Book Club // Minimalism, Part 2

Happy happy Monday friends!! Last week we read the chapter in The Finishing School on Minimalism. (Join our FB group here!) And today I am sharing my answers to the homework and prepping for a week of taking action on everything I learned last week. (Yep, I’m learning things going through the book again too! 😉

A big part I want to emphasize is this idea that as we declutter, we aren’t looking for a bunch of new products that will make our home perfect. We are looking for ways to get rid of chaos. That might mean purchasing a few small things but don’t go crazy. I am so tempted to think that organizational tools or pretty much anything from The Container Store will instantly help me get organized but it rarely does. Take a look back at the introduction for the Minimalism chapter post if you need a reminder that just accumulating stuff isn’t the answer.

A few questions from the homework:

What hot zones cause chaos in your home? What will take the chaos? Put them on your calendar to make it happen. 

With a newborn, this was pretty obvious the new zones that stay a mess:

1. Our bedroom. I’ve been doing most of my nursing here since the c-section. That means there are diapers, wipes, dirty diapers, lanolin, books, iphone for feeding app, breast pads, etc to keep organized. I have an organizer with slots to hold everything needed for nursing and can now take it to the living room. The silly thing is, I did this last time with Vivi and even blogged about a nursing kit and totally forgot to do this the first 10 days! 😉 It’s been so helpful. I am also going to have a trash bag (not buying but using paper grocery bags we have from Whole Foods trips) near the bed to throw diapers in during the evening and night! TODAY
2. Vivi’s toys. She’s gotten tons of big sister gifts so her toy basket is overflowing. I also realized just how many toys she has with 20+ pieces. One day she had her crayons, legos, her kitchen dishes and play food all out at the same time on the living room floor. She’s really good at picking up her toys but this time it took 20 minutes to clean up just because there were so many pieces and she couldn’t focus! She used to have slightly bigger toys that were one item, so clean up was a snap. Just realizing this has me making a bigger effort to think before we purchase toys and to look more for fun toys that aren’t based on quantity. 🙂 TUESDAY NIGHT
3. Our closet. I’ve got maternity, non-maternity but not going to fit into for a while, winter baggy clothes and a small amount of fit’s now wardrobe in the closet. Tyler’s also got a rack full of clothes, half that fit and half that don’t. I’d love to serve him better by having his shirts hung up and ready for him each week but because there are so many other items in there, I assume he’s good to go. JUNE 3
4. The laundry room. This sounds so silly and small but I hang up all the clothes straight out of the dryer but never have enough space to hang all the hangers while I’m working. This normally means I lay hung up clothes on the counter and they inevitably end up on the floor from sliding down or a “helpful” toddler pulling them down. I bought two hooks to put on the wall so I can keep this area clutter free!! SATURDAY

What are the hot zones in your home that cause chaos? And how are you going to minimize them and make your home work better for you??