Brianne • New York Mom (@brianne.lynk) Instagram Analytics

This whole-house purge is doing something to me… again.😅

Bag after bag after bag of things we spent money on, brought into our home, organized, reorganized, moved from room to room… and eventually forgot about.

And I keep thinking about how much of it came from birthdays, holidays and all those moments when buying MORE felt like part of making something special.

I love celebrating my kids. Like, LOVE it. I love making things magical for them. I love the decorations, the little details, watching them get excited — all of it.

But I’m realizing that making their childhood special doesn’t have to mean filling our house with more things.

They’re only little for such a short amount of time.

And when I think about what I want to spend our money, time and energy on while they still think hanging out with Mom is the best thing ever… it’s not more stuff.

It’s plane tickets. Hotel rooms. Road trips. New places. Random adventures. Trying something for the first time. Staying up too late in a hotel room. Laughing about something that went completely wrong.🙃

It’s giving them stories they’ll tell someday instead of another toy I’ll put in a donation bag two years from now.

Will we still celebrate? ABSOLUTELY.

There will still be cake. There will still be balloons. There will still be presents and traditions and all the things that make birthdays feel like birthdays.

I just think, for us, the biggest gift is going to start looking a little different.

Less stuff to store.

More places to go.

More things to experience.

More “remember when…”

And if this purge has taught me anything, it’s that I’d much rather have a house full of memories than a house full of things.

187. 🤯

That’s how many things left our house today.
And somehow, not ONE was something we regularly use.

Expired food. Dead pens. Dried-up markers. Broken things. Kitchen duplicates. Water bottles (SO. MANY. WATER. BOTTLES. 😂) Things shoved into cabinets that I genuinely forgot we owned.

And I think that’s the part of this whole-house purge that’s already changing the way I look at our stuff.

We weren’t using these things. We were managing them.

Moving them around. Finding somewhere to put them. Digging around them to find what we actually needed. Buying organizers to contain them. Getting annoyed when cabinets wouldn’t close.

187 things were taking up space in our home without adding anything to our lives.

And that was just TODAY. Just in the kitchen.😳

So if looking around your entire house and thinking about decluttering feels completely overwhelming, don’t.

Start with 10. Go find 10 things that have already lived their useful life. Expired. Empty. Broken. Dried up. Dead. ☠️

Get them OUT. And if you do it, come back and tell me what you found. 👀

I’m curious how many things will be gone by the time this whole-house purge is over…

Day 2: 187 things down.

For the last two years, most of our extra time, energy, and money went into building a life we love at home.

We bought the house. We settled in. We focused on family, work, sports, homeschooling, and all the little things that make up everyday life.

But lately we’ve realized something. Our favorite memories aren’t things.

They’re the road trips, the unexpected adventures, the laughter in hotel rooms, the snacks in the car, and the moments that become family stories years later.

This weekend we’re packing up for a baseball tournament and kicking off what we hope is a season of more adventures together.

More family.
More travel.
More memories.

Where should we go next? ✈️🚗🏕️

#familytravelideas #familytravel #travelingwithkids

Apparently every time I see a cute, soft blanket, I completely forget that I already own 26. 😂🫣

Today was duplicates in the whole-house purge, and I decided to start with our throw blankets.

Not comforters. Not the kids’ blankets. Not bedding. JUST throw blankets. 27 of them.

And here’s the ridiculous part… We consistently reach for the same few. So why was I storing 20 extras just because they’re perfectly good blankets?

I’m not anymore.

27 → 7.

The other 20 are leaving our house and, because they’re still perfectly usable, they’re headed to the garage-sale/donation pile for someone else to hopefully actually USE.

And my favorite part? We had THREE baskets just to contain all of these blankets.

Now that I’m only keeping what we actually use… I don’t even need one of the baskets anymore.

And THAT is what I’m starting to realize through this purge. Maybe I don’t need another basket. Maybe I don’t need a better organization system. Maybe I just need less stuff to organize.

So today’s challenge:

Pick ONE category you have way too many of.

Blankets. Water bottles. Coffee mugs. Towels. Kitchen utensils. Whatever it is.

Put every single one together.

Then ask yourself:

Why do I own 20 of something when I always choose the same 3?

Whole House Purge: Duplicates ✔️

And somebody PLEASE remind me the next time I try to buy another throw blanket that I am officially cut off.😂

Please tell me I’m not the only one whose kid’s room somehow ends up looking like this. 😅

The makeover starts now… with the clean out.

#girlmomlife #roommakeover #organizeyourlife #organizewithme #girlbedroom

Family travel looks a little different for us.

We love places that feel calm, comfortable, and lived-in — slow mornings, space for kids to sprawl, and moments that don’t feel rushed.

Some seasons are full of trips.
Others are full of dreaming about them.

Sharing cozy stays and real life along the way 🤍
If you’re here for that, welcome.

#familytravel #familytravelers #familyadventures #travelwithkids #travelwithus