by kathilipp | Mar 20, 2018 | Clutter Free Podcast, Podcast |
Can you actually have a cute and cozy home without having clutter pile up on shelves, furniture and countertops? We wanted to know- can you decorate and be clutter free?
Kathi invited KariAnne Wood, author of DIY Home Planner to the podcast this week because she is a woman that gets it. She’s an expert on making a cozy home without causing us clutter gals to go into complete overwhelmed mode. From helpful tips on where to start, to the best places in your home to make the greatest impact, all without the clutter, KariAnne brings her best ideas to our listeners.
This is one of the most fun podcasts we have ever done and it is rich of great ideas on how we can decorate our homes to make it the place we want to be without adding stress to our lives.
WIN a copy of DIY Home!
Comment below and tell us what your biggest decorating challenge is because of clutter? Comment and three people will win a copy DIY Home Planner by our guest KariAnne Woods. Join us on Facebook Live on March 28 and your question could be featured! Can’t wait for it? Buy it today!
BONUS!!!
Quizzes to take from KariAnne:
Are you a pattern pro?
What kind of window treatment does your room desperately need?
Are you a design expert?
What type of flooring fits best?
30-Day Challenge with KariAnne
Are you ready to take the 30-Day challenge with KariAnne? We’ll be joining together over at the Clutter Free Academy Group to start the challenge on April 1. Join us for FB Live on March 28 (check out Facebook for announcements on time) to go through more details. Sign up now at https://thistlewoodfarms.com/30-days-of-free/
KariAnne Wood writes the award-winning lifestyle blog Thistlewood Farms, a tiny corner of the internet where all her stories and DIYs hang out and drink sweet tea. She also writes, photographs, and styles for several national magazines including Better Homes and Gardens Christmas Ideas, Country Women, and Flea Market Décor.
Find out more at KariAnne’s’s website: www.thistlewoodfarms.com
by kathilipp | Mar 19, 2018 | Clutter Free, Fear, God |
It’s March 27, 2017
Due to an emergency, Kathi is unable to do her scheduled Facebook LIVE with the Clutter Free Bible Study group and asks if I’ll fill in.
“If you don’t have any areas of clutter struggle any more, ” she says as only the Queen of Positivity can, “maybe you can tell them about your past challenges.”
“Oh, I’m sure I’ll think of something!” I assure her, glancing guiltily around my office.
During the Facebook LIVE, I show everyone my greatest clutter struggle: the many ways I preserve my ideas.
- A shelf lined with 2 inch binders labeled “Blog Post Ideas #1” … “Blog Post Ideas #2” … “Blog Post Ideas #3″…
- File boxes full of hanging file-folders stuffed with notes from in-process book proposals and retreat messages.
- Stacks of printed drafts (I live in terror of losing digital data, so I hav a printing compulsion) from the months when Kathi and I were writing Overwhelmed: 1st draft, 2nd draft, 10th draft.
- Notebooks from the various writing and speaking conferences I’d been to, dating back before 2010.
“They’re all so beautifully organized and labeled, Cheri!” someone comments.
“Aren’t they?” I agree.
“Which is exactly what has allowed me to justify keeping all this stuff. After all, if it’s color-coded, labeled, and organized in binders, certainly it’s not clutter…right?!?”
My sarcasm evokes laughter, and then we all fall silent in communal conviction.
Just because our stuff looks good does not mean we should keep it.
What Size is Your Plate?
In Overwhelmed, Kathi describes each person’s individual capacity in terms of “the size of your plate.”
Most women have dinner plates—an average capacity for activity and productivity.
A few have turkey platters and can accomplish 2-3 times as much as most people.
I, on the other hand, have a small plate. As a highly sensitive person, I am extra easily overwhelmed.
“Does all this stuff in my office match up with a small plate person?” I ask the Clutter Free Bible Study group members.
No way, they all agree.
All the binders and boxes and stacks match someone with a turkey platter.
