The Peaceful Mom

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Love Your Space Challenge!

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Join my Love Your Space Challenge to get quick and creative solutions for the chaos in your home.

 

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by trying to keep your home organized?

Me too, at times.

 

Sometimes it feels like a never-ending battle against clutter and disorganization.

 

But I’ve learned a little trick that helps me to keep making progress.

 

I changed my mindset from focusing on what is wrong in my home to focusing on creating a space I love.

Now I’m much more motivated to keep my space clutter-free and beautiful because I can envision what I want it to look and feel like.

 

Does that mean that my house is perfectly styled and always clean?

No way!

 

Here’s a little peek at what my kitchen counters looked like at lunch time today:

 

But most of the messes are temporary, because I want to maintain a peaceful, calm atmosphere in my home MOST of the time.

And I’m making progress every day on decluttering and keeping the main living areas clutter and mess free now.

 

I want the same for you!

So today I’m encouraging you to join my Love Your Space Challenge to make your home a haven that inspires and energizes you physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.

And remember, it’s not about having a home that looks like a Pinterest photo or an HGTV show. We want to have livable, cozy spaces that fit our lifestyle — not someone else’s.

 

 

TO JOIN THE Love My Space Challenge:

1. Make sure you’ve joined The Peaceful Mom Community and downloaded your FREE Love My Space Phone Wallpaper. (You will receive a weekly organizing email on Sunday evenings. plus access to our exclusive Organizing and Money Saving Resource Library.)

Click HERE to join now.

 

2. Leave a comment below telling me the one area of your home that you want to really focus on during the challenge.

 

Everyone who leaves a comment on this post will be entered to win  $75 (US) PayPal cash to help you spruce up your home.

 

Contest Rules:

One entry per household.

Winner will be randomly selected from the comments on this post and notified by email.

Contest ends February 28, 2018 at 9 a.m.

 

This is going to be awesome!

 

We can do this!

 

 

 

 

 

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. My office is the sore spot right now. I would like to make an area for crafting, an office area and a cozy reading area. I’ve started moving furniture around to accomplish this. I still have a ways to go. The closet is full of clutter and there are piles of paperwork.

  2. Our bedroom needs help! We have a large family,so we share it with our son. It’s way too cluttered with stuffed animals and boy stuff!

  3. I definitely need to work on my office. It is just embarrassing when people come over and the rest of the house looks nice. It really stands out.

  4. I have made a goal of decluttering my basement. There is so much we need to get rid of and organize.

  5. I need to declutter my dining room! Since we homeschool and eat at our dining room table it is often cluttered. I need to figure out an organization system that works after I declutter our school supplies!!

  6. We have a closet at the top of the stairs that, no matter how much I tidy it, always seems to be cluttered within days! Just this weekend, I opened the door to look for something, and trampled on a screwdriver and got knocked on the head by a mop!

  8. My dining room/office. We have a small home, so it’s been combined into my workspace as well as dining area. But it’s mostly papers and boxes right now, so I need to clear the area so I’m not constantly stressed about it. This is a great challenge and I’m excited to start!

  9. Our bedrooms especially focusing on the amount of clothes .I have clothes for all my varying sizes depending on how much weight I gain or lose .

  10. I’m in.
    Thanks for helping with motivation.
    Most problem is keeping up with the daily stuff like mail in, clean after meals, a real place for me to work on paperwork/school/computer work and not on the meal table.

    • Thanks for joining us Lisa! Daily things can be tough, but making a decision to take care of them as soon as you can really helps. I try to never place the mail on my desk (or any surface) without going through it and throwing the trash away first. That helps a lot.

  14. Wow, I am really eager to get started with this challenge. I will totally focus on my bedroom because it should be the place that brings me peace before going to sleep, and optimism when I wake uo, but unfortunately, the opposite is happening right now!

  15. Office and bedroom. Working evening and night shifts so sleep during the day and part of the time the motivation just lags a little.

    • I totally understand Christine. That’s a tough schedule, but maybe breaking the task down into small segments will help a little. You can do this!

  16. I have a small house, 40+ years old, with high ceilings. Those high ceilings really help! But there is a big blank wall behind my couch in my living room that I would like to decorate in some way. I would also like to work on the clutter in the living room.

  17. Children’s toys/playroom. I tidy up, turn around and 5 minutes later it looks exactly the same! Have 5 kids age 12-2.

  19. I really need help organizing my office/ living room area!! I have attempted separating the two on many occasions but somehow they always end up in a mess and stuff thrown everywhere!! I end up losing half of what I need!

  21. My problem area is my kitchen (which is the worst area to have as a problem I swear). Papers are overtaking us, mail is stacked. Stuff is everywhere. Ugh. Its the first thing you see when you walk and such a stress point.

