Whole Home Organization Challenge
January always brings new ideals for the new year. Ours is a Whole Home Organization Challenge! A big bite at once, I know!
My husband used to have a subscription to Family Handyman magazine. I gave it to him as a gift. He was going to learn such great things and become inspired for working around the house, right? He hated it. He would say the only thing EVER on the front cover is organization. We’ve been married 17 years and I am here to tell you that home organization is a never ending process. My husband is actually a well organized person. It just comes natural to him. That doesn’t seem to help with the whole house though. After 17 years of marriage, we own a lot of stuff. Don’t you? We do not own a storage building, don’t have a garage, attic or basement. If we keep too much stuff, it creates clutter. Since clutter is a bad thing, being organized is always something we have to work on.
We have declared 2014 the year of Organization and Better Health at our house. We hit the ground running on the organization. We are participating in the 16 Week Home Organization Challenge (all links open in a separate window) sponsored by Renee over at Renew Your Space At Your Own Pace. Renee is a professional organizer with tons of encouragement and structured guidelines to glide you smoothly through the process. We are only 20 days into the new year, you have plenty of time to come on over and join us with this home organization challenge. We started in the kitchen which is why I shared the picture of all the coffee mugs we had in our cabinet. They just accumulated over time, that is how it happens.
The biggest reason we choose to participate in the 16 Week Home Organization Challenge was the support and encouragement. This type endeavor can quickly become overwhelming which is great cause for abandonment. Renee has a Facebook support group affiliated with the challenge where participants share their progress and encourage one another. She isn’t like a drill Sargent though. She doesn’t nag and is not pushy. Renee is very pleasant to work with and joy to know. In fact, if your home is already well organized but you have friends who could benefit from this opportunity, please share this with them so they can participate!! It is completely free!!
Now that we are well on our way to being organized, I did mention better health as one of our goals for this year also, didn’t I. We are working on that as well. We are preparing food that is better for us. That has been fun, trying new recipes. Check back here later this week for some great Super Bowl Ideas and Recipes which will include some tasty, healthy alternatives.
I love the idea of this year being the year of organization! It is a constant battle for me. I love being organized and actually can be quite skilled at it, but since I have added a husband and kids to my life, it has been increasingly harder! I will stay tuned!
It is a challenge to get others around us to be as organized as we wish they were. My husband has that problem with me 🙂 I’m working on it though.
Good morning Shirley. Great post. I went through a lot of Renee’s program last year and am loving the spaces that I was able to organize. Hang in there girl. It is so rewarding to finally conquer the space. Feels so good everytime you walk I to the area.
If we would only keep it that way. Baby steps…everytime we get an area done, we will be making progress toward keeping it better in the future. We are learning not to buy so much stuff!
We just moved, so I did the organizing needed before the move. That is at least one thing good about moving in general, to get rid of unwonted things ;). Love your goal to eat more healthy, it is so fun and rewording too.
We are preparing to move also. Organization is essential at this point. It is amazing how much stuff we accumulate over time!
You’ve done a fantastic job Shirley!! We’ve been married 17 years as well 🙂 We’re working on getting a healthier household this year too – time to be the best that we can… I’m looking forward to your Super bowl recipes!! ~Renee
Progress is slow sometimes, but the Organization Challenge is helping us along. My husband is enjoying the Super Bowl cooking as I prepare for those recipes to be posted.
We have only been married 12 years and we have so much stuff!! My husband is not organized. And add to that we have a 960 sq ft house. To say the least, organizing is a never ending battle. Your kitchen looks lovely! Ours is tiny and always a mess because that is where my very unorganized husband spends most of his time. Good luck on the challenge.
12 years is a long time. That’s awesome. I used to live in a house the size of yours! Have you ever checked out Apartmenttherapy.com? They have lots of small space living ideas and are on Pinterest also.