Contentment

Walking across the threshold of hundreds of homes for over 12 years gives a person a whole new perspective of the sense of contentment....and the lack thereof.  I've worked in homes the size of small arenas and homes the size of a shoebox, and no matter the size, there is always a battle for CONTENTMENT.

Holman Bible Dictionary defines contentment like this...“An internal satisfaction which does not demand changes in external circumstances”.  I want that. Don't you? Satisfaction with who I am, what I have, and where I live. Life would be so much easier if we would embrace contentment every single day.  There is much freedom in living a content life. Freedom from feeling the need to know and to have and see what the world is doing all the time. Freedom from needing MORE. Ya see, that's where the problems begin. When we think we NEED more stuff to be content. When we have the more that we think we need, then we have to deal with it.

When we live a discontent life, we are often caught in a position of comparison. Years ago I heard a pastor say.."Comparison is the thief of joy". And it's so true. When we compare our lives with the lives of others, we lose our joy for the gifts we have been given. Everything in the world belongs to God. We are only managers of all this stuff on planet earth.  How well are you managing what you have been given? So often we take on more stuff when we cannot seem to manage what we already have. And we lose our peace, and we lose our joy.

So how does one find a life of contentment?  In the Book of Philippians, the Apostle Paul writes..."I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. " Philippians 4:12 NIV  - His secret was that he had found where true joy exists. Not in the things of this world. Not in popularity or fancy living. Not in the wisdom of this world, but in all things eternal. In things that are lasting. In Jesus Christ. I think Paul was a pretty cool dude. He had found the secret after many years of living a discontent lifestyle.

We can't take one thing from this life with us into the next can we?  So why do we waste so much time fretting over what we don't have and taking on more than we can handle? Well, because sometimes, we are just dumb sheep in need of some clear direction. This week while you walk around your home "doing inventory" of all that you have been given, remember to do these things too:

1. Give thanks the Lord for what He has already given to you.

2. Tell Him you are sorry for thinking that it was not enough.

3. Find joy in the season of your life that you are currently living.

4. Create fun spaces with the things that you already have to make your heart happy.
5. Make a check list of the things that create discontentment in your heart and keep it up on your mirror as a reminder of where you don't want to be.

6. Think less about what you want and more about what you already have.

7. Stop comparing yourself to others!

8. Donate to a worthy cause (fundraiser, Good Will, a single mom in need).

9. Rearrange your furniture. Sometimes re-purposing what you already have, makes you feel like you got something new.

10. Be content.

Finding real peace is a process.  The Apostle Paul could tell you that ! He was the most discontent man on planet earth. Until he met Jesus.  Then everything changed. It can change for you too!  A life in Christ will bring contentment to every area of your life.  Home and Heart : )

Press on towards that PEACE y'all!

Faithfully yours,
Kim B.

Clutter....worse than dirt.

Isn't that the truth? Clutter DOES like to breed. Seems that just when we get one area under control, another area has crept in and taken over.  That's why I tell my clients that a maintenance program is so important when it comes to staying ahead of the clutter in your home.  Just like a diet!  Once you lose the weight you gotta embrace the maintenance program or the pounds will creep back on.  Once you have purged that closet or rearranged those cabinets, or set up that new filing system, ya gotta put some boundaries around it to keep the clutter from creeping back in!

Here are a few things that I do to keep clutter under control in my world:

1. Spend 10 minutes every morning/evening putting things back where they belong.

2. Open the mail over the garbage can.

3. Use my shredder to keep paper management under control.

4. Go through my closet every 3 months and pull out what I am NOT EVER wearing.

5. Keep a "donate bag" in your closet or mudroom open and ready to fill at all times.

6. When I buy something new, the "one thing in...one thing out method" is put into action.

7. Clear all work spaces every day (including my desk, dining room table and kitchen counters).

8. Purge old food in my frig weekly to make room for more and to avoid salmonella.

9. Check spaces that are used often to see if they are filling up and need some relief.

10. Buy what I need, not necessarily what I want.  Avoid shopping when I'm hungry, angry, lonely and tired. I ALWAYS buy too much when my world seems hopeless.

