ask yourself why you have the item- when did you get it and what meaning did it have for you when you got it. "To truly cherish the things that are important to you, you must first discard those that have outlived their purpose."

8. "Letting go is even more important than adding." "When we really delve into the reasons for why we can't let something go, there are only two: an attachment to the past or a fear for the future." "The best way to find out what we really need is to get rid of what we don't."

9. There are three approaches we can take toward our possessions: face them now, face them sometime, or avoid them until the day we die.

10. "Tidying ought to be the act of restoring balance among people, their possessions, and the house they live in."

Spring Cleaning Giveaway Winner Announced

Thank you all for participating in our Spring giveaway. We are excited to announce that our winner is Terri L.

A big thank you to Stanley's Greenhouse for sponsoring this giveaway. If you have never been to Stanleys, you are truly missing out. It is a locally and family owned and operated greenhouse and plant farm in South Knoxville. For the Spring season they also run a "Secret Garden located in West Knoxville right off of Kingston Pike at Northshore. Check out their website and stop by the store or the garden to see what they have in stock.

The weekly planner featured in our giveaway is from Rala which is an awesome shop right off of Market Square on Union Avenue. They have a great selection of local and regional art and hand made goods along with Knoxville's best selection of cards for any occasion you could think of. Check out their blog or their facebook page  and stop by the store if you are looking for a gift or just need a pick me up.

Spring Cleaning Challenge Week 4

Another beautiful East Tennessee day with birds chirping and pops of color everywhere!
Let's finish out the month of March with a couple more simple tasks to help you enjoy the rest of Spring.

Image: JollyEdition

1. Tackle the RSVPs. 

Spring is filled with wedding and baby showers, birthday parties and the like.  Take a moment to check your paper pile and your inbox to find all the RSVPs and give yourself just 15-20 little minutes to knock them all out and make sure to add the events you plan to attend to your calendar now!

image: Martha Stewart

2. Love your linens. 

Nothing is better for sleeping than a fresh, clean set of sheets.  Make it easier on yourself to grab that clean set by matching all your sheet sets and placing them inside the coordinating pillow case.  While you're at it, discard any unmatched or stained pieces you no longer need.

Spring Cleaning Challenge Week 3

Now that the weather is getting nicer we have been finding it hard to stay motivated to be inside all day. Often organizing can be time consuming but we have come up with a few more ways to declutter in quick spurts so you don't waste your day away. I often find that the kitchen is the easiest part of the house to purge. Offices are hard because of the surplus of paper, closets are hard due to the volume of items that get crammed in so they aren't seen, kitchens, however, are really easy to purge in a timely manner.

image:designsponge

1. Take a quick scan through all of your kitchen cabinets and drawers and remove anything that you haven't used in the past year. We all have those random items that someone gave us, or we found in the car etc that somehow end up in our cabinets and never come out. We all have duplicates and half working items as well. Now is the time. You have our permission to give away the mismatched plastic cups, the chipped mugs, and the really unfortunate serving platter from your great aunt. When you have room in your kitchen cabinets to clearly see the things you love, you will be more likely to use them.

We have found this article to be helpful when we feel like we need permission to purge.

image: goodhousekeeping.com

2. Purge your fridge.  Maybe it's just me but I always seem to accrue salad dressings and condiments and promptly forget about them. Take 5 minutes to check the expiration dates on items in your fridge that you typically don't think about. While your at it, a quick scan of your pantry can't hurt either. Pay attention to canned and bottled items that we tell ourselves "last forever". I promise they don't.

Spring Cleaning Challenge Week 2

Source Unknown

“Do a little something today that your future self will thank you for.”

It's week two in our Spring Cleaning campaign.  The warm weather is creeping in, daffodils & crocus are popping up and step-by-step you're moving to more order and peace in your home.

