Loving Your Space: How to Live Clutter & Stress Free (With Kids!)

I don’t know about you, but, for me, it is essential for my home to be organized. If I live amongst clutter, my mind is cluttered, too. I cannot see clearly unless my home is clear of the little messes.

In January, I started a little renovation project (yes, I was full blown nesting!) and rethought our home, one room at a time. I asked myself the important questions: Do we need to keep all of these things we own? Do they make me happy? If not, why am I holding on to them? 

Luckily, my mom was staying with us for the month (in anticipation of Noah’s birth), and she is the queen of spring cleaning. She loves to get rid of the old to make room for the new… and I love that! I got on her page and quickly realized how amazing it felt to get rid of items I had no sentimental attachment to, or that didn’t really fulfill me in any way. Clothing, furniture, little knick knacks… We got rid of basically half the house. And what a relief it was!

When we moved into our house, in 2015, I was very pregnant with Liam and we left a lot of things as they were. We picked the house in part because there was no (or very little) work needed before move in. The issue is that these little things, like a very outdated bathroom with ugly wallpaper and light fixtures straight out of the 50s,  never got updated. We simply never had the time.

I’m thrilled to announce that my nesting-inspired renovation project is now complete – it is kid-friendly, yet still reflects my personal style. It is practical, yet still aesthetically pleasing. Mom win!

I took advantage of this beautiful (yet frustrating!) snow day to put together a short video for you guys. In it, you will get a glimpse of the many pieces and accents we got for our home in the last few weeks. I hope you like them!

Fell in love with something you saw in the video?

Here are the vendors I collaborated with:

Grindstone Design (Wood Dining Room Console)

Oldtown Clocks (Wooden clock)

Tradux Mirrors (Round mirror in our bedroom)

Southern Sun Shop (Hallway console)

Shambles to Chic (Farmhouse table)

Roomfitters (Bedroom marble console)

Tudor Sign Company (“Farm Fresh” sign)

Williams Grove (Succulents in hallway)

The Roaring Flamingo (“This is Us” sign)

Gifted Occasion (“Welcome” sign)

HSH Furniture (3 shelf bookcase, toy storage)

The Falling Tree (Floating shelves bathroom)

Outback Craft Shack (Mason jar bathroom storage)

One Cent Soda (“Relax” sign)

Pro Brands Online (Cotton stems and wreath)

West Dwelling (Seagrass storage basket bedroom)

SLPR  (Toy storage crates)

Afloral (Silver vase, Silk flower bouquet, Round Seagrass Basket)

The Basket Lady (Grey wicker toy trunk, Wicker recycling bin)

Emenest (Glass vases in chickenwire tray)

If you have any questions or comments about the renovation project, please do not hesitate to reach out or comment below! 

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Johanna Riehm teaches in the department of Communication and Media at Manhattanville College and in the department of English at Mercy College. She teaches courses in the history of communication, public speaking, and social media, as well as creative and technical writing workshops. Johanna’s work has been featured in Graffiti Literary Magazine, The Write Place at the Write Time, The Bangalore Review, Cactus Heart Press, and the LaMothe Review. She is working on her first longer work, a creative nonfiction novel called We Carved Our Names in Tamarind Trees.

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