Let's breath some new life into our clutter maintenance program and use this summer to get some control of the stuff that is controlling us. Your home deserves the attention, and you will find that you actually have more time on your hands when you are dealing with less clutter. More time to focus on the things that really matter.

Like going to the beach and reading that good book. Yes, that's where you will find me.

Cheers to a clutter free summer y'all!

Happy Organizing!
Kim B.

Some Resources to Organize YOU!



This is YOUR YEAR!



Below is a super list of websites for organizing resources to help your 2012 get off to an organized start!

GENERAL SUPPLIES

Ikea: http://www.ikea.com/
Target stores: http://www.target.com/

GENERAL OFFICE SUPPLIES

Avery: http://www.avery.com/

MomAgenda: http://www.momagenda.com/

Neat Co.: www.neat.com/products

Office Depot: http://www.officedepot.com/

Office Max: http://www.officemax.com/

Quill: http://www.quill.com/

Staples: http://www.staples.com/

UNIQUE AND BEAUTIFUL OFFICE SUPPLIES

Levenger: http://www.levenger.com/

russell + hazel: http://www.russellandhazel.com/

See Jane Work: http://www.seejanework.com/


HOME IMPROVEMENT/CLOSETS

Home Depot: http://www.homedepot.com/

Lowe's: http://www.lowes.com/


ORGANIZING PRODUCTS

Bed, Bath & Beyond: http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/

The Container Store: http://www.containerstore.com/

Crate & Barrel: http://www.crateandbarrel.com/

Current Catalog: http://www.currentcatalog.com/


Hold Everything: http://www.holdeverything.com/

Lillian Vernon: http://www.lillianvernon.com/

Linens-n-Things: http://www.lnt.com/


OnlineOrganizing: http://www.onlineorganizing.com/

Organize.com: http://www.organize.com/

Organized A to Z: http://www.organizedatoz.com/

Pottery Barn: http://www.potterybarn.com/

Rubbermaid: http://www.rubbermaid.com/

Stack and Stacks: http://www.stacksandstacks.com/

Storables: http://www.storables.com/

SCRAPBOOKING

Creative Memories: http://www.creativememories.com/

Cheers to a New Year!  Will a little less clutter and a lot more peace!

Simply Yours,
Kim B.

Container Clutter

While helping my clients purge to pack to move, I've noticed a recurring issue house to house. CONTAINER CLUTTER. Shoe boxes, containers, old cardboard boxes, etc. saved for those "things" you may ONE DAY put in them.  They seem so useful. The right size. Handy. Stackable. The problem is, they pile up quickly, eating up space in our homes, rarely used to their fullest.

Container clutter is one of the biggest space eaters in your home. Once or twice a month schedule a "container/boxes" inventory day to see what can go and what you WILL use. 

Then the next time you tackle an organizing project and think you need to shop for containers to tidy up your space, first reference your inventory to find ALL the containers and shoe boxes that already live there and repurpose your stock.

Containers are great, but only keep what you have room to store and walk in freedom as you donate and toss the rest : )

Notebooks

Are you a note taker? 
I am a BIG TIME note taker.  I take notes in church, from the radio, while watching TV, or whenever I need to write something down so that I don't forget it later.  We have so much information coming at us all the time, and it's really hard some days to keep up!  AMEN?  So ya know what I do?  I keep little notebooks in my purse, book bags, car console and on my nightstand.  Small enough to keep my purse from overflowing and big enough to take down a substantial amount of information when needed.

Notebooks are great to have on hand when someone needs to give you directions, a phone number or a date for your calendar.  When you're on the go, sometimes it's much easier to have pen and paper ready.  IPhones and Blackberry's are good for jotting down quick information too, but we don't always have time to pull up the app, and type. The good old fashion pen and pad has proven to be the best solution for me. Below is a photo of the notebooks I like best.  The brands I use are called Hot Chocolate and/or
Studio C.  Both can be purchased at your local Target or CVS stores.  I simply love their whimsical and colorful presentation. And two other fabulous features are their stretch straps that keep the pages protected and closed as well as an inside pocket for extra notes or business cards. 

