When you hear about an "organized home,” what image pops into your head? I’m guessing you probably thought about some beautifulimage of a house you’ve seen on a home improvement show, Pinterest, a magazine, or somewhere else online. Maybe you thought about Joanna Gaines and the perfect restfulness that her photos invoke. Perhaps you breathed a wistful sigh at the feeling that attaining the order those kinds of images present seem out of your range. You long for more organization but always seem to come short. I know I have been in this situation!
Over the years I have found it helpful to ask the question “What is organization?” The answer might surprise you, but it has been life-changing for me. In our society, organization has become synonymous with the idea of perfection. This has intimidated so many. Yes, a well-organized home can bring about order to family life. However, having a picture-perfect home should not be the only goal. I believe that it’s time to redefine organization.
I believe our focus should shift from the perfect look we think we should have, to learning how to make our home efficient.
We can all get our homes looking good by stuffing items in the closets and drawers to get the house ready for guests. Outwardly we can declutter to temporarily make ourselves feel better, but like slime, the clutter oozes back out again before you know it!
Then there are some people who take organization too far and sacrifice functionality in order to create a certain appearance. You’ve probably seen those bookshelves with the books in order by the color of a rainbow. I don’t know about you, but I’d never find my books again since I don’t memorize what color the spine of a book is.
Especially in a family with young ones, the “perfection expectation” can feel overwhelming. We want to live in a museum of beauty, yet we have little people undoing things as fast as we clean up. What’s a family to do when little kids roam your halls and normal everyday life leaves you too exhausted to live up to this kind of standard?
Being organized doesn’t mean we have to have a perfect home, sterile and clean, at all times. Dust bunnies, crumbs, and spilled milk happen! I get it. It’s hard work juggling all the demands that mom life brings. As a mom of five, I know firsthand just how overwhelming it can be to keep up with everyday life and stay on top of all the messes that my little (and big) mess-makers create.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Photo Credit: Getty Images
My definition of home organization has more to do with increasing the efficiency in our home versus making our house look perfect. I like to say that I’m going for the “lived in and lovely” feel in my home.
Don’t get me wrong. If I’m hosting something at my house, we definitely take some extra time to get things picked up and looking good. However, I’ve learned to let go of some of my perfectionism.
I want to share a few things that I’ve learned once I redefined “organization” and refocused my goals to be centered around the need to be more efficient in how my family gets things done.
The absolute best place to start your organizing is with prayer. Pray for the Lord to give you inspiration in your homemaking. I pray for each room I tidy and ask God to help me get a vision for how that particular space can be best used.
“Commit your works to the Lord, and your thoughts will be established.” (Proverbs 16:3)
Most people understand the importance of prioritizing. We prioritize our family time and our schedules, but we typically don’t think about creating priorities for managing ourhome. Prioritize what is most important to you (and your family) to have done in your house on a regular basis. For example, counters are important to my husband, and floors are important to me. So, we make those two things a priority to keep clean and tidy. Those are actually the two hardest things to keep clean and tidy in our home. But when it happens, usually at the end of the day, — Ahh! It feels so good!
You know where your clutter hides. So, take time to create a plan of attack. One of the fastest ways that I create more efficiency in my home is to figure out where we seem to be spinning our wheels and wasting time cleaning up the same mess. Shoes scattered on the floor, dirty dishes stacking up, too many paper piles, messy bedrooms. Whatever your problem area is, focus on getting to the root of the problem. More often than not, a more regular “tidy time” is the solution. Get all hands on deck to help out. Turn it into a game so your children can enjoy the process.
It’s important to know that something has got to give. You may not be able to keep the house as perfectly organized and tidy as you did before you started growing your family. That’s okay. You have to give yourself some grace and let it go! Don’t make me sing the Elsa song to you. Seriously though, I’ve been slowly learning to let things go. Not the house so much as my attitude of perfection.
My goal in organizing my home is to create a welcoming atmosphere of love, joy, and peace. I want my home to be a place where my husband and kids choose to be. A place they enjoy bringing their friends home to, and where they want to spend their Friday nights. Changing my perspective and making a few of these simple changes made a huge difference for me and I hope will encourage you as well.
Be sure to connect with Kristi online for an extra dose of encouragement. She’s @KristiClover on most social networks.
Kristi is offering a free “Training Your Kids to Help” mini-course to everyone who pre-orders her new book, M.O.M.=Master Organizer of Mayhem. Head over to MasterOrganizerofMayhem.com to learn more.
Photo Credit: Pexels