  22. Right now I’m most interested in organizing my bedroom. It always goes to the wayside because you can shut the door and no one goes in there. It would be great to turn it into a sanctuary.

  25. I can’t remember if I commented already, so I apologize if I have. I would like to focus n my basement. For far to many years it’s been just a place for laundry and a catch all for stuff and storage. I’d like to make it a place where we can relax, entertain, and do crafts (scrapbooking, puzzles, etc.).

  26. My biggest trouble spot is my kitchen. I can never seem to keep the dishes washed and put away! The second biggest might be my desk area. Although I can sometimes manage to keep it tidy, it usually becomes a clutter trap and dumping ground for random papers. The paper clutter itself is another issue!

  28. My office Desk area is always cluttered! I would love tips on how to keep that area tidy. I feel like I have a lot of work to do when it is cluttered. Thank you!

  30. I have so many, but the worst always ends up being my spot on the couch because it turns into my relaxing, medication, Netflix, dining area, and paper collection! You got it my LIVING ROOM, ends up becoming my catch all and place I always sit.
    I’m definitely a creature of habit.
    I have moved more than 15 times, everything not just a partial or temporary move. So, I’ve gotten used to having a ton of unpacked boxed or piles of all kids of things. Just seems pointless to put it away because I’ll probably move again.
    It’s not what I want, it’s just been the circumstances. Lord willing
    that’ll change someday 💜

  31. My office! I have been fighting this space for the past 2 years! It never stays organized, causing the chaos to spill into the dining room and kitchen

  32. My laundry room needs major help… It’s also the entrance 99.9% of the people who come into our house walk into. It’s always a chaotic mess! I have 3 boys who all play sports, so just the laundry alone is a lot! Add in all the sports equipment, shoes, dog water and bowl, and the uniforms that need washed regularly and it’s a never ending eye-sore.

  33. I’m a teacher, and my most troubling spot is the big bookshelf in my classroom. What a hot mess!!

  37. While I’d like to focus on paperwork, I think I need to declutter my kitchen first. I move out things I never use so the things I do use have a place. It’s surprising how much can become obsolete but without giving it a second thought. Eating patterns change, but for some reason, I haven’t been keeping up with the changes in the kitchen space. Time for that to change.

  38. We have company coming to stay with us for several days, I’d like to finish tidying the bedrooms and kitchen before they arrive.

  41. The entertainment center has become the bane of my existence. It is one of the few places the toddlers can’t reach, but it’s tall enough that I need a chair to clean it off, so the clutter builds and builds. Now, it has so much junk on it, there is almost no space for the game console!

  42. There’s so much that I need to work on, but choosing one or two that’s doable…my end table in the living room (overloaded with my piles of mail, books, magazines, etc.), my dresser (problem is, hubby and kids get stuff off and add stuff to my dresser all the time, so that isn’t just my doing), my kitchen counters…

  44. I have two spaces that need to be decluttered and organized…our family room and master bedroom closet. Thank you for all you do!

  45. Wow it’s really hard for me to pick one, but since I have already started on it before this challenge, I would have to say my closet. Next is the family room.

  47. The most troublesome area in my house is my nightstand. All new mail goes on the nightstand and I always have intentions of taking care of everything in the morning but it never happens. So my nightstand is piled with papers and stuff to do.

  48. I would love to focus on the living room this month so that there is done kind of relaxing Zen zone at the end of my long day!

  49. Wow pick a spot to focus on, and there is my biggest problem, I flit from one room and task to an other and never seem to finish a space or room. This challenge will help me to focus on one area at a time, so while you ask what area I will be focusing on for the challenge I have to say I will be focusing on focusing. As you say it is not about perfection but having the tools to be able to focus on one area at a time and having the satisfaction of achieving a goal to then be able to duplicate that success across many other rooms (and goals in general).
    So thank you for helping those of us that are lost

  50. My next project will either be a kitchen drawer or under my bathroom sink. I am so thrilled that I cleaned off my dresser the other day. I’m stoked to tackle another corner!

  51. I don’t even know exactly where to start. I homeschool 5 (almost 6) kids under 10 and I feel it is a fight to keep my house clean. I have been working on decluttering toys and that has helped. I guess my initial plan is to keep our main living areas (living room/dining room/kitchen) clean! Thanks for offering this!!:)

  52. Our master bedroom, I’ve not had a chance to decorate it yet. I’m always trying to keep on top of the paper work on our kitchen table, too lol.

  54. My home office is a disaster of file cabinets that need cleaned out, a closet that is overrun with unorganized photo albums and a desk that is uninspiring to sit down at and accomplish anything. The space leaves me feeling drained and unmotivated

  55. My office, especially the “work” area, which seems to be the drop zone for everything in the house that doesn’t have a place of it’s own!

