Simplifying your Household

This year our women's retreat is focusing on some very practical aspects of life, with small mini-workshops on topics such as serving as a godparent, fasting and feasting ideas, setting up your home altar, and household cleaning tips. My home is far from simple and streamlined, in fact, recently, visiting a friend, I looked around the home and realized how little "stuff" they had, and how much easier my life would be without so much stuff. I love my home, and I love the feeling I get when I walk into it, and I hope that it always feel welcoming to others. At the same time, I love finding simple ways to streamline and make maintaining my home easier. In that respect, I am offering one little tip for making a job simpler, and in return, I would love to hear any great little household tip you may have to offer. I will be gathering ideas for the ladies in our church, and welcome your input.

My tip: if you use a bar of soap in your bathroom or kitchen (my husband prefers a bar of soap - not to mention it is cheaper :), don't pay a lot of money for fancy soap dishes. They are a pain to clean, and they rarely last more than a year or so, the finish begins to come off, or they get broken. Instead, I purchase cheap bowls or saucers at Goodwill, TJMaxx or Marshalls. There are usually fun and pretty dishes for less than $3. When I am ready to clean them, I stick them in the dishwasher. If they get broken, no big deal. They are designed to handle water, and the finish does not come off on a dish! So, that is my fun tip for making a cleaning job easier without sacrificing beauty in my home.