Last year for Christmas my sister bought me Grace not Perfection from Emily Ley, designer & creator of The Simplified Planner. I absolutely loved Grace not Perfection and may have read it in like 3 days, I also bought myself a Simplified Planner for my birthday this year and it’s my favorite.
So, all that to say, I’m totally biased. I follow Emily on IG and watched her earlier this year prep for and basically write this book. I’ve had the release date written in my planner since the day she announced it and although I didn’t pre-order it, I knew I was going to add it to my shelf.
Not only is A Simplified Life, a gorgeous book to behold but it’s incredibly practical and straight forward. Not everyone will organize the same way, if you’ve ever been in a serious relationship or lived with someone, you know what I mean. So Emily offers practical ‘tactical’ ways to unclutter and simplify. You don’t have to do all the things or even par down as much as she recommends, but her one rule is that you don’t buy anything.
Not one tub, basket or anything. Instead, keep a list and more often than not you’ll find something along the way to use. I know this is true for me, I kept finding little tubs and boxes to put things in!
I read A Simplified Life, after our big move back to Colorado. It seems no matter how much I donated, sold, or gave away before the move I still ended up with 4 boxes of donation items while unpacking. Not including the HUGE stack of old Interior Design textbooks and Divinity Commentaries we have stacked in the living room.
The key to making A Simplified Life work, is small progress. I love to organize much to my husband’s dis-approval when going to look for things. So I began in our master bathroom, we don’t have kids except for the pets so it’s insane that we had 2 boxes of bathroom ‘stuff’ plus a small 3 drawer tub. Not kidding. I devoted 1 hour to all the ‘stuff’ in our bathroom and threw away expired stuff, duplicates, empty bottles, and samples we’d never ever try. I pared down to 2 small baskets under the sink and moved the 3 drawer cubby OUT of the bathroom. #progressnotperfection
If you’re wanting to simplify without going to a minimalist extreme, then A Simplified Life from Emily Ley is just the thing. She helps you shift through the fluff and find more margin for everyday, she encourages routine and schedules so you don’t feel rushed, flustered, or disorganized.
With plenty of room to write in the book, with questions for you to examine your needs, your families needs for your home.
I received this book for free in return for an honest review. Get a copy of A Simplified Life from Emily Ley.
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Stylishly Shelby 