Can you actually have a cute and cozy home without having clutter pile up on shelves, furniture and countertops? We wanted to know- can you decorate and be clutter free?
Kathi invited KariAnne Wood, author of DIY Home Planner to the podcast this week because she is a woman that gets it. She’s an expert on making a cozy home without causing us clutter gals to go into complete overwhelmed mode. From helpful tips on where to start, to the best places in your home to make the greatest impact, all without the clutter, KariAnne brings her best ideas to our listeners.
This is one of the most fun podcasts we have ever done and it is rich of great ideas on how we can decorate our homes to make it the place we want to be without adding stress to our lives.
WIN a copy of DIY Home!
Comment below and tell us what your biggest decorating challenge is because of clutter? Comment and three people will win a copy DIY Home Planner by our guest KariAnne Woods. Join us on Facebook Live on March 28 and your question could be featured! Can’t wait for it? Buy it today!
BONUS!!!
Quizzes to take from KariAnne:
What kind of window treatment does your room desperately need?
What type of flooring fits best?
30-Day Challenge with KariAnne
Are you ready to take the 30-Day challenge with KariAnne? We’ll be joining together over at the Clutter Free Academy Group to start the challenge on April 1. Join us for FB Live on March 28 (check out Facebook for announcements on time) to go through more details. Sign up now at https://thistlewoodfarms.com/30-days-of-free/
Meet Our Guest
KariAnne Wood
KariAnne Wood writes the award-winning lifestyle blog Thistlewood Farms, a tiny corner of the internet where all her stories and DIYs hang out and drink sweet tea. She also writes, photographs, and styles for several national magazines including Better Homes and Gardens Christmas Ideas, Country Women, and Flea Market Décor.
Find out more at KariAnne’s’s website: www.thistlewoodfarms.com
My biggest challenge is that everything from both of my parents and thus from my grandparents has ended up in my house. Everything seems to have some weird kind of sentimental reason to be kept – even when it is not something I would have chosen myself. So much clutter makes it hard to enjoy the things I truly love.
I loved the idea about cleaning off the fireplace mantel and start fresh.
We have lived in our home for many, many years and I try my best to decorate
often.
My kitchen table. Because of my little people I need to keep napkins on the table (at least they like to use napkins!). I just resort to a candle and the napkins but it looks kind of boring.
Oh my goodness, flat surfaces are the hardest!! Open shelves, buffet table tops, and countertops! I try to put a cute thing or two on display, but it’s just never right and then you add a thing or two and it looks cluttered!
Clutter has cost me a ridiculous amount of money! I want to decorate (create something, cook something, etc, etc), I can’t find what I know is “somewhere” and so I go buy it A.G.A.I.N…. *sigh*
Loved this! So timely for me. Moved 6 months ago and paralyzed by decorating indecision. 4 new hand towels and one “His mercies are new every morning sign” are all the commitments I have made so far! Just signed up for 30 day challenge. Ya!!
I need to balance how much of my kids’ stuff I keep and I need to find a system to organize all their toys!
My decorating challenge is because I change my mind too often and buy new stuff to do a different color, so I keep buying more stuff!!! I need to leave stuff longer, lol
The next challenge for my husband and I in our little traditional miners’ cottage will be the living room roof. It’s low and slanted, but it’s right by the wood stove, so it gets smoked quite frequently. So what colour do we paint it? White that will get really dirty really quickly or grey that will emphasise the lack of height?
We built our house over ten years ago and almost all of it is still builder white and undecorated! I have no style!
I loved this episode!! Great inspiration and very helpful tips! My biggest problem is that our family room is still undecorated three years after moving in, because all of our extra clutter tends to land in that room. Lack of storage space, along with my procrastination for organizing and decluttering, is an area I really need to tackle!
My biggest issue is how to decorate our office when we have so much paper clutter. My husband likes to have everything at hand so I can’t hide it all away. Any suggestions on how to make our office look good but also functional? It is the first too. You see when you walk into our home.
Me. I am the biggest part of the decorating problem. When I see something I want to buy, I don’t because of the cost or I don’t have anything to match it.
My husband and I are afraid of color. At one point we painted our dining area green and our living room blue, but we were afraid to go too dark and the only way you can tell they have any color at all is if you look at the line where the wall and the ceiling meet! How do we know how bold to go?
I love the look of a well decorated home, but I often buy things without knowing what I will do with them and then feel lost and guilty. I’m so excited about the 30 ideas of what to do with what you already have. I also have a love of diy projects (so I acquire them…there’s an old chair, hutch, dining room chairs in my garage) but then I don’t start on them because of time or a fear of not doing it right.
