Lately I’ve been realizing something kind of uncomfortable:

A lot of us are doing our homes the hard way… not because we’re messy or disorganized, but because we’ve accepted a bunch of little daily annoyances as “normal.”

Here are three small changes I’ve made that removed way more friction than I expected:

First: I stopped storing things where they “should” go and started storing them where I actually use them.

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For example: if you always drop something in one specific spot when you walk in, that’s where it belongs now (or somewhere very close to there). Not where it looks prettiest. When storage matches real behavior, mess basically fixes itself. I recently applied this in our entryway when I made a little station for my teenage daughters' "get ready" stuff!

Second: I stopped organizing for categories and started organizing for actions.

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Instead of “cleaning supplies,” think “everything I need to wipe the counter.” Instead of “coffee stuff,” think “everything I need to make coffee half asleep.” When things are grouped by task, you stop hunting and stop re-buying duplicates.

Third: I stopped fighting the same problem over and over and just changed the system.

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If a drawer is always messy, or a surface is always cluttered, or a cabinet is always annoying that’s not a discipline problem. It’s a system problem. The fix is almost always a different container, a different layout, or a different location. Last week, I cleared out our kitchen junk drawer and actually made dedicated trays for everything. Now it's easier to put things away neatly, and I can actually see everything.

None of these make your house look Pinterest perfect.

But all of them make your house easier to live in. And that's the most important!

While I was putting together this Saturday’s video, I realized just how many of these little “why am I doing this the hard way?” changes I’ve made over the years. Some of them are slightly strange. All of them save time and mental energy!

If your house ever feels like it takes more effort than it should, you’re going to love that one. I'll send it to you on Saturday!

Talk soon,
Christina
@cozydiyhome

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This week's top find

LA’s Totally Awesome All-Purpose Cleaner is one of those products that feels almost too good to be true.

I just used it to get set-in lip gloss stains out of my daughter’s sweatpants (that had already been washed and dried), and it made my stovetop sparkle in last month’s Dollar Tree video.

It’s one of those “WHY didn’t I try this sooner?” products!

You can even find it at Dollar Tree, which makes it even better.

​👉 This is the exact one I use (commissions earned)​

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