Making Space


simplespace

Today is March 20th, the first day of spring.  I discovered my first daffodil in the yard a few minutes ago and thought that I’ve got to hurry up and get outside to deal with my yard!  There is work to do and miracles to watch as everything comes back to life.

I was scanning one of my Pinterest boards a few months ago, noticing that many of the home decor pictures I’m drawn to in the last year or so are more sparsely decorated than my own home is.  It made me wonder if my style is changing, or if the craziness of my family made these really simple spaces seem calming to me.  The question has been floating around in my mind for a while and I concluded that it’s time to act.

I set aside the month of March to go through everything we have in storage in our house and get rid of as much as possible.  Keeping my commitment to myself has meant zero sewing (yet still my brain is scheming) and lots of 15 minute time segments going through another box or pile.  I want our family to learn a simpler way of living, one that leaves margin in every area.  I want more space for people, for things that matter, for spontaneity, for reading and writing and dreaming and talking.  I know I’ve said this before, and I realize that it’s probably an ideal I’ll always chase with varying degrees of success, but this month my goal has been creating margin in our living space.  Less, less, less.    While I know that getting rid of “stuff” won’t solve the larger challenges we’re facing, it’s my first step in trying to tell the Lord that I’m willing to do whatever He wants.  In having less “stuff” to take care of/clean/store I’m hoping I’ll also make space in my mind for more important things and room in my schedule for more service.

And then my husband went snowboarding and crashed on his head.  We were grateful – very grateful – that no serious injury was sustained.  His ribs were bruised but not cracked and his neck and spine seemed fine.  Until 4 days later when suddenly his legs had no strength.  Today, 10 days later, everything seems to be ok.  He’s banged up but fine, but it took a toll on me emotionally.   A new (and dreaded) assignment at Church came his way and all of a sudden I felt like I’d been pushed off the emotional cliff I’d been so carefully backing away from.  The irony of it all is that lately I’ve been studying the life of Abraham and particularly his willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac.  I’d taught a lesson on the subject and had prayed for the ability to be like him.  And then there I was, facing something I had no inkling belonged on the table and I did not want it.  At all.  Now that I’ve had several days to process it (and feel certain that his health is fine), I’m sure things will work out, likely for our good, but I’d be lying if I said this chapter began with a willing heart.   Oh well.  I’m obviously no Abraham.  Thank goodness for repentance!

Today I feel trapped because the next steps in my mission to make more space for life require another set of strong arms, and they are all at school.  I keep walking into my sewing room, wanting to start something but not knowing what to work on.  So here I am, blogging!

I’m not sure I’ll accomplish all the tasks on my list for the month, but it’s been a great experience.  I sort of informally started the 40 bags in 40 days thing, and have already said goodbye to more than 40 full bags.  That’s a good thing, because I have no intention of taking a 40 day break from sewing!   I chose to start in all the areas where I have primary stewardship (plus the basement) and make sure I’m setting the right example for my children, who will be asked to do the same thing in their spaces when I’m done with all the other rooms in the house.   I’ve had a clarity of thought that makes my heart sing.   I find myself lingering in the areas where I’ve accomplished my goal because I love how they feel.  I think it’s working.  I’m making more space for the life I want.

Jennifer

September’s mission



My goal this month is to go through as much of the house as possible, get rid of things, sort them, reorganize them, and so forth.  I feel like I haven’t really done this thoroughly for too long and am anxious to buzz through every room.

I’m also working at finding my stride during the school hours.  Long as they are on paper, by the time I get some exercise, take care of the girls, clean up, do some laundry, and then feed the girls lunch, the day is almost over and I feel like I still have about 10 hours of work I need to do before the after school rush hits.  Still, I’m making progress.

So far I’ve been through the toy room, one girls room (including closets and all clothing), the living room, dining room and yesterday I did the pantry.  I wish I could say I was deep cleaning everything, but this sweep is just for organization and de-cluttering.  I’ll go back through and do windows, etc. when all the junk is taken care of.

Today I’m trying something new.


These little monkeys (probably inspired by my projects) have been unusually effective at tearing things apart while I’m working.  This morning we made a fort for them to play in, using the dining room table, chairs, and a bunch of tablecloths.


They seem happy with their hiding place and I’ll make them a picnic lunch to eat there in a few minutes.  It will be much easier cleanup than yesterday’s mess!

And so I’m off and running with my head buzzing with ideas and possible solutions.  One solution that worked well in the pantry was to take my stacks of pretty trays (many of them vintage) and put them sideways into a large basket which will slide under the shelves.


(Sorry about the pictures.  It’s so hard to get good photos in a dark room with no windows!)

I liked having the trays on the shelf, but I’ve been wanting to clear off a shelf to just keep empty in there.  When the children don’t know where exactly to put something in the pantry, they have a bad habit of putting things on the floor.  I’ll walk around the corner and have to climb over things to get what I need!  Moving these trays cleared off a six foot section on the bottom shelf for them to put things on.  I’m hoping the pantry will stay tidy this way and I’ll be able to move things from that section to where they belong without trouble.  The key word in that sentence is, of course, hoping .   We’ll see how it goes!  It did work well last night when we were unloading groceries from the car.


I found this awesome vintage step stool during the summer.  We keep it in the pantry but use it in the kitchen all the time so the little children can help prepare dinner, do the dishes or just wash their hands.  I particularly love it because it’s wide enough for my two youngest to stand on the top step together.  I also love it when we have just one stool in the kitchen and not five different kitchen chairs:  one at the counter, one by the microwave, one by the sink and one by the refrigerator, etc.  Why they don’t use the chair next to them instead of going to the table for a new one, I’ll never know!  This stool has been a great fix for that clutter.

There is something about a clean kitchen that really keeps me calm.  A clean kitchen AND an organized pantry put a smile on my face!


Back to work!  Hope your day is great!

Jennifer

Christmas Card Book

I was so delighted to see this idea a few weeks ago.  I’m also someone who has a hard time throwing away Christmas cards because they’re such great snapshots of families we love.  It’s delightful to see how families grow each year, going from lots of little ones to lots of big ones.  Exchanging cards is one of my favorite parts of the season.  But if you save them, what do you do with them?  Now I have the solution.


What a great idea, to punch holes in your cards and put them on rings, then add a cover.  If you view the original post you’ll find downloadable covers that are super cute.  Since one of my goals this year is to do something creative every day, making my own was a great idea.


I used leftover paper from my Christmas cards last year, which adds a reminder of the card I sent out in 2011.   I tried my hand at some paper rosettes, which were REALLY fun.  I’ll be making more of those.


I am thrilled to know what to do with Christmas cards every January from now on.  We can get these books out from year to year and see how people have grown.  I’m glad that I can take these little pieces of my friends’ lives and preserve them in a way that encourages us to look at them in the future.

So, even though today marks one month since Christmas, I hope you’ll find it helpful enough to file away in your mind for 11 more months.   {This was a project on my January to-do list.  I’ve had the cards on rings for weeks, but hadn’t sat down to just make the cover.  Hooray for a finished project!}

I was thinking that this would also be a fun way to corral all those valentines that come home from school and then float around the house for weeks.  You could use just one ring and let each of your kids have a little Valentine flip book of their own!  Wouldn’t that be cute?

I hope your day is great.

Hopeful Homemaker

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