The Simple House

Home. It means so many things to so many people, and yet at the heart of it all, it is a place to spend time with those you love. It's a place to spend time doing the things you most enjoy. It's the launching pad for all your adventures.

Because it is a space where we spend so much time, I like to keep things as simple and easy as possible. I have never believed in spaces that don't get used. Formal living room? Not in our house! As a believer in simple living, I have learned a lot through making our house our home. Here are a few tips I feel are helpful for creating a simple home:

• Reduce your possessions to those things that you truly love and use. It's so much easier to organize when you don't have a ton of things. Let go of the things that are cluttering your space.
• Organize well the things that you decide to keep. Give a designated spot to everything. For example, keeping garden tools in one area of the garage, or keeping crafting supplies all together in one closet.
• Always evaluate before you bring in anything new. Make sure you really have space for it, can really make good use of it, and that it's not just an impulse buy.
• Choose easy to clean materials and keep cleaning supplies handy. Wipe up messes right away.
• Take advantage of natural light, and other aspects of your home that are built in. Find ways to maximize what you have to work with.
• Live in your home the way you really live in your home! Don't be afraid to use spaces in ways they might not have been intended for. Each home should be as unique as the people who are living in it.

What do you do to keep things simple in your home?