It wasn't until recently that I realized just how streamlined my home has become. We have minimal toys, minimal decor, etc. and honestly even with less stuff, it still feels overrun and crowded in our home sometimes! I didn't realize it until I was in someone else's home that was much more filled than mine. It didn't feel overwhelming to me because it obviously reflected that persons style and values, but I learned something from that experience.

Everyone has their own values, toys in their place and hidden might not be everyone's #1 value and that's okay.
My home really is a place of respite and peace for me. As I looked around our home and assessed it with fresh eyes, I realized that it was in fact simple, as I had hoped! It wasn't but 48 hours later that two people mentioned the same thing to me - how clean and simple our home feels. That made my heart so happy because in this whole journey, that has been a big priority for me.
My heart truly does lust after the things I know I don't really need. I was amazed at how quickly I began thinking I needed almost everything that I saw in the home I visited. I had to really wrestle with my heart for a couple of days after and remind myself WHY I am searching for simplicity and less in my life in a culture that practices little to no self control with wants and desires.

Now that we've moved to our new home, there are so many things I want to do decor and organization wise. I've learned that it can't all be done at once and that is a good thing. The extra time to think things through gives me more confidence when I finally do purchase something because I know that it is going to serve our family long term. Some qualifiers I like to think through before purchasing something new are:

How will this item serve me/my family?
Does it serve our values or hinder them?
Does this item add joy and beauty to our home or life?
Does it simplify my systems or add more to my plate? (ie. one more thing to clean, maintenance, etc.)
Will it cause me anxiety or relieve me or stress? (for example, our pantry organization - total stress reliever to know everything has a place)

Here are a few pictures of some systems we have in place to make sure things look tidy and not overrun with "stuff" --

These boards are where we display Reaghan's art, prayer letters and our preschool curriculum. Christmas cards will go here as well. We take pictures of Reaghan's art about every two weeks then throw it away.

We keep our journals, books and Bibles in these slots, and movies and other things in the drawers.

The other wall in our living room

We just added this 6-cube shelf and I'm in love! I'd been wanting something like this for a while and it's the perfect spot to keep books we're reading a lot lately, and fits our Montessori values which I love :)

This used to be our entertainment center and I love the craftsmanship of this piece.

And the inside! We get a ton of storage out of it and obviously could fill it even more if needed, which is great. The top houses all our Simply Learning supplies!

Do you relate to any of my sentiments with keeping things simple in your home, mind, schedule, etc?

Read the rest of the series here: