This will probably wear off as I've only decluttered my apartment recently, but I love resetting my home each night. I like to hand wash the dishes rather than put them in the dishwasher, clear the kitchen trash (the garbage can seems to fill up fast), straighten the contents of the fridge, return clothes to the closet that I lazily hung on the hook on the back of the bedroom door. I get a thrill out of the look of the place after I've reset. It becomes a welcoming space to wake up to.
Thank you for the idea of elevating the baseline. Having spent two months decluttering top to bottom and every crevice in between, I'd shunned beautification. Yes, it would be nice to have an attractive soap and lotion dispenser to replace the drugstore bottles. And maybe I don't need that metal meat tenderizer given that I'm a vegetarian, making room in the canister for a groovy new spatula. You've given me delicious ideas. Thanks.
You can also just peel the labels off the drugstore bottles for a totally free aesthetic upgrade. I do this all the time. And Anita, I too am a vegetarian, and yet still have a meat tenderizer (why?) and you have inspired me to put it in the "to donate" bag.
I am so on board with all of these recommendations! Doing lots of micro-tidying does indeed yield more free time overall. And if it doesn't, you probably have too much stuff. I couldn't bear to finish that New Yorker article...so depressing, but good information to know.
Thank you for the shout-out! I'm enjoying your writing immensely.
I just realized you wrote The Bunk Bed book -- my 7 year old loves bunkbeds, so we got this book and put post-its on all the beds that inspired him/us. Once his sister is old enough to be in a bed we're hoping to build them bunk beds from your book!
So many smart, actionable tips here. Thank you! I feel like I do a decent job of tidying on a regular basis, but now I'm inspired to rethink my baseline. I also loved this idea: "Tackling the out-of-sight disorder is the graduate school level of refining your baseline." Maybe I'll be ready for grad school soon!
I absolutely LOVE this, Laura! So thoughtful and well-captured with such helpful and actionable (and do-able!) steps. The "clutter detective" is also so right-on as an approach for being curious at home and looking for new solutions--with my clients we often talk about "scavenger hunts" at home. But I like the detective analogy because it helps have some objectivity in the process because our homes are so emotional (I know you know!). Thanks for a great read!
This will probably wear off as I've only decluttered my apartment recently, but I love resetting my home each night. I like to hand wash the dishes rather than put them in the dishwasher, clear the kitchen trash (the garbage can seems to fill up fast), straighten the contents of the fridge, return clothes to the closet that I lazily hung on the hook on the back of the bedroom door. I get a thrill out of the look of the place after I've reset. It becomes a welcoming space to wake up to.
Thank you for the idea of elevating the baseline. Having spent two months decluttering top to bottom and every crevice in between, I'd shunned beautification. Yes, it would be nice to have an attractive soap and lotion dispenser to replace the drugstore bottles. And maybe I don't need that metal meat tenderizer given that I'm a vegetarian, making room in the canister for a groovy new spatula. You've given me delicious ideas. Thanks.
You can also just peel the labels off the drugstore bottles for a totally free aesthetic upgrade. I do this all the time. And Anita, I too am a vegetarian, and yet still have a meat tenderizer (why?) and you have inspired me to put it in the "to donate" bag.
I am so on board with all of these recommendations! Doing lots of micro-tidying does indeed yield more free time overall. And if it doesn't, you probably have too much stuff. I couldn't bear to finish that New Yorker article...so depressing, but good information to know.
Thank you for the shout-out! I'm enjoying your writing immensely.
Thanks, Rebecca! Glad to have your vote of confidence.
I just realized you wrote The Bunk Bed book -- my 7 year old loves bunkbeds, so we got this book and put post-its on all the beds that inspired him/us. Once his sister is old enough to be in a bed we're hoping to build them bunk beds from your book!
I wrote the book for bunk bed loving kids like your seven year old!
So many smart, actionable tips here. Thank you! I feel like I do a decent job of tidying on a regular basis, but now I'm inspired to rethink my baseline. I also loved this idea: "Tackling the out-of-sight disorder is the graduate school level of refining your baseline." Maybe I'll be ready for grad school soon!
Maybe we can go to grad school together: I definitely need to work on my out-of-sight clutter.
I absolutely LOVE this, Laura! So thoughtful and well-captured with such helpful and actionable (and do-able!) steps. The "clutter detective" is also so right-on as an approach for being curious at home and looking for new solutions--with my clients we often talk about "scavenger hunts" at home. But I like the detective analogy because it helps have some objectivity in the process because our homes are so emotional (I know you know!). Thanks for a great read!
Thank you: Means so much coming from YOU!