I’ve always been a relatively tidy person. My mum was a little OCD on the cleaning and tidying front. Kids often rebel or subscribe (with some modifications) to their parents way of living, and I went down the latter path. I’m nowhere near as tidy or clean, but I like order – my brain hurts when the house is disorganised.

When my husband and I moved in together (we are a blended family) we had two households of stuff. Three kettles. Two sandwich toasters. Three fridge/freezers. Four televisions. You get the picture.

Over time, we have been reducing the volume of repeat items and just generally things in the household. I had a small operation a couple of years ago and while I was recuperating and mindlessly googling for organising ideas, I came across the goddess of organising, Alejandra Costello, who is based in Virginia in the US. Her site is www.alejandra.tv and her videos are absolutely fantastic, if you haven’t seen them before and you are early in your journey towards a simpler life.

Organising is great first step. Everything has a home and everything (should be) in its home.

But I found I wanted more. I was organised but still super busy. I was organised – every cable was corralled and labelled; every cupboard looked sorted and gorgeous – but I still felt overwhelmed by my stuff.

I found a few websites on minimalism and I liked 75% of what I was reading. Your stuff should not own you, and book out valuable chunks of your time to maintain it.

So – a few months ago, while I was urgently google-searching again for my next movement away from consumerism, I came across Brooke McAlary at www.slowyourhome.com . Firstly – so great to see an Australian movement achieving a ground swell. Simple, slow living can be achieved through planning (in the first stages), establishing gentler routines, and by prioritising experiences over things.

A few ebooks by www.theminimalists.com later and a read of a few blog posts from www.zenhabits.com,I have worked out what I need.

I don’t need organised stuff – I just need less stuff to organise.

So I move on to my next part of the journey to a slower life. Less stuff to organise. The above is a classic move from organising and decluttering, to simplifying. I realise many people before me have been down this road before.

Goodbye to organising products = hello to less things to organise. Over the next couple of weeks I will post a series of photo-based posts to illustrate the difference.

Today – let’s begin with my bedroom. Here it is in all its messy glory in 2010 (shame!)

And after a “decluttering and organising session”…. (looking better)…..just after in 2010

And finally, after a real look at my room – what colours calm me, what simplicity could offer and what I actually needed to use beside my bed – in 2014 (ahhh – peaceful… to me).