When my husband likes something, he has a habit of buying lots of the same item: CD’s & DVD’s (100’s, maybe 1000’s), candles and candle holders, books that he mostly doesn’t read, shaving paraphernalia (he must have at least 30 old-fashioned razors, maybe more!). His drawers and a built-in cupboard in our bedroom are so jam-packed with DVD’s and shaving stuff that there is little room for his clothes, so they are piled sky-high on the side of our bed. He also never throws clothes out–his collection goes back to high school! We live in a small house, and there is not room for all this STUFF!!! I feel helpless and hopeless! My biggest clutter problems are books, mostly left over from homeschooling, and papers, though I have made great strides in both these areas. I would LOVE to win KariAnne’s book. I believe I was recently “introduced” to her on a design blog I read. I am obsessed with reading design blogs and magazines these days, as my husband and I want to renovate our bathroom and kitchen. It may take years to pay as we go, but we hope to take the first steps soon. But clearing out the clutter has to be the first step.
My dining room is bland. It needs color. I also need ways to organize all the paper that seems to collect there.
I loved this episode! Thank you for sharing such practical tips (I had not heard the suggestions for a coffee table before this episode). My biggest challenge with clutter and keeping areas decorated are in my home office. I have great bookshelves and a nice large desk but yet the paper—- always stacks and stacks and stacks of paper (bills, coupons, cards, statements, etc). I cannot seem to keep it under control. I would love to keep the doors open to my lovely home office but it’s atrocious!
I struggle with feeling like once I actually decorate an area, it has to stay up FOREVER! I am so bad that the only holiday I decorate for is Christmas and then everything gets put back exactly where it was before Christmas. I have such a hard time trying to figure out a way to use my things differently.
My decorating challenge is that I’ve historically made many impulse decorating purchases, that I later realized don’t work. I’m terrified to make purchasing decisions in fear of making the same mistake again.
I always have a pile of things on my kitchen island that need to go to the basement and I haven’t found a system I love and that looks nice to contain it.
My biggest challenge is the husband. No, he’s not clutter, LOL, but I’ve got to get him on board. Another challenge is we recently inherited some of my mom’s furniture due to her downsizing. Some of the furniture is big and bulky and our house is a bit on the smallish size, or at least it seems that way. We also have many broken tiles all over the house; foundation issues + non-professional work (ie, family. 😀 ). This looks like a fun book to get the creative juices flowing. I’d love to win it. It’s most definitley going on my Amazon wish list.
My decorating struggle is that I want to incorporate pictures of my family/kids with other wall or tabletop decor. How do I incorporate both?
I think maybe I’m trying too hard and Instead of tasteful, I get tacky. I’ll try to use stuff I already have because I’m frugal like that. (My husband says it’s something else–tightwad ?) Like a crate full of old glass Mrs. Butterworth syrup jars — surely I can do something clever with those. I mean, they’re vintage, right? (Again, my husband calls them something else–trash ?) Isn’t it wonderful how God puts two completely different people together so they can learn from each other? Not going to say who needs to learn more… ?
We have recently downsized to a very small home, happily, however, the dining room table is visible from every entrance and is part of the living area…and it is a junk collector! I clear it, something is on it….repeat, all day long! I always make sure the house is neat before my husband walks in the door…and the first thing he does is put his computer backpack, lunch bag, coffee cup, water bottle and whatever else he has brought in….RIGHT ON THE TABLE! I don’t know how to do anything about it. So, I just put all of those things where they go, quietly…and before I know it…the dog’s leash, etc…is on the table….you get the idea! AGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! LOL 🙂
My biggest decorating/clutter challenge is handling kid toys/kids stuff. We have 4 children ages 1, 3, 6 & 8 and have designated play areas & toy storage/rotate toys/try to minimize the amount available. My 3 year old in is the “armful of toys” stage where she travels through the house bringing items with her while our 1 year old picks up whatever item grabs her attention and travels…before I know it, there are items scattered everywear or decoration items travel too/attempt to be used in play. It’s definitely a season of training and grace.
My biggest challenge is that we have 30 boxes of books stacked in our living room. I’ve gone through and donated a ton of books but I’m down to my husband’s books that he won’t part with and books we need for our homeschool. We live in a 3 bedroom apartment and there are 8 of us (4 adults, an adult-sized teen, and three younger kids) and there is just plain not enough space.
My biggest decorating challenge because of clutter: my bedroom….and honestly, I don’t want it to be that way. I really think it *should* be more of a sanctuary, but it’s just not right now b/c of all of the clutter–kid stuff (i.e. my son’s giraffe stuffed animal that has a hole in it that needs to be fixed), my stuff (projects I’m working on), etc. It is usually one of the last rooms I clean (b/c it doesn’t feel as necessary to clean as other high-traffic areas), and becomes a *dumping* grounds of sorts. Would love some help!
If I decorate with anything it’s usually whatever I have or have been given not really what I love. Also true that I have an opinionated detail oriented husband (engineer!). And….. When I do have something I like out, it often stays there forever, and I mean years, until I don’t like it as much but feel bad spending money to replace it…. Basically I never spend money on decorating things… And decorating things never get worn out to justify replacing them! 🙂
My basement is full of projects or possible things to decorate!! I think it’s time to treat that area like the mantle, clear it out & only put what I love back in!! I so enjoy you both & have learned so much!! Thank you!
