This past week our car broke down, our front door handle broke and our faucet started leaking. Everything was repairable but it did feel like a flurry of failures that needed our attention beyond normal life responsibilities. All of these repairs took time and money. And all I could think is how do I simplify my life so I’m not spending time maintaining and repairing things?! But maybe the more constructive thought is, how do I fill my life with fewer things that I don’t mind maintaining and repairing?

I had to get a new door handle to access our home and we had to pay for a car repair. We have one family car and while we walk a ton, we still use the car, for kids activities, road trips and bigger grocery store visits, so it was worth repairing (maybe worth upgrading the car at this point? but to be determined). For the faucet , we were able to order a new hose and Trevor replaced it himself. This rush of things breaking down had me reconsidering our home and what could be simplified yet again. And maybe these specific items were unavoidable to repair and ultimately repair is better than replacing, but it had me look with fresh eyes at our home possessions.

Less Plants

I think the thought exercise is worth considering; what possessions are requiring too much of your time to clean, repair and maintain? Could you do without it? For example I simplified some planters this weekend, I had a bunch on my lower patio and found it was effort to water them, and was worrying about what plants to plant in them. So instead of buying more plants and having more to water everyday, I cleaned out a few planters and I’m going to give them away. Less planters, means less effort and a renewed focus on maintaining the planters I do have.

I also recently killed our Fiddle Leaf Fig in our living room when I gave it fresh soil it didn’t like (to be honest it has never thrived in our space and was always hanging on for life). Instead of running out and replacing it, I thought, I would like to have one less plant to care for right now. Come to think of it, I also removed the plants on the top of our bed which were an effort to water as well. I hung a mobile that needs no maintenance beyond an occasional dusting.

Less glassware

A further example is, I purged most of our lovely wine glasses as I usually just have wine in our everyday glasses (Fable 600SQFT10 for 10% off anytime). Even when we have guests, I am unlikely to serve wine in a wine glass as it just feels like it might break and takes up too much room in the dishwasher at the end of the night. Having nice everyday glasses to serve all drinks, is good enough for this season of life.

Still less is more

Less plants, less glassware, as I ruthlessly consider other items in our home that require us to spend my time cleaning and repairing when I would rather be living life.

I think of this when I add a shelf, accessory or a piece of furniture to our home. Do I want to dust this? Clean this? Store this? Style this regularly? And sometimes I add the wrong thing to our home or closet but hopefully I am quick to correct (not always ,but it’s a work in progress).

I want our home to be a peaceful space and I want to spend my time maintaining my own and my family’s physical and mental health more than I want to maintain our things. And I can admit after 40 this becomes more of a priority than ever before!

What have you edited lately that gives you more time and space ?

Maintaining Your Things