  56. The counter top in my laundry room is not useable for folding clothes because there are boxes of Christmas decorations and other items waiting to be packed up. This has really been bothering me! I intended to get to it last night, but there was so much other work to be done to get ready for the week. This week I am going to get it done!

  58. I’m really trying to be intentional about keeping my bedroom clean and tidy. It usually becomes the dumping place for anything I don’t want in another place and that I need to go through.

  60. I have a craft room. I love it but I’d really love it more if I could find everything when I needed it. I’ve got to get it organized before it drives me nuts.

  61. The space that bugs me the most is my bedroom! I spend so much time there and feel overcrowded but “stuff.”

  62. Has to be the kitchen counters. It’s like they are a magnet for anything that comes into the house.

  64. Even though its not my worse area its an area that needs some help. My living room………….I want to be able to welcome people at any time w/out feeling like I need to clean it up. So it needs a little TLC.

  65. We live in a small two bedroom, one bath home. One closet in each bedroom and a vanity cabinet in the bath and that is the storage we have. I have pared down to just the things we love and use but my sewing/crafting/desk corner in the master bedroom is still a thorn in my side. i want to get it organized but there is so much in a such a tiny area its difficult to be able to keep it clutter free and makes me cringe instead of happy.

  66. Oh, my kitchen counters are a constant problem! I recently purchased an all-in-one docking station for electronics, so that is one dilemma solved. Looking forward to making this my non-crazy space!

  67. My worst area is my crafting space. It needs to look organized and be functional at the same time for planning, scrapbooking, sewing and quilting…

  68. I work from home, and this year, finally invested the time in setting up a great office space – no more working at the kitchen table! But, now it seems like my desk becomes the repository for all the miscellaneous papers in our house and other odd items – currently, I have 2 old magazines, a stack of school papers, a hair bow that needs to be fixed, a button to sew on some doll clothes, lightbulbs to take to recycling, and a Christmas ornament that got missed when we put away our Christmas stuff. I sit down to work and I’m immediately distracted by all the other “stuff” that resides in my work space. I want that to stop.

  69. Will be working on keeping flat surfaces cleared off. My dining room table & the kitchen island are a dumping ground.

  70. My bedroom. I would love to have a cohesive and relaxing room to unwind in at the end of the day.😊

  71. I want to focus on my kitchen. The counters are always covered in *stuff*. When we clean off the table, it ends up on the counter. Right now it has crayons, legos, school papers, plastic cups that need donated, lunch boxes, and candy left over from Christmas in a little bowl, among various things like a fruit bowl and coffee supplies. Enough is enough!

  72. Mine is the kitchen benches but in particular what we call the “top bench”. That narrow bench that is higher than the rest of the bench. It’s the first thing people see when they walk in and it always collects all the bits and pieces. And it’s often the hardest part to clean off before visitors arrive as nothing seems to have a propper home.

  73. Kimberlee, it is always an encouragement to see what you are working on in your life and how you encourage us to work on the same thing. Thank you for your inspiration. I would like to work on our bedroom. I stay in our bed most all day every day due to chronic pain from an amputation. So, our bed and bedroom are my office and catchall since everyone comes in to see me and ask me to do things for them! I would like a management system to corral all of my stuff so that when bedtime comes I can clean it all off so my husband and I can sleep in a nice clean bed. Any ideas would be so helpful! Blessings to you!

    • Hey Missy! Thanks for all of your encouragement throughout the last few years. I’m so sorry that you’re dealing with chronic pain, but I pray that God will give you some creative solutions. One idea is to have some baskets or crates beside your bed for different categories of items you need. You can select the basket for the current task, then put everything away and put it back beside the bed so you don’t have a big pile to clean up in the evenings before bedtime. Blessings!

  74. The front entry way is my problem spot and first impression for all of us ana guests. I need to keep shoes and bags properly stored and add som kind of console.

  76. My dining room table! It is our home dropping spot and is constantly cluttered with piles. It would be nice to actually be able eat at the dining room table.

  78. My bedroom closet. I’ve tried to make it neater with bags and boxes. Now the bags are on hangers and overflowing. The boxes are jammed. I have one strong hanger that has about 12 pants on it ( dress pants, jeans, pajamas…) and it is a huge mountain on a hook now. I could go on. I need to get in there and start sorting!

  81. I believe a toddler play area is the worse to declutter. Toys galore from blocks to crayons back to dress up clothes and last but not least (wishful thinking) all different sizes of stuff animals. After that you got to declutter your head. Thankfully we got peaceful mom to save the day.

