Breathing Room

Remember when I wrote about clearing the kitchen counters here?

Well, I did it. Mostly.

 
The stand-up mixer is too heavy to keep moving back & forth. The bowl next to it is for fresh fruit, like bananas. The knives wouldn't fit in any drawer, and the small bowl next to that is used as a spoon rest when we're stirring something on the stove.

Since clearing the kitchen counters, it has felt easier to do the right thing when I am cleaning up. To not just leave the Cheerios on the counter, but to actually put them back in the pantry. Which was my goal with this little challenge.

Then I read about the Nester's 30-day no accessories challenge. No sweat, I thought, I'm not really an accessories gal. No tabletops full of trinkets in my house. 

Plus it might help with one of my summer goals: prepping our house for sale. When you get ready to move, you want to put away the family photos so your buyer can imagine themselves in your home.

So into the basement went books, throw pillows, and a lot more knickknacks than I realized we had. 
 

The stuff might be gone, but the color stayed. I just love this little reading nook! Come back tomorrow and I'll tell you what's on my summer reading list.