Minimalist Wardrobe

I have never been a fashionista, not even close.  Last time I really cared about clothes was in high school.  That is when neon shirts, mini skirts, stirrup pants, parachute pants and china flats were in style.  Oh and don't forget the huge earrings.

Those days are long past for this chick.  I stopped wearing earrings when I taught at Head Start.  I stopped buying expensive clothes when babies came into our family.  I think everything I wore for 10 years had a spit up stain or worse on its shoulder.  Couple that with being a stay at home mom with one income and the days of mall shopping were over.

Enter in Minimalism...I have been chucking stuff my whole life, but with a family things get messy.  You hate to throw stuff away that belongs to someone else.  How long do you wait for someone to pick up their "junk" even when you have asked time and time and time again?  Well...fed up mom.  I just started chucking stuff that obviously they didn't care about.  No complaints yet.  Amazing.

We have cleaned out closets, drawers, bathroom supplies...almost everything has had a round of tossing. It is amazing, but believe it or not...the house is still a mess.  I removed furniture, simplified the kitchen, organized the cupboards...it all needs another round of decluttering.

 I think it was last year I quietly did the 33 items of clothing challenge.  No one noticed. Not one person.  I wore things for three months from a closet full of only 33 items.

Anyway.  Add some extra stress, new demanding church calling, homeschooling, football, piano, flute, and a million other things I have to accomplish each week and I decided spending time peering into my closet to figure out what to wear was a huge waste of time.

So I found some pants and shirts I like. They are comfy.  Oprah would have a fit.  I am not the stylish "yuppy mom" oh well.  I am sure she would deem me worthy of a makeover.   I bought 4 black shirts, 4 black pants, added them to the other black items in my wardrobe.  I am done.  Finished.  My new "uniform" has emerged.  If I want color, I can add a scarf.  I can add accessories, change shoes etc.

Here is my new "uniform"  I of course am the one in the black.  I will see how long I can hold out with wearing the same thing day in and day out.  So far I like it.

It is only the beginning of August, but it is time to start getting our classroom ready for the new year.  We have 24 days and counting until our first day with OHVA aka Ohio Virtual Academy.  It will be our 3rd year.  This year Jacob will be in 11th grade, Maggie in 7th and Curtis in 4th.  Doug is starting high school at Bio Med Science Academy, so he won't be home with us.    Here are some pictures of the classroom so far.  I still have a long way to go.

I think I saw this idea on Pinterest.  It is a shoe holder that I got cheap at a store called Marc's. I used paperclips and note cards to label each section.  It holds lots of little things that get scattered around the house.  Hopefully this will save us time finding supplies for a project or lesson.

It is doing double duty. It is hiding this shelf from my view.  I just see the organized beauty from the front.  On the side you can see all the "extras" that I have waiting to use throughout the school year.  Such as, notebooks, loose leaf paper, composition notebooks, folders, and file folders.

I found these at Marc's also.  They were $1.49 for 100 file folders. I thought I would have the kids use them to make lap books to go along with lessons.  I think I saw a box of these at Staples for about $30.  So that is a huge savings!  

Books and Supplies.

Curtis's Books from OHVA.  I have found keeping all the books in one location helps to keep things organized. I also put all the 2nd semester things away for the time being.  Otherwise it looks very overwhelming.

These are the teacher manuals for Maggie and Curtis.  I also need them in one spot.  Then when I need to refer to something, they are easily accessible.  

Maggie's books for the year.

This is something new I am working on for this year.  Writing anything in our house is equal to torture!   Since Doug is at school this year, I am taking over his space to create a writing center.  It will get them away from the computer when they have to write.  

I am finding things on the internet to put on the board.  For example:  words to use instead of bad, good, happy, sad, asked, and very.  Hopefully this will lead to more interesting and  creative writing.

This is more for Curt.  Some of those words that can be confusing to use. 

Commonly misspelled words and some spelling rules.  

Hopefully the writing center will help.  I am sure it will not take away the torture, but it might help.  I hope it helps.    Cross your fingers!

Well this is it so far.  I still have to deep clean.  Get rid of tons of boxes and junk.  Hang a bulletin board and clean the carpet.  Oh and try and keep it clean...  Wish me luck.