How To Create A Calm Space

This Lexington Life Dining Room

Is your life a little chaotic like mine? I have two rambunctious boys, I work from home, and my husband is regularly on shift, in class, or studying. It can get a little crazy in this house at times! I lose my cool, I panic, I feel overwhelmed. Insert major mom-guilt. These feelings sort of became my baseline during the height of the pandemic. I woke up at the start of every day feeling overwhelmed with what I would be managing that day. The truth is that I still have those days.

Real-life is messy and hard a lot of the time – it just is. If you read my updated About Me page you'll see that I'm striving to curate a life that feels like I'm on vacation in my own home and city. Don't get it twisted though! I'm not striving for perfection. I'm striving to wake up every day feeling calm and at peace. This is a work in progress! Here is a list of what I'm working on to help create a calm space at home – maybe we can work on these things together!

A Clean Home

I'm using the Clean Mama method and my 2021 Home Planner (I talked about this planner around Christmas time – it's THE BEST – read about it here) to keep up with my house. I fell out of the habit for a while and things quickly got away from me. Still recovering! Nate and I tackle a lot of it together but if I don't have a clear plan in place for what I need to get done each day it can be overwhelming. When I get overwhelmed I start to shut down and when I shut down I tend to do… well .. nothing. My brain needs a very clear picture of today's bite-sized tasks or it only sees the entire picture – a WHOLE house in need of cleaning.

I love that the Clean Mama method provides a very CLEAR picture of what needs to be done each day and it only takes me 30 minutes or so. If a particular task in my home takes me longer I might break it down into two pieces. For example, there are THREE floors in this house and I can't always get the entire house vacuumed and mopped in one day so the area in need of it the most will get taken care of this week and next week or over the weekend I will get to the rest.

Time Saver Tip: Clean the bathroom while your kids are in the tub! I wipe everything down and clean the toilet real quick just to freshen it up! Then, on Monday (Bathroom Day), I might be able to skip that bathroom!

A Home Free of Clutter

| Tufted Sleigh Bed (link) | Mid Century Modern Hall Tree (link) | Grey Striped Duvet Cover Set (link) |

First of all – LOL – my house is definitely a work in progress when it comes to clutter. When we moved into this house I was determined not to do the thing where we shove stuff into storage and say, "I'll get to this next weekend!" Guess what? Next weekend never comes and two years later I can hardly open the storage room door. There is a similar situation happening in the garage. All of this to say – I am tackling one space at a time and I'm putting it out into the world for accountability. I will be sharing the progress I make here and over on my YouTube channel. We have to start small!

Tip: Do your bedroom first! Waking up in a bedroom free of clutter on the nightstands and dresser has me feeling so refreshed and ready to tackle some of the bigger things!

A Home With a Quiet Space

| Turquoise Keyboard & Mouse (link) | Office Chair (link) |

My house is loud – kids, sports, video games – there is constant noise and I am very sensitive to it. In our current house, I am blessed to have an office space where I can go to work, blog, journal, and do yoga/stretch. Or I can go out on our back deck and sit for a few minutes if I need some fresh air. But in our old home, all I had was a closet. You can see that here. I had a space set up inside my clothes closet where I could go and sit when I needed true quiet to work or just have a moment. Whatever you have – use it! I feel so much calmer just knowing that I have somewhere I can go for just a few minutes to shut off everything going on around me if I need to.

Tip: Schedule (at least) 10 minutes into your day to stretch. I recently signed up with Jessica Jay to get access to all of her stretching videos on demand and they're fantastic!

A Home Where YOU Aren't Doing EVERYTHING

Pick a thing you HATE to do and outsource it. Personally, I hate having to go grocery shopping. It takes up a lot of time, I have to leave my house (hah), I waste time looking at random things, I end up going up and down the same aisles several times, my kids are getting restless and trying to touch (lick) everything, etc. So I don't do it. I don't go grocery shopping. Instead, I use Walmart grocery delivery and Ibotta for savings.

You might remember that I talked a little bit about grocery delivery and Ibotta in a post here! This saves me time and money. Yes – I pay a small fee for delivery – but for me personally, it's an affordable price for my sanity. Especially when it gives me time back to work on other things. This might not be your most hated chore, but maybe there is something that you're currently doing that feels heavy to you that could be outsourced to someone else! This falls in that "work smarter, not harder" category and sometimes it ends up really being worth it!

TIP: Walmart grocery pick-up is FREE. So if delivery is not in your budget, you can easily shop from the app on your phone or on a computer, schedule the pick-up time that works for you, and you don't even have to leave your vehicle (drag your kids all over the store!) You can approve any items that are replaced/swapped and if you receive a product that you have an issue with it is easy to return it from the app!

Creating Your Own Calm Space

At the end of the day, I think we all have to decide what brings peace and calm into our lives. These are some of the best ways I've found to keep me on track. PS: I am NOT always on top of these things BUT having the plan in place helps me get back to it when I fall off the wagon! PPS: My house is still a MAJOR work in progress even after living here for 2 years! I'm excited to tackle some home projects and bring you all along for those!