I sent an email out to my email subscribers last week expressing some of my latest frustrations with Pinterest and Instagram. Don’t get me wrong, I am always inspired by bright and beautiful organized spaces with matching colors, pretty labels, and not a single thing out of place. Who doesn’t love some good organization eye candy? But lately, I’m finding many of those pictures to actually be more frustrating than helpful. They just lack authenticity. Sure, I’d love for my pantry to look like a page out of a magazine…but gosh darn it, that’s not real life! I see photos of pantries with lots of empty space on the shelves between pretty baskets, (expensive) matching containers, and what looks like enough food to feed a family of 4 for about two days. I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t work for my family.
A quick disclaimer – I don’t think there’s anything *wrong* with publishing those photos, and I have nothing against the bloggers that do – in fact, I really admire them! But what you don’t see is 95% of the time, the blogger taking those beautiful photos has a pile of clutter just outside the frame of the shot that will go back in that pantry as soon as the pictures are taken. So usually, those aren’t *real* life organization solutions, they’re just pretty pictures meant to inspire you. But that can lead to major frustration for us everyday moms – and maybe cause us to look a little bit like this poor lady…
Here’s the bottom line: I need organizing solutions, but I need them to be FUNCTIONAL. That doesn’t always end up looking magazine worthy…but that’s what WORKS.
In my email, I asked for people to take a quick moment to hit “reply” and let me know some of their biggest concerns, questions, and frustrations about organizing. I got lots of answers about all sorts of things from refrigerators to craft rooms and everything in between. But – by far – the most common frustration I heard about was everyday clutter. Specifically, clutter on “drop zone” flat spaces like kitchen counters and tables that builds up on a daily basis. Oh, gosh, you guys, can I relate to that! It’s a constant struggle in my house.
Luck for all of us, I have some terrific clutter and organization solutions for you to try out – and they are REAL LIFE solutions, not just pretty pictures from a magazine. These are resources that you can take, use, learn from, and implement to get rid of those mountains of clutter in your life!
REAL LIFE ORGANIZING SOLUTION #1
The first solution that I am REALLY excited about is the Conquer Your Clutter Super Bundle! I’ve always been a fan of the stuff that the folks over at Ultimate Bundles come up with, so when I heard they were putting together this super bundle I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. As expected, it is packed FULL of amazing resources that contain organization solutions and systems for real life.
But it’s not just physical clutter! The resources in this bundle will help you conquer mental and digital clutter as well. You’ll find digital planners, holiday planners, an eBooks about organizing photos, meal planning, freezer cooking, homeschooling, budgeting, and more! And the printables…oh, the printables! Planner stickers, a recipe binder, a home management binder, budget printables, daily routine cards for kids (which are absolutely BRILLIANT!)…and even more. Just looking at through the list of products makes my little Type A heart go pitter-patter ;-)
The Conquer Your Clutter Super Bundle is a curated collection of 38 eBooks, eCourses, and printable planners to help you organize your life, created by people who’ve learned how to conquer all the different types of clutter (physical, mental, AND digital) in their life – and win!
UPDATE – Command Center 101 is no longer available as a free gift – but it will be launching very soon! Sign up for email updates to be notified when it is officially released!
REAL LIFE ORGANIZING SOLUTION #2
Here’s the second solution I will recommend to anyone that is struggling with paper clutter, especially on kitchen counters – a COMMAND CENTER! Y’all, you have GOT to get yourself one of these. It has changed our family’s organizational life! And a Command Center is for SO much more than just organizing your mail. In fact, our Family Command Center has been such a great thing for our daily organization and clutter catching – and I get so many questions about it – that I decided to write a book about it!
And here’s that big announcement thing I was talking about at the beginning of this post…I am SO excited to offer a copy of my brand-new, not-even-released-yet eBook, Command Center 101 to anyone who purchases Conquer Your Clutter through my affiliate link! (Yes, I wrote another eBook! Woohoo!) I’ll be officially releasing it for sale very soon – but you’ll get it for FREE. Here’s an idea of what you’ll find inside the pages of Command Center 101:
- What exactly IS a Command Center, anyway, and do you need one?
- A thorough, step-by-step guide that walks you through the process of creating a Command Center that will actually WORK for your family
- Bonus Tips to maintain your Command Center after you’ve gotten it up and running
- FOUR (4) organizational printables that will help you along the way
- FOUR (4) 8×10 décor printables that will add style and personality to your Command Center
This is REAL LIFE organization, y’all – not just something that looks pretty but won’t work. I am all about helping you create functional AND pretty solutions for your family. If you put my tips from Command Center 101 to work in your home, you’ll be well on your way to conquering loads of clutter!
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I completely resonate with your sentiments about the authenticity of organization photos on social media. It’s refreshing to hear someone acknowledge that real-life organization isn’t always picture-perfect. Functionality trumps aesthetics in the long run. Your approach of seeking organizing solutions that are practical and not just visually appealing is commendable. Looking forward to more of your insightful content!
This is such a relatable post! I totally agree about those picture-perfect pantries – they look amazing but feel so out of reach. It’s funny you mention the clutter just outside the frame, I’ve always suspected that! Functional organization is definitely the goal, even if it’s not magazine-ready. Thanks for keeping it real!