Last week we focused on ordering our bathroom closet & tidying up our email inbox.  Keeping it simple and achievable, this week we move to our bedroom closet and the kitchen.

this week's challenge

1.  Donate or consign all your fancy dresses you bought for that one occasion and said, "I'll wear that again" and never did.  Repeat Boutique in West Knoxville is a great option if you choose to consign.  If you choose to donate, you may have a friend that comes to mind that might love to get your fancy dress or any of the local thrift shops would gladly welcome your donation.

2.  Take everything out from under your kitchen sink, clean the cabinet and put back only what you use regularly.  No tricks here.  Just keep it simple.

Spring Cleaning Challenge

Source Unknown

“That’s what decluttering is: taking time to decide what’s important enough to remain in your life. It’s not about getting rid of everything, or emptying your life completely. It’s about figuring out what matters to you. And then getting rid of what doesn’t.”

— Leo Babauta

For the month of March our blog entries will be centered around Spring Cleaning. Rather than overwhelming you with long detailed lists of things to do each week, we will give you two quick ideas to break up your work into manageable weekly to-do’s. We want to keep it simple and to the point while giving you helpful tips to stay motivated.

This week’s challenge:

1. Take a trash bag to your bathroom and fill it with anything you don’t use or anything that has expired. For items that haven’t expired but you don’t use, think about donating to a homeless shelter (The Volunteer Ministry Center or KARM) or giving them to a friend. Let yourself off the hook and don’t guilt yourself into keeping a bottle of face wash that you hate just because you used it once and didn’t like the result. In the future, look for small bottles when trying out a new product or do some online research and read customer ratings before buying.

2. Go through your email and open up any email that you didn’t sign up for or always delete before reading and unsubscribe yourself. One less piece of junk mail clogging up your brain and your inbox. * https://unroll.me/ makes it easier to unsubscribe from multiple emails at a time

Routines

Recently I've been really interested in learning about peoples routines. Specifically,  morning and nightly routines. I'm one of those weird hybrid gals who loves order but is somehow still free spirited. This usually means that I love the concept and idea of having rhythms in life but sometimes find it hard to commit to them.

I'm finding that leading an ordered life doesn't mean I have to be the most disciplined person on the planet but it does mean that I tend to be most at peace when I'm practicing a few choice routines. I know myself well enough to know that I'm more likely to stick with something if I make it as simple as possible. Lately, I've been inspired to adopt a few simple routines in my own life. Here they are:

Be Nice To My Skin: Witch-hazel to remove makeup and clean pores and Argan oil to moisturize. Every night, people. Every. Night. (I've been known to wake up in yesterdays makeup in the past)

Drink more water: I always forget, but two things have been helping me remember to stay hydrated. 1. I bought a pretty water bottle that I like taking with me places and that I like drinking out of.  2. I must say yes anytime anyone offers me water-- I never noticed how often I am offered water until I started following this rule. 

Monthly closet purge: This probably sounds crazy to most people but I go through my closet monthly and try to be reasonable about what needs to go. For me, the hardest things to let go of are the items that "I haven't worn in a year but would be perfect for that one random occasion with that one pair of pants that I also haven't worn in a year." I'm really trying to pare down and only keep things that I love wearing and that make me feel confident.

Weekly Bath: Don't worry, I shower in between :)  but I've recently rediscovered how flipping amazing a bath can be. Think candles, books, and floral scented soap.

Soaking in the Morning Quiet: This one is the hardest for me during the winter because the bed is just so warm. I have a comfy chair by a sunny window that is my morning spot. I'm attempting to make it routine to sit there for 30 minutes each morning with a cup of tea to read, think, be still, pray, or journal.

Sweat a little:  Pilates classes at 9:00am Tuesdays and Thursdays at the East Knoxville YMCA are my favorite. Anne is a great teacher and I feel more motivated in a class than by myself.  I'm starting realistically and trying to make 2 days a week at the gym a routine.

I'm super curious... Do you like routines? What are some of yours?

