When Marie Kondo claimed that after reading her book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, and applying her principles thoroughly, people never go back to their former sloppy selves, I just scoffed.
I have been a slob my whole life, and I didn’t expect one grand purge to change that. But I realized something this weekend.
My habits HAVE changed.
Now, granted, it’s only been a few weeks, but as I was tidying up for the cleaning lady on Friday, and I noticed that there wasn’t that much to do!
This is quite remarkable since I traveled twice last month. Usually my suitcase sits around with remnants of clothing and shoes falling out of it for weeks after a trip.
Even when I’m not traveling, I always have clothes and shoes and jewelry strewn all across my bedroom and a stack of worn-but-not-dirty clothes stacked on the bathtub in my bathroom. And that’s just my area. The rest of the house usually requires a massive overhaul just to be cleanable.
I realized yesterday that I’ve been keeping up with my room and making my bed every day.
Usually I leave trails of clothing and shoes and jewelry in my wake after getting dressed in the morning, and then one day each week I have to do a massive cleanup session.
Not so anymore.
I’ve been taking the few extra minutes each day to make the bed and arrange the pillows, and I find myself putting each piece of clothing and jewelry back where it belongs when I’m done styling an outfit, rather than waiting to do it all at the end of the week.
Instead of rushing out and leaving remnants of my morning routine all over the bathroom counter and discarded exercise clothes dangling over the bathtub, I’ve been putting everything away and even wiping down the sinks and counter with a quick spray of Windex.
After the kids leave for school, I walk around the downstairs, open blinds, and arrange the throw pillows on the furniture. Even the desk in my office is staying in pretty good shape!
I am amazed. There really is something to be said for the KonMari method.
Now when I see things laying around, I find myself asking, Does this spark joy? If not, I toss it. If so, then I find a home for it.
Even my daughter, whose room has been the bane of my existence since she was old enough to talk, has been keeping up with her own room fairly well. It’s not perfect, but the improvement is remarkable. I can actually see the floor most days.
I’m loving it!!
In other news, I am blown away by the response to my Trunk Club post. I appreciate each and every comment.
It’s fun to hear your take on the “maybe” items, and on the service in general. Even those who admitted to finding the prices on some of the pieces startling were kind and constructive in their comments. Well, except one anonymous comment that I deleted. It takes a lot of guts to put myself out here every day, and I figure anyone who takes the time to make a rude comment should own it. So there.
Which brings me to a point that I feel I need to address. Let’s all be careful passing judgement on how people spend their money. We all have different budgets, different priorities, and different lifestyles. At the end of the day, everything is relative. I’m blown away by the $1500 handbags and $800 shoes I see some bloggers wearing, and I know some people are blown away by the fact that I wear $150 jeans. But no one should have to justify to someone else how they spend their money.
There’s this stigma about fashion bloggers getting so many perks and becoming out of touch with “regular people.” Well, we ARE regular people. Regular people come in all shapes and sizes and budgets. And running up a full-time blog is work hard, whether it’s fashion or food or travel or whatever it’s about. It looks like fun, and it is, but it is also hard work.
And at the end of the day, no one knows what we give to our churches and favorite charities, or how much we save for retirement and our kids’ college tuition; but fashion bloggers put the prices of our wardrobes out there for public consumption, and that’s a vulnerable thing.
(Also remember that some of the super high $$$ stuff is sent by brands. Whether or not we accept those items is another issue entirely, but it’s something we each have to decide for ourselves.)
I don’t want to belabor the point, but I needed to put that out here.
So my bedroom makeover is almost complete. My curtains are being hemmed, and I finally figured out my throw pillow situation. I know this should be such a big deal, but the bed really is the focal point of the room, and with the walls and curtains and bedding all being so neutral, I figured the pillows need to pop. Take a peek.
I decided to go with pops of blue. I still want to add Euro pillows behind the regular shams, and I saw a pair of blue lamps at Target yesterday that I want to add to my dresser, but that should pretty much wrap up my bedroom makeover.
I absolutely LOVE the light and airy feel of the room. It’s such a drastic change from the deep red and khaki I had going on for the last 10 years.
Today I’m off to church and then to visit the in-laws for the afternoon. That’s always a nice time.
Wait. What was that? Did you say something about a football game?
Yeah, I’m just not that into it, although I’m sure my husband and son will have it on. I’ll probably be watching reruns of House Hunters on my iPad.
I hope you all have a lovely Sunday!
Jolynne,
I think you do fine job of picking out budget friendly items as well as let us know in advance if something is spendy. I agree with you 100% that know one should judge how other spend there money, you worked for it you can use it how you please. I think its great that you and Cyndi have opening my eye to some new store that i didnt think were possible. I am now concerning trunk club.
