It all starts with a clean desk

While not the best example of a clean desk, here is a picture of me working at a clean surface. Ahh, those were the days. Today, my desk holds my computer screen, three wooden Ikea desk organizers filled with crucial items, and the clutter that accumulates during a week of inattention.

My goal is to clean my desk once a week, and when I do, life seems much more ordered. As I work from home, I am able to be more focused and decidedly more productive with a clean desk. There's nothing like a clean work surface to motivate you when you need inspiration.

And I thought my house was tiny...

You have to check out these Tiny Tumbleweed Houses. The smallest featured home, the Biensi, is 70 square feet. A set of plans for the miniscule home--which can fit inside a parking spot when fully constructed--is $997 and the materials to make it will cost about $14,000. Those reluctant to build it themselves can purchase a finished home for about $35k.

Most of the Tumbleweed Houses are designed to be buit onto trailers, which can then be pulled by a truck...perfect for moving your home around on a large tract of land, or for a simple cross-country relocation. Just hitch up the trailer and you can go anywhere.

Watch this YouTube video of one such tiny-home dweller, where she drives her tiny home into a large subdivision... it's pretty funny!

Why I love Ikea

Not only does Ikea offer great storage solutions, they share advice and tips to make your home a more simple, organized environment. I like this new slideshow, Five Steps to Get Organized, which presents these tips (in more detail):

1. Sort everything, into as few categories as possible.
2. Reduce -- get rid of excess.
3. Put everything you keep in its place.
4. Count and measure items that need storage.
5. Choose the right storage or organization items.

It's my desk that sometimes starts to pile up with unwanted clutter. I sorted through everything last week, and now I can see my mousepad again. These are some of the desk organization items on my Ikea wish list:

Ikea letter organizer, for use as an in/out box, $9.99. This would keep me from having piles to sort through....

And the MACKIS storage rack for writing materials. You know, I really think I would write more notes if I had them so neatly accesible.

My Real Simple Calendar

A Really Simple Calendar

In need of inspiration for organizing my family's schedule and having one place to put all the appointments, I found this great Real Simple Planning Calendar with Stickers at Target.

I've already used the four color-coded label sets, assigning salmon to myself, brown to my husband, blue to the kids (right now, at least, my preschoolers have the same activities) and orange labels for family events.

I feel more organized already. At a glance, I can see all my appointments and scheduled activities. I still use my personal agenda/ planner pages, but this tool helps me organize the family. Now my husband has no excuse for forgetting the date of our upcoming family Christmas brunch ... it's December 16, and we'll all be there, thanks to the orange label.

Welcome to My Simple Home!

Many of us long for simplicity in our lives and in our surroundings. For those of us who are stay at home wives and stay at home mothers, simplicity in our homes is especially important as we spend so much time in them.

Part of the reason I started this blog is to motivate myself to simplify my own home in the areas where it needs some inspiration. To that end, and to encourage others, I welcome your comments, ideas, links and contributions. Please email me if there's a topic you'd like to see covered here.

Enjoy My Simple Home -- and yours, too.