Decorating with collections … how do you do it without becoming overwhelmed?
My biggest struggle is that I love to change up my decor frequently, but generally tend to display way too much decor at one time. I definitely need help to achieve a more minimalist look!
I just can’t commit to anything. I have these bookshelves to decorate but view buying decor as frivolous & unnecessary so I just don’t get anything. Meanwhile my living room looks bare.
My biggest challenge is refreshing my decor occasionally without buying too much & knowing what couple of things can make the rooms look better.
My biggest struggle is that I don’t even want to get started! I don’t want to add to what I have because I am too worried about making design mistakes that I regret and end up just being clutter.
Trying to mesh functionality with a well decorated home is my current issue. I like the minimalist look, but pulling things out and putting things away a million times a day can get old — hence I have piles. These piles are driving me crazy, and I’m passing my piling tendencies on to my kids.
KariAnne is so dang awesome, thanks for having her on the podcast.
My husband and I have very different tastes…I like to have memories out to see and he wants 100% cleared surfaces and walls. We “deliberated” for weeks about having just a knife block out on the kitchen island…lol.
Our house is 25 years old. We have to remodel and update room by room because of finances. How do you pick which room to update first? I get overwhelmed because I try to keep the older rooms updated with current decor pieces, but my mind is cluttered with all the to-do lists. Once a room is completed, I feel like it’s outdated so soon (within 5 years) Picking out new furniture is also a chore. Tips?
My biggest struggle is my husband. He has a very different taste than I do – plus he likes to hang on to everything!
my biggest struggle with “decorating” right now is my garage—it is so full of clutter, we can’t even park our 2 cars inside it! it has become a storage area for the stuff of my 2 grown children, my husband and i, and both our parents, now that they are deceased; i would love how to deal with the garage clutter and be able to utilize it for what it’s intended to be, especially since our PA winters can be brutal! thank you
I am completely overwhelmed! My house is small, but my treasures are many! What do I do with all the mementos that are meaningful, but don’t really fit in my house? Loved your podcast and would love, love, love a copy of the book!!!
My biggest struggles is my kids! My idea of trash is their idea of treasure! Our house is also in need of some serious renovations that aren’t happening due to finances. It’s making some areas of our house unusable right now, which means things have had to move to other rooms and clutter them up. I’m praying things will start happening soon!
My struggle is my husband. I love him, Lord knows I do, but he is cluttery!!!
I have lived in my home for four years and have mostly bare walls. have stacks of pictures and paintings waiting to go up but paralyzed so the project stays at the bottom of my list.
My struggle is upcoming. Because of 8 years of adulterous activity from my husband, my two kids and I will be moving from an over 3500 square foot house to an apartment, very possibly a two bedroom. My almost 12 year old daughter and I will most likely need to share. Trying to figure out how to make it cute, what to keep, and white walls???
My struggle is also pictures. I have 5 kids and I want to display the pictures, but I don’t know how to do it without making things feel cluttered.
My dining room table is my problem – always cluttered with papers, recipes, mail, etc. I have a beautiful old table, but you can’t see if for all of the clutter!!! And even when I put a pretty tablecloth on, you can’t see IT for the clutter!!!
My biggest struggle is all the clutter gets dumped in our extra room. It makes the room unusable and a stressful place to be. It is supposed to be my Bible study, exercise,TV, reading and relaxing space. I’m a piler and I have papers and excess stuff on every counter and flat surface. I don’t even know where to begin.
I loved this episide!
My largest decorating challenges are manifold: my husband’s career has taken us to ten distinct communities in six states. Next week we are moving to our tenth home and sixth state; I have raised and home educated five sons during these years-three of whom still rotate through our homes during breaks from their educational and missionary pursuits; I am an under-buyer and a neat freak. All of this adds to fairly frequent redecorating and too much thought about making a truly comfortable, functional, but beautiful home that is just girlie enough for me and not too frilly for the guys. Also, we’ve recently been blessed with our first grandchild, a boy of course, and I want him to be safe and happy when he visits. I don’t want him to hear the word “no” more often than necessary. I think I need KarriAnn’s book at this juncture in my life so that I can finally achieve a long-lasting plan for home decorating that fits!
I’ve already decided to paint our new home in Alabaster by Sherwin-Williams from your tip today. Thank you! (I paint every room in every house we buy, at least once.)
Hi Ana,
Congratulations! You won the giveaway! I will send you an email for your mailing address. Thank you for listening and participating!
Have a blessed week!
Chere
My decorating challenge is that I have too many things with which to decorate! I’ve purchased little figurines or baskets or candle holders over the years and want to use them all, but don’t have the room.
One of my struggles is pictures. I love pics of my son and any family pics we’ve done. But he’s 20 so you can imagine how many I have. I could smother my walls with all those memories.
We have lived in our home since 2014 and I struggle with getting the pictures on the wall. They are all stored in our spare bedroom. I was fine with hanging them up little by little in our last home (as they were taken and framed) but I now feel overwhelmed by all of the boxes of pictures and artwork that we have in that room.