The Two Week Challenge To a Simple Home

Time to get practical! Let’s take a small simple step each day for ten days to both simplify and beautify our home. You can do these however you like: spend two weeks, Monday-Friday, doing one a day; start tomorrow and spend the next ten days; or just work on it as you have time, and do as much or little as you can. Most importantly, let’s have fun making our home beautiful!

• Day 1: Pick one surface in your home that’s bothering you and remove everything from it. Dust/wipe it down, then carefully consider each item that was on it. If there were things piled there that go elsewhere, then return them to their homes. Throw away trash and add any obvious things to a donation box. Only replace what is truly needed here, and what you love. Clear surfaces are like a deep breath for your brain.

• Day 2: Grab a black trash bag (so nobody else can see what you put in it 😉), and walk your house with it looking for trash to get rid of. This includes actual trash that’s missed/spilled over the trash can, as well as things that are broken, torn, or that aren't worth either keeping or passing on to someone else. Please don’t donate things that other people can’t use! 

• Day 3: Consider where you can add a “home base” in your house. Myquillyn Smith, author of Cozy Minimalist Home, is known for this idea. Consider where clutter naturally accumulates in your house and add a container there to hold it. She uses the example of her kitchen island, which has lots of things floating on and off of it all day (water bottles, glasses people want to reuse, things like that). The idea is to add a tray or basket, and only set stuff down on it instead of spreading it all over the kitchen island. This is visually peaceful because our brains then group the individual items together as one (we see the tray instead of the five water bottles, for example). You can use a container in this way to hold things that need to sit out, like your soap and lotion on the bathroom counter.

• Day 4: Replace one old, dingy looking container in your house with something prettier. Which of the organizers in your house annoys you every time you look at it because it’s a color you hate, or it’s scratched up, or it looks like it belongs in your kid’s room? How can you replace it with something pretty? Don’t assume this means spending a lot of money at The Container Store. Dollar Tree often has containers that are at least semi-pretty, or Target dollar spot. And if you switch things out gradually it will be much easier. Sometimes we even have things floating around our house we can repurpose that are pretty, like a vase you can use to hold your kitchen utensils. Or maybe you can paint the basket so it looks better? Getting creative as we find solutions for our home can be half the fun.

• Day 5: Consider one container in your house that is overflowing. It could be large like a shelf or small like a basket. Take everything out, then start replacing items with your favorites first. Once the container is full, it's time to get rid of the rest.

• Day 6: Wash all your windows today so they’re ready to let in the sparkly sunshine this Spring.

• Day 7: Use a damp microfiber cloth to touch up little spots around the house. Consider walls, trim, table legs, even your couch cushions; microfiber cloths can work wonders for removing scuffs, spots, and even simple stains.

• Day 8: Light a candle today. If by some chance you’re the rare person who doesn’t own ANY candles (since most of us have cabinets full of ones that we haven’t burned), you hereby have permission to buy one, even if all your budget will allow is a cheap one from the dollar store or Wal-Mart. If you want to splurge, my favorites are from Antique Candle Company.

• Day 9: Set the table extra pretty for supper tonight. Challenge yourself to use what you have, whether it’s tablecloths, cloth napkins, fresh flowers, candles, etc. Get your kids involved if possible; my kids love to make the table beautiful!

• Day 10: Set one small goal for your home: do you want to learn to make your own hand soap? Or sew a new set of curtains for a room? Maybe you want to get a houseplant or new lamp for the living room, or plant some flowers out front. Maybe you just want to challenge yourself to sit outside everyday for at least five minutes and enjoy your yard. Anything counts, as long as it fits with your time and budget! Use this as an opportunity to spur you on to continue making small tweaks to your home that bring you joy.