A hard truth hits me, smack dab in the middle of Facebook LIVE:
Hanging onto so much stuff is a form of greed stemming from distrust.
Protecting my precious ideas is me saying, “God, I don’t trust you to remind me of what’s important.”
And ultimately, hoarding my ideas is my way of trying to stretch my plate.
I never wanted a small plate. I’ve always wanted a turkey platter. So I’ve surrounded myself with “evidence” that “proves” my preferred truth.
It’s my way of saying, “Look! I have all this! If I have so much, I must have a really big plate!”
Bottom line: I’m keeping an office full of stuff so that I can prove God wrong.
<gulp>
Learning to Trust God
After the Facebook LIVE I look around my office with new eyes.
I’ve worked so hard to protect all my precious ideas, but I have far too many to use.
I need to trust God to choose.
I need to believe that God will help me remember the ideas I need when the time comes. Or trust that He’ll give me something new.
Either way, it’s time to quit pretending I have a bigger plate than I do.
I need to accept the size of my plate and let most of this stuff go.
My stuff needs to match the truth about who God created me to be.
__________________________
Cheri Gregory is a teacher, speaker, author, and Certified Personality Trainer. Her passion is helping women break free from destructive expectations. She writes and speaks from the conviction that “how to” works best in partnership with “heart, too.”
Cheri is the co-author, with Kathi Lipp, of The Cure for the “Perfect” Life and the upcoming Overwhelmed.
Cheri has been “wife of my youth” to Daniel, her opposite personality, for twenty-eight years and is “Mom” to Annemarie (25) and Jonathon (23), also opposite personalities.
Cheri blogs about perfectionism, people-pleasing, highly sensitive people, and hope at www.cherigregory.com.
by kathilipp | Mar 15, 2018 | Book Club, Clutter Free, Giveaways |
Welcome to the Clutter Free Book Club, where I share the books I’ve been reading (and hopefully loving.) Each month I review at least one book I’ve read, and because I am living a Clutter Free life, I pass that book on to one of you. To be entered into the drawing, just comment on this post and you’ll be entered to win. But there is one catch: if you win the book, you have to promise to pass it on to someone else when you’re done (keeping this book club Clutter Free.) When you comment below, share either 1. A book you’ve read that you think I should put on my list or 2. The name of the person you will pass this book onto when you’re done reading it!
Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life…And Maybe the World Hardcover – April 4, 2017
Where I bought it: Audible
by Author Admiral William H. McRaven (Ret.)
Where I read it: It’s a short book – I listened to it while I was helping my step-daughter and son-in-law move into their new house.
I’d heard about Admiral McRaven’s speech at University of Texas (Hook ’em!) and what he’d learned in his military career. It was such and enjoyable book and many of the lessons have stuck with me. Lesson 1 making your bed means that the first thing you do each morning is accomplish something. (I lay in bed for a minute and pray first, so first God, then accomplishment. I recommend THAT order.) Recommended!
Just a word on the books I read and review: I have a wide and varied sense of taste when it comes to books. I would love for you to enter and win one of my books – but if you are offended by book content, I would ask that you go online to read reviews to see if this book is for you before you enter to win.
*Only US readers are eligible to receive the free book.
by kathilipp | Mar 14, 2018 | Clutter Free, Clutter Free Heart, Identity |
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:16 (NIV)
I’m ready to throw out all of my jeans. Nothing reminds me of the extra weight I’m wearing than a pair of jeans. My skinny jeans really are a paradox. As I tug, yank and wiggle out of them after a long day, I feel trapped in guilt. Suffocating guilt traps them like a denim straight jacket onto my hips. Why haven’t I lost weight yet? How could I have let myself get this heavy? Why do I keep insisting on cramming my body into these jeans? I can’t shed these jeans fast enough. Unfortunately, those extra pounds don’t make fast an option.
Eventually I peel off the jeans and throw them in a heap on my closet floor. They lay there, mocking me. I might have removed the jeans from my body, yet I still don’t feel free of them. There’s another layer squeezing me, my heart.
