a fresh start.

Since moving into the farmhouse and sharing our journey online, I've had so many people contact me wanting a fresh start.

"I am so jealous that you get to start over."

"Seeing you put the new house together makes me want a fresh start for my house."

"I wish I could empty out our house and start again."

This opportunity to go through every single thing we own and make a decision about whether or not to keep it has been pretty amazing.

Add to it the fact that I get to decide exactly where it goes in the farmhouse, and I am feeling pretty good about our "fresh start".

However, last summer, I had that "fresh start" feeling when I did the KonMari method in my home and went through (almost) everything we owned.

I stalled near the end, as you might remember.

But I do have some tips to help you have your own fresh start in your home, even if you're not moving.

1. Stop buying stuff.

To start the process, you must stop bringing new stuff into your house.  Yes, there will be a time for buying new items that you love and adore, but not yet.

For now, just hold off on bringing anything new into your home.  

Deal with what you have.

There will be plenty of time to buy new things after you've gotten rid of everything you don't love.

2. Set an end date.

This one is something that many people don't think about, but it helped me immensely last summer when I went through and did my big house purge and it's helping now as I put the house together.

Find a date to work towards and mark it on the calendar.

For me, this year, that date is July 25th.

We are hoping to take the girls on a little lake vacation starting on the 26th and I don't want to leave one thing in the house undone.

I want to leave the house all peaceful and put together so when we come home from vacation, it's still all peaceful and put together.

3. Tidy by category.

This phrase is taken directly out of Marie Kondo's book called "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up".  

​By the way, I just looked and the book is on sale on Amazon right now for $9.89!

Tidying by category was a big one for me and really changed how I think about that dreaded task of decluttering.

I used to go room-by-room and purge items, then put the items I kept back, and finally decorate.

After reading Kondo's book, it hit me that I was keeping a lot of the same types of items in various rooms and for a lot of those belongings, having two or three separate sets was unnecessary.

​Kondo suggests an order and it seemed to work well for me.  I created a checklist to keep myself on track.

Click the image to the left to print your own checklist!

​The biggest thing to remember is that your categories might be different than anyone else.

For example, I created a category for myself that was "photography items".  

As I came across any photography-related items in the rest of my tidying endeavors, I put them into a box labeled as such.

I did this with all of my miscellaneous categories and dealt with those boxes when I got to that category on my list.

I left a few blank boxes for you to fill in your own random categories, but if you're like me, you'll need more than a few boxes!  Feel free to start your own list on another piece of paper or the back!  Don't overthink it!

4. Don't start organizing until you're done with several categories.

The temptation is there to start putting everything away before you're done with the discarding process.

From personal experience...don't do it.

Purge first...then organize.

Otherwise, you'll get one area completely organized and find something later that would have fit there so much better.

​5. Think in "stations".

I have started to think about my house in terms of where certain things happen.

This has really helped me to get organized and to stay organized (for the most part).

The brush, hair dryer, curling iron, & straightener are all in one accessible basket in the bathroom.

All of my Bible Journaling supplies are housed in one caddy in the office nook.

The coffee bar houses the K-cups sits near the mason jar I use to fill the Keurig.

The laundry detergent, stain remover, ​fabric softener, and dryer sheets are all in this (clearance) Laundry basket from Dollar General.

When you begin to think like this, your house starts to organize itself.  

Out in the mud room, our beach towels are now housed with the sunscreen & goggles...far away from the bath towels that they used to be stored with in the old house.  It just made sense to have them there, instead of taking up valuable room in the bathroom.

When you've done enough categories that you feel like it's time to start some organizing, make sure to keep this "station" mindset.

​6. Go quickly!

Don't think too much!  

When you pick up an item, ask yourself, "Does this spark joy?"  

If it does, keep it!  No questions asked!

If it doesn't spark joy, but it's something you need...keep those things too.  Toothpaste doesn't really spark joy for me, but I would sure like my family to continue brushing their teeth!

Go with your gut instinct about things.  

Try not to think in terms of what you "might need someday".  

If it's something you could borrow or replace pretty inexpensively if you ever "need" it again...throw it out!  

Donate it, trash it, or give it away to a friend.  

Get it out of your house, as soon as possible!

7. Decorate intentionally.

Put your belongings into categories and go through each category, ruthlessly purging items that you don't love or need.

Organize the leftover items into functional stations throughout the house.

Then...decorate!

Keep the decorations you love and start to think about what other items you might add to your decor collection.

This isn't something you have to do immediately.

I prefer to check Hobby Lobby every month or so and scour their clearance aisle for things that spark joy for me.

I hardly ever spend over $5 on any sort of decoration for my home.  

And when I do, it must be a joy-sparking item that I know will fit perfectly into my home!

These two items were joy-sparkers the moment I laid eyes on them!

The United States map that now hangs in the playroom cost me $39.99 on our mini-vacation to Pawhuska, Oklahoma and it was so worth that price!  

Every time I look at it, my heart leaps for joy!

In fact, yesterday when I hung it in it's home up in the girls' playroom, I couldn't stop smiling!  

I feel the same way about my Farmhouse sign from Hobby Lobby.  It's $22.50 now on Hobby Lobby's website!  I spent $27.00 on it because it was originally $45.00 and I had a 40% off coupon.  Again...so worth the price!

I know it might not be exactly the same as packing all of your belongings into tubs and moving into a new house, but I hope that I've given you some ideas for getting a fresh start in your current home!

Just remember to be intentional with all you do.

Purge.
Then organize.
​Then decorate.

Happy weekend, friends! ❤️