I just got home from a trip, so this week I’m sharing a favorite post from the archives most of you haven’t seen. I recently received a package of papers my late dad who passed away in 2017 had saved from my childhood. It included report cards, IEP (Individual Education Plan) evaluations, and school work from my elementary school years. I don’t think I’ve ever seen these things before. What shocked me most was the teachers’ comments. Maybe it’s because I had some concept of free will, that I made choices over my life to shape who I am today. But realizing that I’ve apparently been The Way I Am ..read more

My attic curtain solution to reduce visual clutter has been popular with readers, but we haven’t talked much about what’s going on with the stuff they hide. The day is fairly here, friends, to explore what lies behind the curtains! Is the suspense killing you? First a brief origin story. Back when I was contemplating finishing our basement (Before & After and the full story here), I needed a game plan for where we’d put all the things that had till then lived in the basement. As will surprise no one, I feel strongly about being super intentional with what you store and how. I felt block ..read more

I realize this headline reads like the worst clickbait trash, but bear with me. Today I’m going to talk about how to lighten the load of running your house machine. Now that you’ve created stations and systems so everything has a home, all that’s left is to actually do the maintenance work of running the systems. Many (most?) people approach housework as a once a week or once a month project. Saturday afternoon is here, time to tidy the house! I’m guessing that’s not how most people prefer to spend a weekend afternoon. I don’t ever spend more than 10 minutes at a time tidying my house, unless ..read more

I never thought that running my life without having to think would become a core goal in my life. But two kids, a couple mortgages, and a household to run later, here we are. With so much going on, I could easily spend every hour of my day consumed with administrative tasks, but for me this would be unfulfilling. I want to be creative, I want to write, I want to do bigger things than just keep the proverbial lights on. But I also do want a tidy entryway in my house. Photo by Rachel Claire If I have to problem solve every little thing throughout the day (where are my keys? what do I pack for ..read more

Welcome, new readers — I’m thrilled you’re here! This week’s post is the continuation of a series on essential systems concepts. The first was about leverage (Why cleaning before the cleaners come is a great use of time), and this week we’ll talk about lifting the mental load. ? If you’d like to go deeper building systems for your own home, I offer 1:1 sessions, with a hefty discount for paid subscribers. These days a lot of the discussion around “mental load” relates to (generally women’s) overwhelm in parenting and domestic matters. That is something very real and worth diving into, but for ..read more

I’m sharing an interview with me that appeared yesterday in one of my favorite newsletters, . Laura, a longtime journalist and author, shows people how to make small space living work for any household (her dreamy Bunk Bed Book was my first introduction to her work). Being organized and intentional about your space is intrinsic to small space living, so Laura and I had lots to talk about. I’m sharing with my readers as a peek into the person and home behind Your House Machine. For those who discovered me through this interview: welcome, welcome! Here are some past essays to get you started: al ..read more

Another week, another esoteric scientific principle applied to your home. But first, I’m touched at how many of you have upgraded to paid subscriptions. Thank you, thank you!! At the same time, I’m realizing that bifurcating content as paid vs not paid also bifurcates community. So I’m going to be experimenting with the format and how/where the paywall appears. If you are a paid supporter, I deeply appreciate you. And if you’re not, I hope you’ll consider supporting this labor so I can continue bringing you overthought pontifications on bits of home life! Upgrade to Paid This is the first of a ..read more

Welcome to my first post for paid subscribers! I appreciate you all being willing to go on this journey with me as the newsletter evolves (more on how I think about it here). Free subscribers will get a preview, and paid subscribers get the whole thing. I hope you’ll consider subscribing if you enjoy my work and want to support it continuing! And if money is tight, know that I value comments and participation just as much as payment — reply to this email and I’ll happily comp you. Subscribe now This is a story about how I went from spending almost $2 per cup on my daily homemade matcha latte t ..read more

I hope you enjoyed my foray into financial matters over the past month. This week I return to my bread & butter: household organizing fine tuning, this time focused on my kitchen cabinets. But first, an update on the direction of Your House Machine. Last February I launched this newsletter under a dreamy premise: “What is something I could write endlessly about and never get bored?” I gave myself 1 year to see if the newsletter could get traction, which I defined as 1,000 subscribers by the following February (aka right now). Well, guess what happened on January 31? I crossed the 1,000 sub ..read more

We are trying something new here at Your House Machine — a series on financial minimalism. Finances are a big part of a life’s system, and I for one don’t feel like things are running smoothly in life if I don’t have a handle on my finances. Part 1 of the series covered the foundation: spending and budgeting, emotions around money, insurance, and estate planning. Now let’s learn about how a minimalist approaches investing, a topic that used to intimidate me but which now gives me peace (if you can believe it!). NYC’s Financial District. Source Why I’m a Fan of Investing Of all the topics I c ..read more