The guilt. Oh the guilt.
That’s much more difficult to remove. And today it’s almost impossible to shimmy out of.
I quickly grab a pair of leggings and pull them on, their softness and comfort enveloping me. Oh how I long for the same feeling in my heart.
Deep in my heart, I hear a whisper. A reminder. My worth is not found in how my jeans fit, the number on the tag in my jeans, or the number on the scale.
My worth is in Jesus.
For me to wear the peace of that statement, I need to not only shed the too-tight clothes, but the guilt, the shame and the disappointment that comes with them.
Hebrews 4:16 reminds me that because of Jesus, I can approach the throne of God’s grace with confidence. Not with guilt, shame and fear. With confidence. No matter the size of my jeans. The number of the scale. God wants me to come to Him with confidence, but what waits for me there is so much better than confidence! He’s waiting for me, for you, with grace and mercy. And as I find His grace and mercy, I can begin to extend it to myself.
And today, that looks like adding that pair of jeans to the bag of items I’m going to donate later this week. And since I’m already in my closet, I might as well go through some other clothes that don’t fit me. They’re just clutter anyway.
As I let go of clothing that doesn’t fit me, I also let go of the guilt that God never designed to fit my heart.
One Small Win
What’s one item that you can give away or throw away today that will not only release you from physical clutter but from the emotional clutter of guilt? Once you think of it, go do it! Bag it up and put it in your trunk for the next time you’re near a donation spot or throw it away if it’s trash. As you get rid of it, say goodbye to the guilt about it too!
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Melissa Mulvaney is a wife, triple-boy blessed mama, writer, certified life coach and lover of her loud and joyful life. She’s known for her cowbells skills, only writes with pink pens, has the loudest laugh in the room, uses 10 exclamation points instead of a period, and cheers her people on literally and figuratively. If cheering people on was a sport, Melissa would win the gold! You can connect with her at MelissaMulvaney.com.
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by kathilipp | Mar 13, 2018 | Clutter Free, Kitchen, Podcast |
Decluttering your kitchen could be the hardest area of the house because it is constantly being used. Tonya Kubo is back with Kathi Lipp as they break down their top 5 favorite tips to keep the kitchen free from clutter. How do you organize the real estate on your counter tops? And what about the refrigerator, pantry, cupboards and drawers… so much or so little space that can save you time, money and frustration.
Stop the madness and get in on this freedom we call a clutter free kitchen with the simple, doable tips Kathi and Tonya divulge in this entertaining and revealing episode.
For more great tips, join us on the private Facebook group all about living the clutter free life.
Tonya Kubo is the illustrious, fearless leader of Kathi Lipp’s Clutter-Free Academy Facebook group. She and her husband, Brian, are raising two spirited girls in the agricultural heart of California. She writes about fighting the demons of comparison, clutter and compulsion on www.tonyakubo.com.
by kathilipp | Mar 9, 2018 | Clutter Free, Foodie Friday, Recipe, Uncategorized |
If you’ve ever struggled with having more month than money, you know the value of having a pound of ground meat on hand and making more with less. What if I were to tell you, I could turn a pound of meat into six without sacrificing taste or satisfaction? Would you take the kitchen challenge?
It wasn’t long ago that my family was in a tight financial bind. Job loss and chronic health issues combined to slash our income by 60 percent one year – and we had a baby on the way. We needed to make fast, dramatic changes just keep our heads above water
I read enough to know that food costs are the most flexible monthly expense a family has, so I looked closely at our grocery spending. Here in the U.S., many of us over-spend out of convenience.
I devised a plan to stretch our grocery dollars by making the whole family vegan – no animal products or by-products (yeah, no eggs or cheese) – because animal protein is a pricey commodity. That lasted two days before mutiny ensued. Our 3-year-old quickly became the aunt from “My Big, Fat Greek Wedding” – “What do you mean no meat?!” As for my husband, let’s just say this is not what he had in mind when he vowed “for better or worse.”
