Tuesday Tip: Controlling the clutter

We're selling our house.  I don't know where we'll go when someone buys it but, unless someone buys it, well, we'll have no place to go!  That, I suppose, is the the true conundrum of the second time home buyer.  Another is what to do with all the crap (did I say that? I meant "stuff"!) one naturally accumulates as the years pass by; in our case, this "stuff" includes a whole lot of baby gear, preschool paintings, kindergarten homework, naked dolls and trucks without wheels. I thought I'd been good about weeding through it but, the cleaning frenzy of the past week has proven me wrong.  Fortunately, I have some great friends with great ideas for keeping a clutter free home... and, as it turns out, you don't need to be planning a move (or even the Open House that is keeping me up at night!) to get your house in order.  Spring is the perfect time for sprucing up and with these tips in mind, your home just might be neat and tidy all year long.

1. Don't be sentimental about your "stuff."  I have a client who has a real knack for keeping things neat.  We had the pleasure of having lunch a few weeks ago and she shared some of her tips for keeping her home and kids organized.  In a nutshell, don't get emotionally attached -- whether it's Junior's first math homework or that sweater you "just know is coming back", it's time to let it go.  Junior will have many more math assignments and the odds are good that the sweater will never be "in" again... and if it is, well, go splurge on a new one!
2. Have a charity of choice and give generously.  Big Brothers, Big Sisters happens to be one of mine and, since they send a pick up crew if I call in advance, it makes giving a piece of cake.  They visit our humble abode several times a year and are happy to cart away the clothes, toys, books and household items that are gently used and, no longer used. Giving is twice as nice when helping others leads to a clutter-free home. In thinking of your charity of choice, consider local hospitals, women's shelters, daycare centers and even school fundraisers.
3. Have a large supply of trash bags and fill frequently.  I thought we were good at this but the items unearthed in our basement and on our back porch would suggest otherwise.  Broken strollers, games with missing pieces, books with missing pages, stuffed animals that have long been forgotten and are too "loved" to be accepted by any charity of choice.  All of these belong in a trash bag on the curb. And now, that's where they are!
4. Save selectively.  Let's face it, you can't throw it ALL away.  So, create a smart system for saving just a few things each year.  My tough-love pal who encourages routine purging and discourages an emotional attachment to "stuff" admits there are some things you just need to hold onto... report cards, class pictures, those first handprints, a few prized pieces of "art."  Every year, she creates a folder for each of her children and, like the finest of curators, she keeps only the most prime pieces.  When the kids are grown, they will each have about a dozen neatly organized folders full of gems to look back on... and, I suspect they will be feel extremely sentimental when they do!
5. Organize stylishly.  If you must have some clutter (and let's admit it, we all do!), why not make it look good?  I have an array of "Memory Boxes" from Exposures that look great and store easily; there's one for each kid and they are already finding joy in their walks down memory lane.  I also like to use pretty file folders -- somehow putting the bills in a pretty paisley file that says "Pay Me" makes the task slightly less daunting.  For more great ideas on keeping clutter controlled (and possibly even cute!), visit Buttoned Up. I just did and was quite pleased to find an article on getting organized for a move.  So, should we actually sell our house, I will know what to do next!

Home Sweet Home: Preparing to say good-bye to "My First House"

"The Lyons Den"... a.k.a. "Home Sweet Home"

When we first discovered we were going to have triplets, bringing our tally of children to five tykes under four, I was absolutely stunned.  Shocked.  So much so that my initial response was “where we will we live?!”  I couldn’t envision how we’d fit five small children in our tiny three-bedroom house.  Of course, once the reality of the high-risk pregnancy set in, I became far more concerned with their health (and mine!) than our housing logistics.

Fast forward four years.  We are blessed to have five spunky, healthy children aged seven and under.  We survived the arrival of the triplets, many sleep deprived nights and the arrival and departure of baby items that simplified our lives and cluttered our cozy home – for instance, a triple set of bouncy seats, high chairs and pack & plays.  These have been handed down while our tots have been growing up.

Today, our seven-year old “big guy” and five year old “princess” share a room (and a dresser!) and the triplets do too.  As they get bigger, my stoic approach that “each kid only needs one drawer!” is getting harder and harder to hold on to;  you can fit many more onesies and baby clothes in a drawer than you can size 3T pants and shirts!

It is this crowding of the drawers and overcrowding of our house that led us – at long last – to put it on the market.  We’ve always known we needed more space. Over the past few years, we’ve flirted with other homes, longing for their master bedroom suites and spacious playrooms.  We’ve been so bold as to put offers on a few, only to wake up the next day wondering what we had done and scrambling to undo it.  We weren’t ready to make a move.  And now, I suppose, we are.  But the very notion summons up such nostalgia, I’m not sure I’ll ever really be ready to leave this house behind. 

We arrived here seven years ago and it was the perfect “my first house.”  Even so, I hated it.  We moved in on a Friday and I went back to work the next Monday, leaving my 3-month old firstborn son behind as I rode the train to the city.  The city was my home; I knew my way around and was surrounded by friends and family.  It was really difficult for me to make the transition to our bucolic little home in the suburbs but now, seven years and four more children later, I love it.   It’s hard to imagine saying good-bye to this humble abode that has truly become our “Home Sweet Home.”

I relished giving all five of our children bottles on our front porch.  Watching them play in the backyard.  Helping them climb up the stairs, out of their cribs and into my arms.  In the seven years we’ve lived here, our babies have become children and we’ve all grown older and wiser.  It’s time to move on.  But it’s so hard to go.  Especially when I don’t know where the road will lead us.  I can only hope that when we find our next house, it too will quickly become a home as sweet as this.