Minimalist-ish

So I know we could never be people that could only live with 50 or 100 or probably even 500 things, but one thing I can say for certain is we have way to many things in our house.  We have sorta decent storage and in some areas we just need better organization, but I do feel overwhelmed by our things fairly often.

Maybe one of the wisest things I have ever done was get a house cleaner to come in every other week.  Ironically, I had to clean the house before she came to give me a bid because the state of things depended on a lower price.  If I am anything, it would be frugal.  She did a deep clean the first time and we have been doing our best to keep things tidy.  Starting January 1, I have been making a conscious effort to make our beds, even if Willa and I are running late.  Not having to do the "yucky" things like floors and bathrooms has allowed me to concentrate more on purging and organizing.

Brandon and I have both gone through our clothes and purged (me twice!) and I have condensed my book collection.  We have been going through the kitchen as well and downsized the amount of plates and cups we have in easy reach and put a few sets away.  We do dishes and laundry (these are our high points) that we don't need as many things.  Some of Willa's stuff has just gone to storage, but it's at least not under foot.  I have purged some of my crafting supplies and fabric.  One load off to St. Vincents and another to the Children's Receiving Home.  The more I have gone through, the more I realize we don't need or use as much stuff has we have.  Some areas, like our bathroom drawers, just needed all the trash cleaned out.  I truly started there doing a drawer or cabinet a night.

My frugal self has also taken to wrapping diaper boxes in brown postal paper to hold things in closets.  I think they are pretty fantastic and sturdy.  They are perfect for yarn, hats, craft supplies, etc. We still have stockpile of stuff from couponing but at least now I have things arranged so I can see what we have and what we will need soon.  Anybody else think guys must secretly eat deodorant?

I feel like we still have a little ways to go and I am trying to be more "decorative" too to make things more use around here.