If I didn’t want to lose my role as family CEO via hostile toddler takeover, I needed a Plan B. I decided to mix things up, which resulted in Mom’s Magical Miracle. The magic is that the recipe below turns a pound of ground meat into about six pounds of versatile meat filling that can be used in anything from burritos to lasagna. “Meat filling” sounds sketchy but “magical miracle” has mystique.
It’s all in the sales pitch.
The miracle is how a recipe like this can clear the clutter from a mom’s worried mind. You know you’re feeding your family well while sticking within a lean budget. Even if money isn’t an issue, cutting back on food costs allows you to focus finances elsewhere in life like sponsoring a child in need or saving up for a vacation.
Are you ready to create a little kitchen magic for yourself? Download my recipe for Mom’s Magical Miracle today. Try on my magician’s hat and let us know how it works for you and your family. Even better, share photos of your favorite Miracle Meal with us over at the Clutter Free Academy Facebook group. I can’t wait to drool over your kitchen creations.
Tonya Kubo is the illustrious, fearless leader of Kathi Lipp’s Clutter-Free Academy Facebook group. She and her husband, Brian, are raising two spirited girls in the agricultural heart of California. She writes about fighting the demons of comparison, clutter and compulsion on www.tonyakubo.com.
by kathilipp | Mar 7, 2018 | Clutter Free, Clutter Free Heart, Fear |
“Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?” (Luke 12:25-26, NIV)
“Speaking to the people, he went on, “Take care! Protect yourself against the least bit of greed. Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot.” (Luke 12:15, MSG)
It was the closet that I’d been avoiding. It was organized, but there were simply too many things I didn’t need and wasn’t wearing. I stared at the same blouses that had hung there unworn since the last purge. I’d made progress, but not with these items.
Why couldn’t I part with these things?! Yes, they were beautiful. Some had been expensive. All were in perfect condition. But they didn’t fit me anymore. Physically they fit, but not in other important ways. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but every time I had an occasion to wear them, I decided not to.
Why? In a word – fear.
If I get rid of this, will I have what I need?
But it felt deeper than just that.
As so often happens, I decided to pray. As a last resort. Sigh.
I asked God to show me what was going on.
As I pulled the hangers out one at a time, to look at each garment, I was surprised to realize each was “speaking” to me.
I soon discovered these clothes represented fear about the future, fear about who I really am (and who I am not), fear about my value and worth.
How is that even possible?! It’s a collection of threads, for heaven’s sake!
What’s more, so many of the messages were lies. On hangers. They said:
- You’ll have to settle – you can’t get and don’t deserve what you really want.
- This is too beautiful for you. You’re not that person.
- You can’t rely on anyone but yourself.
- If your husband dies, you’ll have to go back to work full time. Be ready.
- Strength comes from looking good.
- Look outside yourself for love.
- You can’t trust your own experience; just ignore these emotions.
- You can control everything – how you’re perceived, how others feel.
- You can hide here. Be invisible.
I became aware of emotions, too.
The beautiful paisley skirt? I noticed sadness on that hanger. I’d worn it for my daughter’s baptism, but now it reminded me of my Aunt Barbara, who’d died shortly afterward.
When I can’t imagine my future I tend to cling to the past; to what’s familiar. Even when it doesn’t fit me anymore.
But fear calls us to prepare, to decide what action we need to take.
If you find yourself confronting fear in your own pursuit of the Clutter Free life, steep yourself in God-reality:
- “I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears.” Psalm 34:4
- Identify the fear or lie that each item brings up. Be specific.
- Trust that God will take care of your needs. “Save your fear for God, who holds your entire life—body and soul—in his hands.” Luke 12:5
- Make a decision about what you will do – or not do.
- In faith, make room for the new thing God is preparing.
As I read the final words in the 12th chapter of Luke, I felt myself exhaling.
