home decorating

"We don’t need to increase our goods nearly as much as we need to scale down our wants. Not wanting something is as good as possessing it.” - Donald Horban

Last night we had a Relief Society activity where we got to visit other people's homes in the neighborhood. We went to four homes (and a backyard, so on the way to the backyard, we peeked in the home briefly) and they were all lovely. So nicely decorated, different styles, but all fabulous. I'll be the first to admit that I have no eye for decorating a home. On the very rare occasion that I do have an idea, it takes me 6 months to two years to get around to implementing it. I like to think I'd be better if we had more money to spend on things like decorating, but I don't think it's true. So, I felt kinda bummed after the fun activity, just because I want my home to be beautiful and homey. But then I realized that the MOST important thing I can do right now is GET RID OF STUFF. The lack of clutter is one thing all the homes had in common, and getting rid of stuff is free! Last month I decided I didn't like using the top of the kitchen cabinets for storage because it looked cluttery, so I cleaned out and reorganized the pantry so the important items could fit in there. I've seen lots of houses with cute decorative stuff on top of the cabinets, but we don't have a lot of room there, so I don't know what, if anything, would look good. I might have to consult some of the ladies from last night. But, I do like the "empty" look a lot better than the cluttered look, so that's something!

So, that's my plan. I am involved in a lot of things that lend to clutter, or at least, require materials: homeschooling, cloth-diapering, keeping pets, sewing, letting the kids do arts/crafts... But there has to be a way to do these things and not let the stuff take over my life. I'm committed to figuring out how.

I found these two articles on Zen Habits with great tips. Last night I cleaned out my inbox on my desk. Now I need to clean the rest of the desk!