January 5, 2015

2015 - Move the Rowing Machine

This is the year! The year we start living without clutter! Living in a house where all things have a place, and I'm not constantly worried about being buried alive under Legos.

I want to turn on the fire place this year without having to worry about melting the toys set haphazardly in front of it.

I want to sit in my living room and not stare at my husband's rowing machine situated under the mantle. (The one that he promised he needed because he would use it every day!)

I want to open the upstairs closet to find a gift bag without shoving back a roll of tape, a balancing act of books and a few photo albums from 2004.

I could go on for days with all my wishes for 2015, but I'll keep it simple.

This is the year that I want to live in a house that I don't have to clean before people come over! I know that's a tall task for a family of 5, but we can do it! (It's a new year, I'm overly optimistic!)

I found a book titled, "It's All Too Much", by Peter Walsh. He's a professional organizer from the show Clean Sweep. It says the Master Bedroom is the most important room in the house. (I must start there.) It's where the parents find peace and calm, and set the mood for all relationships in the house.

The first step is to picture the Master Bedroom that you would want to live in. I tried that. It turns out it's the hotel room at the Rosewood. Since we can't move in, I'm going to recreate it!

I love the book so far. It's given a few very helpful tips.

1. If you haven't used it in 12 months. Get rid of it! Trash, donate, or give back to the original owner.
2. Decide the purpose of a specific room. Does each item in that room fit the purpose? If not, get rid of it.
3. Take 10 minutes every day to go through one area in your house. De-clutter! Get everybody onboard. (This might be an issue.)

A few year's back I was racing for an airplane in Boston. I was carrying my suitcase and running through the terminal. I realized I was out of shape, but really needed to make my plane. At that moment I made a change in my life. I set out to run a 1/2 marathon. Not because the 1/2 marathon sounded exciting, but I needed a goal to help me train. I joke that I keep in shape to prepare for an emergency, like running for an airplane.

The same is true for anything in life. Why wait? Start the change you want to happen now. 2015 is the year we dig out of Legos, and move the rowing machine!




3 comments:

Amy Heinz said...

Love this! We're packing up to move to a smaller rental while our house is rebuilt and I'm definitely loving getting rid of things. Even two of my kids are on the donate bandwagon with me. Now, maybe I need to get Big to read this book...

Best of luck! You certainly rocked your 1/2 goal and I know you'll do this right too.

Lori said...

Thanks Amy! Good-luck on the move. That is exciting! It sounds like you have your team onboard with the de-cluttering! It takes a village. The more the merrier. Three year olds though work in the opposite direction!

YogaMama said...

Me too! Of course, I've had this intention for the past 7 years, but it doesn't hurt to keep working to de-clutter. Unlike Amy, we'll be living in our house during our renovation -- in pretty cramped quarters -- so minimalism will be key. I started out today weeding out my son's room. A big accomplishment! And I feel so, so good. I'm hoping the momentum sticks!