“What I’m trying to do here is get you to relax, not be so preoccupied with getting so you can respond to God’s giving.” Luke 12:24 (MSG)
God, help me to be grateful for all you have already given me. Help me let go and live lightly. Keep me open to receive what you want to give me, above all your love and direction.
Kimberly Gonsalves helps parents thrive while raising capable, connected, compassionate, resilient kids. An ICF-accredited coach, she combines Adlerian-based principles of mutually respectful relationships with the science of healthy habit creation, helping parents bring their best to their most important leadership roles. Married for 25 years, she and her husband have a young adult son and high school aged daughter. Her family provides daily opportunities to practice walking her talk. Her motto is “Be creative: make a new mistake today!”
by kathilipp | Mar 6, 2018 | Clutter Free Podcast, Identity, Podcast |
It all started in the garden with Eve…doubt and comparison crept in with the question, “Did God really say….?”
We see it in the Bible with the story of Rachel and Leah too. They didn’t need social media to allow comparison to grow a wedge between them. We need to decide who’s truth we are going to align our lives with, ours or God’s?
Join Kathi and Nicki Koziarz as they talk about comparison and how we have the false perception that to do something great for the kingdom of God, we need to go viral, live big or have thousands of followers. Nicki urges us to see how what God is doing in each of us is so special and unique, that we can’t dare to put a classification on what He’s doing in our lives.
Book Giveaway
Nicki Koziarz is a wife and mom to three girls plus a handful of barnyard babies. They live just outside of Charlotte, NC. She is an inspirational author, Bible teacher, and speaker with Proverbs 31 Ministries. Nicki leads from her own brokenness that somehow God is making meaningful. www.nickikoziarz.com
by kathilipp | Mar 5, 2018 | Clutter Free, Recipes, tips and ideas |
1. The Use-it-Up Shelf
In my fridge I have a small shelf that has cheese that has been opened, butter sticks that are cut in half, salami that’s about to expire and salad toppings (shredded carrots, chopped celery, sliced cucumbers) that need to be eaten first. I have put a piece of tape on it that screams “Eat me first!”
The “Use It Up” shelf is a reminder that these things need to be eaten first so that we are not wasting food and money. Why eat cheese that will expire in three months when you have some that will expire in three weeks?
2. Tag Your Pantry
Use blue painter’s tape to mark anything that is going to expire in the next month. Make sure those boxes and cans are towards the front, so you can see what needs to be used up when you’re thinking about what to make for dinner.
3. Meal Plan
And speaking of what to make for dinner, deciding early in the week what you’re going to cook for the rest of the week is one of the best ways to make sure you use all the fresh ingredients you have in your fridge.
4. Store Smart
- Don’t store bananas and apples together (apples quicken the ripening of bananas).
- Store fresh herbs in a jar of water in the fridge.
- Trim asparagus ends and keep them in the fridge in a glass of water (just like you would with a bouquet of flowers) to help them last longer.
- Keep citrus good longer by putting it in a plastic bag in the fridge for up to three weeks.
5. Prep Food as Soon as You Get Home
It’s easy to be optimistic in the store; “Of course we will use all of these vegetables. I will lovingly make salads and veggie soup every night for my family.” But when the dinner crunch is looming, it’s so much easier to grab a frozen pizza and vow to make the salad tomorrow night – until tomorrow night comes….
One of the best decisions we’ve made is to prep our shop. When we get home from the store (or that evening) I will go through and wash and spin salad, grate carrots, slice veggies, hard boil some eggs, and generally prep as much food as I can for the coming days. We are about six times as likely to eat fresh food when it is prepped.
6. You have permission to eat all the veggies/fruit in a day.
My friend, Jenn, told me that her kids didn’t want to eat the fruits and veggies that she bought because they were afraid she was saving them for special recipes. Then there would be soft carrots and limp celery and all that money went to waste. Now Jenn tells her kids “Eat all of the fruits and vegetables in a day, it’s fine!” That way she makes sure they are not going to waste.
