NOTE: The following is a guest post from Rose Lounsbury from roselounsbury.com I’m sharing some advice today that, as a minimalism and simplicity blogger, I never thought I’d say…  Embrace the mess.  You might think I’ve forgotten what my blog is about, but hang with me.  I’m a very orderly person.  After decluttering my home about 10 years ago, I started a business helping other women simplify their lives.  I’m really good at taking chaos and turning it into neat lines.  I have triplets. From the moment they were born, I put them on a sleeping and eating schedule ..read more

The following is a guest post from Mollie Donghia from This Evergreen Home. You may have gotten quite successful at decluttering your home of the unneeded “things”, where you’ve learned to hang onto what adds value and reduce the rest. If you have, you’ve likely seen the peace that results from owning less and having fewer items to manage.  But decluttering your home is only one way to create meaningful life change. I believe that even more importantly, we need to declutter our souls, too.  Have you ever stopped to consider what kind of mental clutter has built up inside of you? I’m ..read more

The following is a guest post from Julia Ubbenga of Rich In What Matters. Minimalism often conjures up an image of a traveling nomad owning only the contents of a backpack. Or a single person sleeping on a mat in his tiny, white-walled, barely furnished apartment. But here is a word, that, when merged with minimalism, needs to be normalized: motherhood. Minimalism and motherhood go together. Why? Because minimalism—living with less stuff, fewer commitments, and more space to focus on what matters—is a way to opt out of the overwhelm now accepted, and almost expected, to accompany mom-life ..read more

“I don’t have the time to declutter.” I hear this all the time from my listeners and the hundreds of women in my free Facebook group. The truth is that you can declutter your home in small chunks of time – as little as 15 minutes a day – and I’m here to support you every step of the way! Here are my top 10 decluttering tips with links to my podcast episodes where you can dive in and learn more! 1. Never start with sentimental items. When it comes to decluttering, it’s important that you start with the “low-hanging fruit” of the most unemotional, sentimental things you own. I actually recommen ..read more

Overwhelmed by my full-time job, suffering from chronic people-pleasing, and struggling to get pregnant after an “unexplained infertility” diagnosis, I was seeking answers back in December 2014. Hoping to form some foundational habits, I joined the Sea Change Habits program with Leo Babauta from Zen Habits. By Leo Babauta’s recommendation, I read The Minimalists‘s book called Everything That Remains. This powerful memoir introduced me to minimalism and decluttering, and gave me fresh insight into what was causing my overwhelm. I learned that removing that which didn’t serve me and living in al ..read more

The following is a guest post from Julia Ubbenga of Rich In What Matters. The more I read and listen to decluttering experts’ content, the more I realize that I decluttered our home in a nonconventional way. I was several months postpartum with our second child when I dove into minimalism, and I felt as short on time as I was on sleep.  While I knew there wasn’t a right or wrong way to declutter our home, I also knew whatever little free time I dedicated to decluttering had to be effective. My days were dominated by diapers and feeding people. I didn’t have time or energy to spare. I ..read more

“No matter what I do, my home keeps getting cluttered. Help!” I hear this time and time again from my readers and podcast listeners. They get on a decluttering kick, only to look around a few months later and wonder how the clutter returned. Perhaps you can relate? Clutter culprits are like unwelcome freeloading roommates who don’t add anything to our life but seemingly refuse to leave. So what can we do? Here are my best tips for kicking four major clutter culprits to the curb – for good! Culprit #1 – Clothing Are you constantly drowning in clothing and can never get ahead of laundry, and ye ..read more

I’ve always considered myself a clean and tidy person. There were hints all the way back in elementary school that I would pursue something in the decluttering and organization field. When we had indoor recess, I would clean and organize the desks of other students for a quarter (I am a child of the 80’s so not sure what that would be with inflation!) My parents didn’t have to chide me to keep my room clean, as I didn’t like having a mess to begin with. Eight years into my minimalism journey, I was excited to read about the concept of “messy minimalism” in Rachelle Crawford’s book by the same ..read more

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Kara Walker. What does a lawn mower in the kitchen, eight can openers that you don’t need, and a relative dropping off keepsakes you don’t want (but don’t know how to tell her) have in common? A waking nightmare for minimalists! There is so much freedom from stress when everything is in its proper place, and the extras aren’t crowding out space. How much so with our money! Often modern Americans, as Dave Ramsey says, “Buy things we don’t need with money we don’t have to impress people we don’t like.” Yet minimalists desire to be more intentional with thei ..read more

As I grow older, I become more and more weary of New Year’s resolutions. I welcome the “fresh start feeling” of a new year, however, I have learned time and time again that I am part of the 91% of Americans that don’t achieve their resolutions. I have become consistent in many areas of my life, including following a 5-day a week exercise regimen for 26 months (and counting) and completing a 244 day Bible-reading streak in 2022. But I attribute this to putting the necessary systems in place in order to build these habits slowly over time, and not because of the motivation or willpower that ofte ..read more