I don’t really do resolutions in January. If anyone knows us, they know that we can be pretty driven people and sometimes workaholics. It’s not news to us that we can be like this. But, that means that our goals are often to slow down and it’s something that is always a focus…just not always a reality.
I originally planned to write about something top resolutions for simplicity. It could be really poetic and deep, but instead, I just want to share some down and dirty things we do to keep our life simple.
Here are ten quick things we’ve done to simplify our home:
- Bulk Burritos. It takes us a couple hours at a time, but we’ll make mass quantities of snack/lunch burritos and also breakfast burritos. These make for great on-the-go meals that you feel good about.
- White Dishes. We have a hodge podge collection of dishes (because we know they inevitably break), but they’re all white. No patterns here. I purposely did it this way so that it can be an eclectic mix, but also still ‘match.’ Oh, and since our log cabin has open shelving, they also look pretty too.
- Buy bulk toilet paper. That LAST thing you need is to run out of tp. So, do yourself a favor and buy a ton to store in your basement as backup.
- Recycling can nearby. We have a normal-to-small kitchen and don’t have room for a recycling can AND a garbage can, so we put our main recycling can/bin just outside our back door. This makes it easy to recycle, without cluttering up our counters with items waiting to go out to our garage.
- Dyson cordless vacuum. I didn’t realize a vacuum could change my world, but when we bought this a couple months ago, it did just that. Seriously, cordless vacuums are a game-changer. And, the Dyson does well with the fur from our pups too!
- Scissors Everywhere. We keep scissors in multiple rooms of the house, in the garage, and even in the barn. It just makes life so much easier to grab it where you need it. Same thing works well with flashlights too!
- Two cordless drills. The minimalist in me is freaking out after the previous item and now this, but seriously, two drills makes a difference. When you are using a drill bit and screwdriver head for a project like building something, or installing gutters (like we did last week), it saves you a ton of time!
- Laundry bins for every person in the house. Since we have two main people in our home, we actually have three bins: one for hubby, one for wifey, and one for kitchen/bath/bedding. When we unload the dryer, we simply sort as we pull stuff out, and THEN we can fold it later. Then, when we’re ready to put the clean laundry away, each person just grabs their respective bin.
- Date your applesauce and salsa when you open it. Okay, it doesn’t have to be exactly applesauce and salsa for you, but in our house these are two items that we’ll open, and then weeks later forget how old they are. A simple two-second step to write the date you open it on the top can help you know when it’s time to toss or still eat.
- Towels by the door. If you don’t have dogs this may not apply to you, but where we live our dogs can track in muddy or wet paws during most of the winter. We have a small decorative “cube” that we leave near our back door that we hide a handful of old towels to use to wipe off wet paws, or mop up melted snow.
Our life is not simple yet. I wonder if it ever will be. We seem to welcome new challenges just when we’re getting in a rhythm. Gluttons for punishment, eh? But, I also know that we’ve figured a few things out that have made life just a smidge more simple. Hopefully, you can find some ideas that work for your own home!