We now get some of our fruits and veggies from imperfectproduce.com (Use this link to get $10 off your first order! Our orders turn out to be about $15 every other week.) We love the freshness of all the produce we’ve received. (The reason they are imperfect is usually an unusual shape or size or too large of a crop.) We find ourselves eating up the fresh produce because we get to pick what’s in the box and know that we will use and love all of it.
7. Shop Your Pantry Before You Shop Your Store
We’ve all done it—arrived at the store and then thought to ourselves, “Do we have milk? I can’t remember. I’ll pick some up just in case…” And that “just in case” jug of milk is now the fifth gallon of milk in your fridge.
Before you go to the store, do a double take of what you actually have at your house so you’re not spending your valuable grocery dollars on stuff that you already have.
8. Use Your Freezer
I freeze just about everything except for salad. I am a freezer ninja! But here are a couple of ways I use my freezer that might not have occurred to you:
Soup Bag: I have a freezer bag that I use for any veggies that might be on this side of ripe: leftover salad fixings (sliced mushrooms, onions, celery, carrots, etc.) and then when the bag is full, I sauté everything in there and use it for the base of a veggie soup. It comes out different every time, but it is consistently delicious.
Berry Bag: I love fresh berries and eat a lot of them (on my morning oatmeal, whenever we have company over and I make Instant Pot Cheesecake,) but sometimes even I can’t go through the several types I can buy in a week (strawberry, blueberry, blackberry). So when they are starting to get ripe I’ll throw them into a bag in the freezer and use them to make smoothies or defrost them and make Warm Berry Compote . Both super easy and a great way to not waste a single, beautiful berry.
9. Fall in Love with Cooking Again
As I was writing this article early Saturday morning and thinking through the “Use it Up” principle, I started to feel the guilt of the apples sitting in our fruit bowl that needed to be used up. Since Saturday morning is the only time during the week I cook an actual breakfast (the rest of the week is YOYO – You’re On Your Own) I decided it was now or never. I found a great recipe for Sautéed Apples and put those on top of wheat pancakes for our breakfast. It was a major win.
There is really no better feeling in the world than to cook something from ingredients you already have (and would go to waste if you didn’t use them.)
It’s easy to get into a rut of making excuses for not cooking, but if cooking is something you once enjoyed, it’s time to fall in love with cooking again. Here are some ways to do just that:
- Read great books about people who love to cook. I’m currently listening to Coming to My Senses: The Making of a Counterculture Cook by Alice Waters but have enjoyed so many other books by people who love to cook (professionally and for the ones they love). Here is a list of books I’ve loved to listen to while I cook:
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver and Camille Kingsolver
The Dirty Life: A Memoir of Farming, Food, and Love Paperback by Kristin Kimball
My Life in France Paperback by Julia Child? and Alex Prud’homme
- Watch real cooking shows. Yes- it’s fun to see people make life-sized gingerbread houses with fully animatronic witches made out of 4,000 gumdrops. But if you want to get inspired to get into the kitchen, watch real people making real food. I love America’s Test Kitchen (PBS) and always want to run into the kitchen and create after seeing any of their chefs doing their thing.
3. Cook with people you love. This is my best tip. Make an event out of it and get in the kitchen with good food and lovely people.
I would love to hear you ideas about how you’ve reduced food waste in your home.
by kathilipp | Feb 27, 2018 | Clutter Free, Podcast |
Doesn’t it feel like our lives are being slowly overrun by paper? It is everywhere and every day we see a little more of it take over our counters and cupboards. Is there anything we can do to really combat this or are we destined to keep every piece of paper that comes into our houses?
Tonya Kubo, the fearless leader of our Clutter Free Academy Facebook Group is back with Kathi talking about the top 10 types of paper we can let go of now, and forever.
Tonya Kubo is the illustrious, fearless leader of Kathi Lipp’s Clutter-Free Academy Facebook group. She and her husband, Brian, are raising two spirited girls in the agricultural heart of California. She writes about fighting the demons of comparison, clutter and compulsion on www.tonyakubo.com.