  82. The area that bothers me the most is my kitchen table. I use it as my desk, and it’s piled high with tons of papers and even toys and other things! My family and I barely have room to use it! If I could develop a command center to keep all important paperwork/schedules organized it would be so wonderful! Then my family and I could enjoy the peaceful feeling of looking at a cleared table and then we could also really enjoy each other at meal times and possibly even play games at the table, etc.!!! The thought of us being able to really use our table again is exciting! I am thankful to be starting to move forward and make positive changes in this area!
    PS I love how you are focusing on creating a space you love! That’s what I actually need to do throughout our home but a good start would be that kitchen table! 🙂

  83. thanks Kimberlee for the CHALLENGE!!! the dining room table !!!!! paper clutter and Christmas decorations need to be put away, and the ever growing recipe collection needs a home….

  84. The living room I feel I’m need a major cleaning as far as paperwork, books and granddaughters toys. Also the desk needs some TLC. I love you idea of loving the space concept. Right now its a love hate relationship LOL. Thank you in advance for your help & ideas. <

  86. I need to focus on my desk area in our den. It stays fluttered and piled up, a catch-all for everything, but I want a peaceful, pretty place to think, do finances, lesson plans, and stay organized.

  92. For me it’s the kitchen counter, and its partner in clutter, the dining room table. These areas are on my list for 2018!

  93. The kitchen counters are my most irritating/annoying place. No matter what I do, someone in the house comes behind me and changes it up. Hubby actually gets mad at me for putting away the toaster. Seriously. In my mind, there are only two appliances that belong out. The coffee maker and the microwave. They get used everyday.
    Count me in and someone please tell my hubby that the toaster needs to be put away. Thank you!

  94. Focusing on the master bedroom. It ends up being the hiding place for all the clutter clean-ups in the living areas.

  95. The spot that bothers me most, is my kitchen/dining room table. It keeps having things pile up on it. I clean it off and it starts all over again.

  96. The entry way to my house – its always cluttered with backpacks and shoes and socks and random papers and toys.

  98. What a positive way to look at organizing! Love, love my space.

    -closet…contains year round clothes…stuff I love…and to like

    -junk drawer with new appliance books that I should – but still haven’t – read.

  100. The area I need to work on most is my clothes. I can’t say closet, because they aren’t in there. They are piled in one part of our master bedroom and it is driving me crazy. Every time I think about doing something with that part of our room I get overwhelmed.

  101. The space that drives me bonkers in my house is the one and only closet. It’s huge yet turns into the storage catchall and I’ve never figured out a good way to store my boot collection which is admittedly out of hand. My linen closet isn’t quite big enough for my bedding fetish either, so the overflow ends up in that closet too. True, I probably have too many clothes, but I’d rather deal with the other issues, cuz my clothes and I are buddies and much of them I’ve made myself, so they aren’t going anywhere! So, I need better overflow and efficient boot storage and I’d be good to go.

  103. I have a section of counter in my kitchen that is the computer for me, and my kids, and the drop off area for things like mail and coupons and library books and whatever else. It is in chaos most days. I will be working on simplifying this area to be most efficient.

  104. One area I’m going to focus on is my kitchen. I need to reorganize my pantry, assess what food and other items that does not belong in my pantry and cabinets. Although we will be renovating my kitchen later this year, I want my kitchen to be clutter free and everything has its place. Thank you for the opportunity to win extra money to make my home a peaceful one!

  105. For the Love Your Space challenge, I would probably try to work on the kitchen/living room of my college apartment. I say try because my three roommates have more stuff then I do. I have three cabinets to hold my glasses, dishes, food (we don’t have a pantry), and silverware. I would work on consolidating people’s things so we all have the same number of cabinets to go around. I would also work on keeping the laminate floors clean because they are very dirty about once a week, that way we are not walking around with black feet from the dirt. I would also talk to them about dusting because our place is dusty and I am severely allergic to dust mites so this may be a problem if I dont’t fix it.

  106. Well my one place of happiness and peace is my small part of my bedroom that I just finished turning into my very own office. I’m just starting out trying to become more organized with everything which is a huge task for me because I have my own personal mental illness which make staying on track hard. But I turned a corner of my room into my very own cubicle home office just for me. I can already feel how relaxed and happy I am for doing it. It took alot of time but turned out better then I hoped. We are getting ready to have a new little one in less then a month and I really wanted a space to call my own. Now I have one.

  107. My most troublesome place is the kitchen island/snack bar area. Everyone comes straight there when entering the house and it is cluttered with mail, school papers, wrappers from snacks, etc. finds its way to the island. I would love to create a new Central Command Center.

  110. I would like to focus on my bedroom. I have an idea how i want it to look but just have never achieved it. I would like a new comforter set and blinds and curtains! Thank you for doing this challenge!

  112. I really need motivation to organize my bedroom! I have a small house so it is a constant challenge.

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