Cute! Useful! Economical! And they pack a purposeful punch. 

What are you waiting for? Go shopping and get your thoughts and note taking covered!

You don't want to miss another incredible piece of information do you?

This little tool could be the beginning of the rest of your organized life (and thoughts!).

 

Don't forget to buy one in every color!!



5,000 Digital Photo's?

 

I bet you have a million pictures just sitting on your computer at home?  Am I right? If you are like me, and you love taking pictures, you've probably accumulated enough to fill 1000's of albums.  I'll bet if you layed those albums side by side, fillled up with all your memories, they could  probably reach from here to Texas!  That's A LOT of pictures.

If you're like me, you probably have some of those photo's in folders on your computer, some labeled with titles, some with dates and some with a series of numbers that give you no clue as to what is what. Day after day you say to yourself.." THIS WEEK, I'm gonna organize all my photo's on my computer!"  And then another year goes by and you've accumulated another 1000 photo's.  Sound familiar?

Wherever you may be in the process of gaining some control of all your precious memories (or not), let's look at some things we can do today to make the process easy and once and for all, give those pictures a real home.

• First of all, choose a software program that can help you organize your photo's.  There are a number of programs to choose from, but for starters, here are a few that I think are good.  Picasa is a good free option, and iPhoto is great too.  These programs help you do some basic editting and organizing.
• Next, decide how you would like to organize your photo's.  You can group them into chronological order (by date), or alphabetically (by category), giving each folder a title (ex: Kids/Kentucky Vacation 2011/Scenary, etc.).  Or both.
• Label your photo's with a description.   Give each photo a name and date.  For instance the lable for this photo below would look like this....20110401-Miles.  That way, when the computer sorts your photo's alphabetically, they will also come up in chronological order.

• The most important tip for organizing your photo's on your computer is USE YOUR DELETE BUTTON! You may think that every picture you took has value, and perhaps they do.  But it's so much easier to manage a reasonable amount of EXCELLENT pictures, as opposed to 1000's of just O.K. shots.  Use your delete button and wipe out all those out of focus shots, duplicates and bad shots.  This will help you cut down on your snap happy clutter and you will value the ones that you keep so much more! 
• Back up your pictures!  You should have an external hardrive for your computer to backup ALL photo's (and documents).  You can save pictures to a disk, external hardrive or an online site (ex; Snapfish, Shutterfly, etc.). I actually prefer both.  My pictures are stored on my computer hardrive, backed up to my external unit, and over time, I've saved many to an online website.  Online websites also make it easy to share mulitiple photo's with your friends and family and to create fun albums and gifts for people you love.

Getting organized is a matter of time, and your memories are worth it!  Set a goal to have all your digital pictures purged, sorted, dated and named by a certain time period.  Then break down the project by weeks.  In no time, you will have created an online photo storage that is ready for the albums you want to create or the family reunions you will attend. 

Keep taking pictures!  But don't forget to take some time to manage your memories too.

My Favorite Things

Today has been a reminiscent day of all things I love and things that have proven useful and beautiful to me.  I thought I'd share some of them with y'all.  And you are welcome to hum "My Favorite Things" by Julie Andrews as you peruse MY favorite things : )

Daisies....the happiest flower.

Cool Car Containers for things you need everyday.

The best store on planet earth.

Beautiful totes in EVERY color. I cannot have enough tote bags!

It's a fetish...I admit it.

Old window pane used as home decor. Super idea from

my pal Annie.

Cool signs that encourage and inspire!

My new jewelry tree inspired by Kara M.

Doubles as home decor and obviously very useful.

Sweet refreshment. Need I say more?

My faithful assistant.

Miles the Wonder Dog!

Jesus...the One and Only.

Happy Easter (a little early)!

Every pathway that leads to the beach!

These are a few of my favorite things!