The Joy of Raking Leaves!

IS there joy in raking leaves? It's definitely a chore but I find it kinda fun, especially with kids, because then you can take turns throwing yourselves in the heaping piles! Since last year I've been looking for the answer to make raking our yard less of a chore. I'm tired of the raking and bagging. I youtubed it and found many different solutions to bagging leaves, most of which were not going to work for me. This Fall I saw a neighbor across the street using LEAF CLAWS and a stand to hold his bag so there was no fiddling. Sounds silly but it was so organized and neat for him that I'm trying it! Can't wait to try out the new leaf claws that came in the mail yesterday! On that note, Have yourself a Happy Friday!

 

 Our yard is covered in big leaves!

Gallery Wall!

Happy Monday! Hope you have a wonderful day! Wanted to share something I did nearly a year ago that I LOVE. I put if off for so long because I just didn't feel like I ever knew what I wanted and it took some effort to do. Plus I don't like putting holes in walls until I am really ready.

 

I made this on a wall in our upstairs hallway. I'm a little funny when it comes to the privacy of my family but I have a number of different pictures in these frames and really love the way it all turned out. I found two sizes of frames at IKEA of the same type. I arranged them on the floor several times before coming up with this arrangement and I think it works. I also used 3M stickies to attach the frames to the wall so I don't have to worry about the holes.

 

It took some arranging but I love the way it turned out and the cool thing about this is I can continue adding photos as our family grows. I'm really happy with my gallery wall!

 

Do you have a gallery wall anywhere in your home???

I Like The Minimalistic Approach But Have More Of A Cozy, Decluttered Style

I have been trying to define my approach to home decorating preferences for a while and LOVE hearing and reading about the minimalistic approach but I really just don't think that fits our family. I have always gone through phases of weeding out stuff to empty out drawers and closets and things but when I research truly living in a minimalistic way, it's not who I am. I would like to be more minimalistic and am always trying to find ways to simplify things. I absolutely LOVE going on vacation and seeing a vacation home and how it has all the basic necessities and thinking I could live like this but when I get back home, we just have to have certain things to live. We're not in a location where we live in a small flat or apartment and walk everywhere. We've got cars and tools and things we need to keep other things in the house in working order.

I think I have finally come to the realization that truly, I just want a neat and organized home where pretty much everything has a place up out of the way and that we can find things easily. I don't want to have two of everything we own. I would like to have things labeled and neatly displayed and cleared of clutter. I don't necessarily want things to be completely bare like a minimalistic family or want to only have ten items of clothing but I also don't want excess. I think excess is just far too much anymore and causes unnecessary stress. Needs and wants are two totally different things and I'm happy with what I've got. It just gets on my nerves to see so many storage bins in our attic. We have lots of things in there that are being stored for a later date or just simply because we can't let go of them. I'm considering taking photos of some items and working on getting rid of them to help free up stress. It's such a wonderful release to let go of stuff. I can't explain it. It's not the sentimental stuff but I want to also have limits on sentimental items in the house too. I want to keep the things that are most special to us in a safe place or displayed.

Just the silly stuff that floats around in my mind! I'm kind of done with a lot of decorating for the time being, minus our boys' rooms. As soon as I get the energy back, I'm going to work in both boys' rooms to hopefully feel like the house is complete again. The house was feeling complete but both boys have been growing and changing, hence their rooms are getting updated too, and I'm in the process, yet again!