A Journey Around the World to Find Minimalism with Margaret Henney | Part I

For three years, I have wanted to share this story with you guys! Meet Marge…my best friend, world traveler, aspiring minimalist and ridiculously talented writer. She left life as she knows it back in 2015 to spend an entire year traveling the world. I’m talking five continents traveled with a single backpack.

You will LOVE reading her story, her philosophy on life and the happiness she has found with living with less (but amping up all of the experiences she enjoys). Let’s just dig in, shall we?

8 Life Tweaks to Minimize Your Carbon Footprint

This year my husband and I set a goal (I just hate the word resolution) to become just a little greener in our household by reducing our carbon footprint as best we can. After all we need to keep this planet thriving for the next generation.

Making the switch can seem daunting, so we are taking it in small, digestible chunks to start with. Every little tweak helps. In your own home, you might consider choosing one are to focus on for a few weeks until it becomes a habit, then from their implementing another idea.

Here are a few of the small changes we’ve implemented so far and one GIGANTIC change that we are working on:

2019 Highlight Reel

This year takes the cake for being my favorite yet!

On a personal level, our not so little Pair of Baers have totally transformed our lives! Our house is louder, messier and happier than we ever could have imagined. Their laughter, smiles and snuggles bring us so. much. joy.

On a professional level, after taking time off to settle into motherhood, I came back to organizing with so much renewed energy and excitement. I mean I’m always excited to help clients feel like they’ve got it together, but I felt like I could relate on a new level after becoming a mother myself.

A few of my favorite moments of the year are:

How in the Heck Do I Store My...Holiday Decor?!

This time of year, one of the most frequently asked questions in the world of organizing is something along the lines of…How do I store my wreaths?! Is a bag or box better for storing my tree? What on earth do I do with all of these ornaments?! Is it normal to spend 5 hours unraveling Christmas lights each year?

So today, I’m sharing some of my favorite hacks and the products needed for organizing your holiday decor just in time to take advantage of those big SALES starting on December 26! And better yet, a lot of these solutions utilize items you might already have on hand.

WREATH + LINEN ORGANIZER

If you’ve got a blank wall in your storage space begging to be filled, consider using Command Hooks to create a gallery wall of wreaths. Bonus points if you organize by season! Imagine a tidy grid of wreaths with Spring on the top, summer in the middle, and Fall/Winter below. I can envision it now and it has me E X C I T E D.

The Baer Minimalist's Party Prep Checklist

Planning ahead has always been my jam - dare I say, a hobby?! I’m always making lists so that I can feel like I’ve got it together and the holidays are certainly no exception.

I’ve been updating my online address book so that I’m ready to order my holiday cards on Cyber Monday (with pre-printed envelopes saving tons of time), creating a list of gift ideas for those lucky recipients in my life and of course, planning out the menus for the events we are hosting over the coming weeks.

One of my favorite resources to utilize for events is my Party Prep Checklist and I thought it was due time I shared it with you! If you subscribe to Haven, you’ve already got a hard copy at your disposal as it was featured in the November issue. (And if you don’t subscribe, what are you waiting for?!)

2019 Consumable Gift Guide...for Kids

The holiday season is quickly approaching (and I’m sure a birthday party or five). You might find yourself asking the age-old question...what am I going to do about gifts?!

Raise your hand if you’ve ever felt “stuck” when it comes to gift buying (ME!).

I’m a huge proponent of consumable and experiential gifts (check out the 2017 and 2018 guides here) and wanted to make sure that we addressed the littlest gift recipients in our lives with this year’s installment.

$ - FREE OR LESS THAN $10

Kids love one-on-one time with you (especially if you have more than one child). Give your kiddo a budget and let them pick how you will spend it - the only caveat being that you have to DO something (rather than BUYING something). A suggestion, the Nutcracker Tea Party at Tina’s Traditional Tea Room in Carmel coming up on December 8.
If you’ve got time to get creative, plan a scavenger hunt or adventure day. Maybe you pull out a good old fashioned map and let your kiddo choose the destination. I promise the conversations you have & the memories you make will be worth more than any “thing” you could have bought them.

Time to Toss - Expiration Guidelines for Your Favorite Household Products

Pantries and bathrooms are some of my absolute favorite spaces to organize. Why, you ask?