C

The House and Gardens Show 2015

We are so excited to be presenting at The Dogwood Arts House and Gardens Show this weekend!

 Our talk "The Ordered Home: How to De-clutter and Organize your Space" will be on Friday (2/13) at 11:00am. We will be manning a booth all weekend and we would LOVE to see you! The event hours are Friday 10am-9pm, Saturday 10-6pm, Sunday 11-5pm.

We are giving away a free closet makeover so come by and enter our drawing!

Closet Purging 101

February is a great time to go through your closet. Purging your closet prior to switching out seasonal clothes makes it easier to see what you have and see what you need next winter when you transition again. We have come up with a few suggestions on how to get started and questions to ask yourself when you get stuck.

One of the most helpful things is to closet purge with someone who you can trust to tell you the truth about what's flattering and what's not, what looks dingy, and what is outdated.

We always suggest pulling everything out and categorizing by type of item. For example, shoes, belts, t shirts, nicer shirts, skirts, sweaters, jackets etc. Pick a category and go through each item and decide whether to keep it, give it away, return it to someone, or trash it. Once you are done with the category, put the items you are keeping back into the closet.

Often times when organizing you will end up with a "maybe" pile or those items that are just really hard to make decisions on. The following 4 questions may help you figure out why you are hesitant to let it go which may help you make a decision.

1. Do you feel good about yourself when you wear it?

2. Have you worn it in the past year?

3. Do you have other clothing items that look very similar or serve the same purpose?

4. Are you holding onto it for sentimental reasons or out of guilt? (We often recommend photographing beloved clothing items that you know you won't wear again so that you can have a visual memory to hold onto that won't take up place in your closet. Trying to keep your closet limited to items that you actually wear will make getting dressed a lot easier.)

 BONUS- A great resource article for you… Second Chances: Renovate Your Wardrobe Instead of Buying New!

Be Yourself.

Our homes are the places where the majority of us spend the most time, the place where we laugh, cry, rest, dance, yell, sing, dream, make our messes, stash our treasures and share life with others.  We get that.  We love that.

Photo compliment of Stylish Eve

We also love our clients.  Just about every week, Help You Dwell gets the pleasure of meeting a new face and hearing a new story.  It has been such a joy for us.  Often, when we walk into a new clients' home, the first thing we hear is "sorry."  Clients are sorry for the mess, sorry they've let it go this far, sorry they can't do better on their own.  We understand.  We never judge.  We have a story too.

"You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them."  Maya Angelou

- Excerpted from Letter to My Daughter, a book of essays (2009)

As we walk through our plans to help folks find order and peace in their living space, we want to hear the story that brought them to this place.  It's so important in the process of organization of one's home.  HYD never wants a client to think that we're coming into a home to get rid of all the clutter just so it looks better.  Our goal is to always help the client live life with the freedom from the extras that pile up all around.  Working alongside the client, embracing their story, and being part of the process that helps to write a few lines in the next chapter is an honor for us.

Be yourself.  Just with less stuff and more you.  You are worth the effort. 

Let us help you dwell.

Life Resolutions

Because I'm an avid list maker I must admit that I have always loved making New Years Resolutions. In the past I've made lists of practical things I would like to do differently during the year. This year, however, I decided to make a life list. I chose things that I will more than likely work on and work towards until the day I die. These phrases are not my own words but are lines that stuck with me over the course of the year--things I read, things that were shared with me, things that I saw in other people. More than anything I want to be less consumed with my stuff and myself.

1. Buy less, choose well.

2. Collect moments, not things.

3. Be ware of hurry.

4. Live more from intention and less from habit.

5. Wherever you are, be all there.

6. Remember: The grass is greener where you water it.

7. Promote what you love instead of bashing what you hate.

8. Remember that comparison is the thief of joy.

9. Drive less, bike/walk more.

10. Do small things with great love.

We would love to hear from you all! What do you think about New Years Resolutions? Do you have any for this year? For life?

