About a month ago, my husband and I moved into a 14" trailer. We started downsizing over a year ago, and I still can't quite believe how much stuff we still have! Neither of us are terribly matetialistic, but we have both gone through long periods in our life having to go without. Once you've had little to nothing, it can be quite a mental challenge to let go of what you have accumulated.
I have found some rules on the interwebs that have helped.
1. Toss anything that is damaged -unless it can be mended in under an hour.
2. You must Love what you own. If it is something that you are holding on to for someone else, toss it or box it.
3. Be ruthless! It seems tough, but once that bag of donations and trash has been taken care of... the weight is lifted!
The more stuff we have around us, the more stressed out we feel and become. We deserve better!
Below is a link to some pins I have saved for inspiration.
Do you have any decluttering simple living tips?
​I would love to hear from you.

I keep my chalk pastels in an #Artbin with plastic tabs so the storage can be customized to your needs!
I love my artbin- it is so much nicer having all my chalk in one box.
Before I kept the chalk in the original packaging. Sure, it worked for awhile... until I had four boxes to go through when working on a project, trying to find the right color I knew I had somewhere! 😤
Now, I know what I have and have it all easily accessible at my fingertips.
upgrade option:
my idea was to fix some type of foam or padding to the lid?
It helps lessen the chance of the chalk being smashed to smitherines And helps keep the rattling noise to a minimal, because that constant shaking Can get a bit annoying (especially on a long bus or bike ride!?).
I used tape to keep tissue on the lid, to cushion the pastels during transport.
Before I taped it to the lid, I just kept the tissue in each slot. But when working outside, the wind would try to blow them away! Adding the tape seemed hokey at first, but has been a Vast improvement.

I first saw this in use by my mother-in-law Camille Eide.
While babysitting, she developed the idea for a children's story and wrote a whole post about the backstory to her creation.
When she was showing us her ebook, I saw the ice cube tray in her writing studio next to her paint brushes and watercolors.
​What a Brilliant idea!
I have always been slightly unsatisfied with flat palettes, and immeadiately repurposed our tray once we got home. I have loved it since day one. With each slot, there is plenty of room to mix up a good sized quantity of paint for several paintings. And, if you are using watercolor or gouache, the paint can easily be reconstituted with a few drops of water!