The Unavoidable Clutter

I think in everyone's lives there is a certain amount of unavoidable clutter. The unavoidable clutter is the clutter that you HAVE to keep. Maybe it's school, or work or a volunteer obligation which requires to keep certain things you don't use often but for my house it's my husbands work clutter. It's not one of those moments where my spouse won't get on board, because he literally has about zero control over it.

We are a military family. Before my husband joined I was sure we would gain structure, and order from the military. That is pretty much the most untrue misconception I had about what our life would be like. Instead it's "hurry up and wait", last minute changes, moving every few years and what feels like a never ending supply of specialty gear. Gas mask, caps, hats, outerwear, base layers, bags, tools, dress uniforms, dress shoes, boots. The amount of gear is mind boggling sometimes. It even has it's own large orange tote where it lives.

So I would love to hear from you, readers. What is the 'unavoidable clutter' in your home? What do you do to keep it tamed and from making your home feel chaotic?


Kay xx

Starting

As we prepare for our big move (81 days and counting) I have already pitched a lot of stuff. A few big bags of cloths and goods. I have not, however, been as bruital as I want or should be to achieve my uncluttered dream.

When we returned home from a stressful church morning (ya know, one of the mornings you wonder why you bothered to drag your children and yourself out at all) and I was  itching to dejunk some thing. So, I hit the kids room.

I recently read a great article about making a capsule wardrobe and thought I could stand to go through my girls drawers and sew if I could manage to make them a capsule style wardrobe. Not only did it seem appealing from narrowing down the size, but also it could help my husband dress our girls in clothes that make sense and allow my three year old to make choices for herself without looking so removed from presentable.

Not long ago I went through the girls storage bins full of the baby stuff and the sizes our youngest is waiting to grow into that was her sisters. I felt I had gotten rid of a lot. I only saved gender neutral baby items and a sprinkling of clothes specific to each girl that have meaning. I also went through and removed things that would never be seasonable for my youngest since we are moving to an extremely cold climate. So while I was eager to shed some stuff I decided to start with the clothes in the dresser.

After using serious judgement and thinking about comfort and what I tend to pick for her to wear I got the littlest little down to 19 items in her dresser and 11 hanging in her closet. This doesn't include pjs which will meet the chopping block soon. It is hard. I am always worried that family will take it personally if I don't keep something they bought but often it is totally based on the kids preference, comfort or practicality. Also we live 4000 miles away, they truthfully will never know but I still have that guilt! Anyway, I felt so accomplished to have a basket overflowing with clothes going out. I still have some tweaking to do. A lot of the tops we have are patterned which mostly doesn't matter but there is one skirt that doesn't match any of the tops I chose to keep. It is one of the cutest skirts that my oldest passed down and so I haven't been able to let it go. Especially since she just recently grew out of it and there is a lot of wear left. So it stays for now. Next step, Little Miss and my own wardrobe!



Kay xxx