Organized Room = Project Finished

Time to let you in on a little secret...

I'm not always organized. 

My house has rooms that I'm not always proud of, usually multiple ones.  This is one big reason why I want to walk alongside you amazing people to overcome those spaces that keep you from entertaining, creating or just enjoying your home or workspace.

Thankfully, I have an incredible business partner who serves me as wonderfully as she serves our clients.  (She would also tell you her home has those rooms too :) Caroline generously offered to help me dwell a bit in one of my favorite spaces in my house.

It's that room I want to spend more time in.  It's away from the busyness of our household of five plus a puppy, my favorite books are in there, all my crafting materials, stationery, journals, photos to edit, and the light is wonderful, hence the name, sunroom.  It's my office & creativity room.  My daughter plays violin in it as well.

Unfortunately, it too often looked like this...

Quickly, it had become the dump room, the "I don't know where this goes (or am too lazy to put it away now) so put it in the sunroom" room.  The thing is, all these items have homes and many of them in the trash or donation box.

After just a couple of short hours, a few moves of furniture, and a rearranging of decorative items from all over the house, (Caroline is soooo good at this!)  I got this room back...

I love being in here now.  I'm so thankful for setting aside the time, having a dear & talented friend to help, and purging so many unneeded items.

The story doesn't end there though.  So, what happens in a room that's ordered, organized & inspiring??  Well, your daughter comes in to practice violin, notices the sewing machine neatly stored under the table and asks, "Mama, can we sew?"  To which I can finally say, "yes."  Below is the finished product, Saige is very happy in her new nightgown, and Kate is even happier that she got to make it, with a little help from mama.  Find the pattern here.

How to Make Staying Organized Easier

Why is an organized home or an organized life so hard to achieve and so hard to maintain?
There are a lot of different answers I could give you but for me it always seems to boil down to a few main things.

1. Most of us have too much stuff.

We live in a culture that screams, "You are what you have". We see hundreds of advertisements everyday telling us what we need and why we need it. We live in the most wasteful country on our planet. I'm trying hard not to buy into our "next big thing" culture but it is SO hard. If you need help letting go of things, try asking yourself these questions.

A few ways to fight the clutter bug are to....

-Sell things that you no longer need. Craigslist, facebook sale groups, and instagram make it easy to snap a picture and orchestrate transfers of items.

-Adopt a "one-in-one-out" policy. If you want a new dress, give an old dress away. This will ensure that you always have room for the new because you are MAKING room for it. It's really nice to be able to see what you have and have adequate space for it. I strongly encourage people to keep only what they have room for. If you have to cram it in for it to fit, then you have too much. If it's been sitting in a box for 3 years, you probably don't need it. At the end of the day here is what we need to remember, "You don't need more space. You need less stuff."

2. Most of us are over-committed.

When you are over-committed you tend to put things off. Case in point: I could sort through the mail I just got out of the mailbox and throw away the things that are junk, file what needs to be filed, and take care of bills that need to be paid BUT I'm running late to meet a friend for coffee AND I have to write a blog for Help You Dwell AND I need to throw a load of laundry in..... so the mail can wait. Inevitably, this leads to a pile of mail that will take an hour and half to sort through and take care of.

A few ways to combat over-commitment are...

-Stop committing to things on the spot. Try saying "let me think about that and I'll get back to you" about the next 5 things you are asked to do or help with. This is really hard for me because I get really excited about things and volunteer for a million and one things that I truly want to do and be a part of but don't actually have time for. The worst feeling in the world is when you commit to something that you love but don't have time to do well. So often we turn passions into burdens because we take on too much.

-Know thyself. Pay attention to your attitude and your energy levels in a given day or week. How much can you handle before you start feeling stressed out or burned out? Every person is different and knowing what works best for you is key. Also, try not to be hard on yourself for needing a break--resting is a key part of working, living, and loving well.