I was thinking about how I was about to manage having a newborn, two older boys in sports and a husband who just became a volunteer firefighter on top of his full time job. Working full time myself left little time at the end of the day to keep things clean and organized at home. I was constantly searching the latest and greatest ideas on pinterest and instagram to make our home beautiful and updated. I always had a list of project that I wanted done around the house before I felt it would be “done” or up to my standards. This left me in a constant state of discontentment and chaos at home. Most days, I was not able to keep up on laundry and our laundry room had piles and piles of dirty and clean clothes, we never made the beds and the counters were full of papers… I thought why even bother to try to keep up because it will just get messy again. After our third son, Nash, was born life was beautiful BUT also much more busy. I still loved decorating and re-decorating, fitting this in where I could. I had just accepted that our house would never be completely done or in order but it stressed me out on a daily basis. I few things happened that I now know were completely meant to be or I would not have come out the other side knowing what I know now. I took a new job for a friend’s real estate team (after leaving my school nurse position) where I got to help others get their homes ready to sell- after all I LOVED decorating! At the same time life at home was busier than ever… two and three year old tantrums were at their peak, my husband (Chris) was very busy with work and running to fire calls all hours of the evening/night and our two older boys were in a LOT of hockey. I desperately needed to find a way to be able to manage it all but it seemed nearly impossible. A few months into meeting with clients who were putting their homes on the market soon and helping them go through every cabinet and closet I noticed some correlations. Most people were living with so many items in their homes that they could not keep them organized. Once I helped them pack away or get rid of all the items in their home they were not using it was so much simpler to fit things in cupboards, closets and bin systems. The clients’ homes felt lighter and calmer, they told me this over and over. I thought to myself… could this be the answer to MY house? We weren’t moving anytime soon but could I simplify my house as if were were moving… I was so desperate to have less chaos at home I felt I had nothing to lose. My eyes were opened and there was no turning back. WHY did I have so many toys? They only play with a few of their favorites anyways. WHY did I keep so many clothes? I only wore my favorites anyways. I started researching minimal homes and the way people lived with less… I was fascinated by this different way of living. I started getting rid of anything we were no longer using- clothes, toys, kitchen goods, my old camera equipment and props, old hobby materials, home decor and more. It’s been a journey but a long the way I started sharing on instagram and a whole community has joined me over at thebartahouse. I can’t wait to share more here, stay tuned!
