I was SO excited for our weekend project of painting the bathroom! The "before" photo may look white...but it was more of a dingy yellow. Every time I walked in, I would cringe :) I need color!

BAM! Color! A big thank you to my amazing hubby who is the painter extraordinaire...he remained positive and upbeat even after doing remodels all week at his "real" job :) The color is a bit darker/richer in person...it's the Valspar color "City Chartreuse" in the Olympic No VOC paint base for kitchen and bathroom.

This shower curtain was my inspiration...I found it World Market and I love the design and rich tones.

Bella's room was another beast to tame. Her room goes from spotless to "were we robbed?" in 3 seconds. We've been continually purging unwanted toys to get it down to a reasonable level. Less stuff = less cleaning!

The main playthings in her room are her kitchen, her dress up clothes, her art supplies, cash register, books, stuffed animals/dolls, and her TV. We tidy her room twice a day to keep it under control and that seems to be working. Where there is open space...there is joyful play!

And lastly, my desk! This has been completed for awhile, but I did some major decluttering and have resolved to keep this surface open for activity and not for storage! (Thanks Francine!). It's amazing how having completely clear surfaces can make you feel instantly inspired.

This little nook is in our kitchen and is such a great example of how you can use wasted space to create something wonderful! There used to be a high table and a couple of stools here (they belonged to our landlord), but we removed them, built shelves, and made a desk out of our old front door. Add the chair we got on Craigslist for $15, and voila!

It's nice to have my printer/scanner up there, but it's out of the way. The gray wall "file" is for papers I need to sort through. I like having somewhere to keep it all in one place! The large clear bin is for recycling and the drawers on the right are mailing and letter writing supplies. I would eventually like to replace those with lovely fabric covered boxes and put them up above on the shelves. The blue cupboard above my desk is our pantry for dry foods.

I love to sit here and work with the door swung open while the girls play in the backyard.

...and that was our weekend.

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Many of you are asking for book and blog recommendations for decluttering and minimalism. I will compile a complete list when I do my longer blog post about it, but you can start with these! If you have a favorite that is not listed...please leave it in the comments so I can add it to the master list!

*For those of you who think minimalism is only about living in a sparsely furnished tiny house with white walls...think again! To me, minimalism is clearing out the things and thoughts that are cluttering your life so you can LIVE FULLY! Now get inspired!

Blogs:Miss Minimalist Becoming Minimalist Minimalist Packrat Zen Habits

Books:The Minimalist Mom The Joy of Less (highly recommend!) The 100 Thing Challenge The Radical Minimalist 30 Day Clutter Bootcamp (I'll be writing more about this later!) Sell Your Crap