Thanks for all you do
Nicki
Love your posts! I just purchased the Marie Kondo book on Friday and now I’m ready to get the whole house organized!!
I very recently discovered your blog and Pinterest posts, and just wanted to say “Thank you!” I really enjoy reading your posts and seeing your pictures. On this particular matter, I’ve owned this book for serious but haven’t picked it up to read it, but I will now. Again, thank you for sharing!
I agree with the importance of not judging each other and our spending. I think it is important to note that companies that make higher quality, more expensive clothing often provide better conditions for garment workers, while cheaper clothing is often manufactured under appalling factory conditions in other countries. I also don’t have a large clothing budget, but I like the concept of having fewer, but higher quality things, if that’s all I can afford. And of course waiting for sales always helps!
Having said this, I understand that many people have no choice but to shop at cheaper clothing companies. No judgement in my comments! I just think it is worth noting the dangerous, if hidden, consequences of “cheap” fashion. For me it’s all about trying to make more conscious (even if more expensive) fashion choices. And of course, as you have mentioned, part of that is donating the excess!
Oh I still have the red and khaki going on in my home. I just don’t even know where to start with changing it — it’s a bit overwhelming. You’ve sparked my redecorating cord though 🙂 Now maybe I just ease my husband into it….
Rude comments have no place on your blog. I think of this as your “home” and I am not going to come into your home and be rude. I agree with you 100% – if you’re going to be blatantly rude, own it. There is a big difference in stating an opinion vs being unacceptable.
I don’t know why some people think it’s okay to be rude and hurtful just because they’re behind a computer screen. Sorry you have to deal with that. Anyway I just wanted to add my vote for the LBD and the leather jacket. The dress looked awesome on you. Very flattering! The jacket is timeless and good quality so it will provide many years of wear so definitely worth the splurge. I personally didn’t care much for the vest. It kinda reminded me of Maude. Please tell me you remember that sitcom?? I may be dating myself lol. I appreciate you listing the sizes and prices for the items you style. It gives me a “heads up” before I click and see if my size is available. It’s easier to say ‘no’ before actually logging in on the Nordstrom (or wherever) site lol 🙂
I have been reading you blog for some time and am now just commenting. I love your styling and your honesty. And I totalyy agree….if you are going to be snarky…own your snark or be prepared to be deleted. A friend took me shopping when we were just out of college (she was a model so had a great sense of style). I need some professional clothing. With her guidance I bought some pieces that were pricey (at least to me at the time). Her comment…..you get what you pay for. And so true. Those pieces washed and wore so well. I got tired of them before they wore out. I got a pair of jeans thru Stitch FIx that were $65. WAYYYYYY more than I would actually prefer to pay. BUT ….these jeans fit SO well and still look new. So……you do get what you pay for. Have a great day!!
I love the throw pillows you chose. Hubby works 3Rd shift so it feels like there’s always someone in the bed so I rarely make it. It would probably be worth doing anyway though. My daughter is getting better at playing independently so it might be time to tackle my closet. I feel like my drawers are always full yet I wear half my clothes straight out of the wash, sounds like a sure sign of too much to me.
Also, I’m now convinced my daughter must have caused the issue with me not seeing all the images when I use my feedly. When I use it on my phone they’re all there!
This is a great post in so many ways! I think those of us on the other side of the computer screen sometimes forget (or need to be reminded) that bloggers are real people, with families, commitments and feelings. Because we get a peak into your life through your blog, we think we know everything about you. I appreciate being informed about the business of blogging (i.e how fashion bloggers don’t always keep the clothes they style, some of it is gifted to them, etc.) because it’s easy to think that an endless parade of new clothes to style would be a great job to have. I think it takes a lot of courage to put yourself out there like you do every day. I can’t imagine what it must be like to have strangers comment on your personal decisions, but I imagine it is just a part of the job description. It is so disheartening to see or hear of anonymous rudeness. This is the exact reason I’ve avoided Instagram…..seeing unkind comments on the Instagram feed of another blogger (about her children no less!) makes you wonder if all this connected-ness is really worth it.
That said, I appreciate the work that you do to make your blog current, relatable, worthwhile and informative. I read it every morning and always find it to be a positive and fun start to the day.
You go, girl! I love your blog, and I enjoy finding things I can afford, things for which I can bargain-shop, and things I can aspire to! I am thankful to live in a country where, if I want to live at a higher level, I can find ways to work harder/smarter and do so. I love to be motivated and inspired. I find ridicule, disdain and intimidation a wast of time and energy. Judging others for what they spend is a slippery slope. Find peace with where you are, inspiration for where you are going, and joy in every minute! Keep inspiring us to be better, brighter, in style and lovin’ life!
To be honest, I giggled at a lot of her book but have used the very things I giggled at in ordering my home. Ha! That’ll learn me.