Well, you just can’t argue with oregano that expired in 2012 or that Cajun Shrimp nail polish that is completely separated.

Whether you are working with a professional organizer, or trying to get started on your own, these are great spaces to get your feet wet when it comes to organizing. Pull everything out, check ALL of the expiration dates and get to tossing.

Having all of the expired products discarded allows you to see what needs to be replenished, but also gives a very true picture about what products you use and which ones you don’t.

The Baer Minimalist's Twin Baby Registry

Registering for a baby (or two, in our case) can be daunting! It is a totally different experience than registering for a wedding, because there are so many foreign items that you are told you will need, but you have NO IDEA what they are used for.

So my #1 tip is to ask a friend for help, or utilize a resource like Lucie’s List. This was the best way to get a jump start on registering for me. I consulted their guide for twins and built my registry online through BabyList. What’s even better is that I only had to pop in to Buy Buy Baby once to “test-drive” strollers - because a store like that is completely overwhelming in my opinion for any first time mom-to-be.

For the most part, I was careful about what we registered for because I don't like a lot of clutter. I also didn't want to register for a lot of items that we wouldn't use within the first six months (i.e. high chairs, sippy cups, toddler toys, winter clothes, etc.). I am thankful that we did that because we received what we truly needed right at the beginning.

We also did not know the gender of our babies until they were born, so I refrained from registering for a lot of clothes, toys, stuffed animals, blankets, teethers and books. Again, this helped us focus on essentials and gave us the chance to pick out these “fun” items once they were born. Of course, I saw tons of cute items along the way and just kept track of them on Pinterest pages dedicated to Baby Style and Baby Gifts.

Location Independent Living with Crystal Grave

Selling your belongings, packing up the car and setting forth on a true adventure. Has it ever crossed your mind? I think about it often, although I’m not positive I could ever pull the trigger. But I sure love being able to live vicariously through those that do.

For Crystal Grave and Chad Starns, they took advantage of jobs that allowed them to work remotely and headed out on a cross-country adventure five years ago. Since then, they’ve lived in San Francisco, Seattle, Austin, Denver, New Orleans, Bozeman, St. Pete with plans to head to NYC next. In each city, they set up camp in a house or apartment for several months, before packing their car up again to hit the road. During this time, they’ve learned how important experiences are and have changed their beliefs on material goods.

Organized | LIFEMaria BaerJune 26, 2019The Baer Minimalist, LLCMinimalism, Travel TipsComment

2019 Indianapolis Donation Guide

I continue to be introduced to incredible local organizations (and a handful of national + international organizations) that tirelessly work to put your donated items into the hands of the most deserving individuals.

My hope is that you share this guide with family and friends, post in your neighborhood Facebook group, or print it, laminate it and post inside of a cabinet door! Then, take things one step further, and think through how you might be able to tackle some of the spaces in your own home where items are gathering dust.

Ultimately, I hope this guide serves as a reminder that those items that are stacked up in our basements, garages and closets could be utilized TODAY by someone trying to make a better life for their family.

DONATION RESOURCE // Coburn Place

This past week I had the opportunity to tour Coburn Place and was able to see how YOUR donations are placed directly into the hands of those in need. I felt compelled to share the impact that volunteers, the Coburn Place staff and the community are making for adults and children who are impacted by interpersonal abuse. My hope is that you keep Coburn Place top of mind as you look to rehome items that are no longer a fit in your space.

Since 1996, Coburn Place has been this incredibly unique resource for adults and children who are fleeing a dangerous situation. Indianapolis is beyond lucky to have this community resource in our midst, as it is one of the only resources of its kind in a multi-state area. In fact, since opening, Coburn Place has provided more than 1800 adults and children housing and support services.

A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Most Organized Garage Yet

Garages…dirt collectors, dumping grounds, heck, junkyards. Am I right?

With Summer just around the corner, I partnered with Monkey Bar Storage to share a step-by-step guide to your most organized garage yet. Imagine a clean and clear, streamlined storage space that has this season’s items accessible, next season’s items stored away and space for your vehicle. This is the stuff of dreams, people.

I’ll hand the baton over to Olivia from Monkey Bar Storage to enlighten you on just how this can be accomplished.

The Baer Minimalist® Blog -- Tips, Tricks and Hacks on living a more ORGANIZED + STYLIZED Life