I love looking back at the end of the year and reflecting on the year. It’s always fun to remember the highlights, and helpful to remember the lessons learned from the challenges. One of my favourite ways to reflect on the year with my blog is to round up the most popular simple living posts from the year.
It’s always fun to see what my readers connected with and enjoyed the most. Sometimes it surprises me which posts become the most popular. And either way, it’s always fun to check it out!
Thank you to all of you!
It was a full year for me with Simple Lionheart Life. I had
I love blogging. But what I love most is connecting with this community of people excited about simplifying and decluttering their homes and their lives. Knowing I have helped you or played a small part in your simplifying journey is the best. It absolutely makes my day to hear from readers who have found my blog helpful!
And none of this would be possible without you. Thank you for reading and being a part of this community. It means more to me than you know and I am so thankful for everyone who takes the time to read my posts, send an email, write a comment, connect with me on social media and support my blog in any way. Thank you all for making 2018 a great year!
Today to celebrate the end of 2018, I’m sharing the top 10 most popular simple living posts from the year. Read on to see what made the list. Maybe you’ll discover a helpful post you missed, or re-read an old favourite.
I’m excited for the things to come in 2019 and can’t wait to continue this journey to simplify together with all of you!
Photo by Georgia de Lotz on Unsplash
Top 10 most popular simple living posts from 2018
1. 51+ Simple Date Night Ideas to Prioritize Quality Time with your Partner
This is a great guest post from my friend and fellow simple living blogger Sheila Price of Practigal Blog.
Sheila put together an awesome list of more than 51 simple date night ideas to help you prioritize quality time with your partner.
When life gets busy and full, it can be easy to put date nights and quality time with your partner on the back burner. But spending time connecting with your partner is so important. Sheila’s post has plenty of simple date night ideas to keep your relationship strong!
What I love most about her ideas is they are all simple and sound like a lot of fun! She included date night ideas for going out and for staying in, so there is something for everyone.
I love her approach of keeping date nights simple to make sure they actually happen, even when time or money is in short supply!
Read the full post here: 51+ Simple Date Night Ideas to Prioritize Quality Time with Your Partner
2. 5 Common Decluttering Mistakes & How to Avoid Them
For many of us, decluttering is a process of trial and error. And we usually don’t get everything right the first time. I know this has definitely been the case for me!
My simplifying and decluttering journey has involved a series of mistakes made and lessons learned along the way.
In this post, I share 5 of the biggest decluttering mistakes I’ve made on my simplifying and minimalism journey. Decluttering mistakes that are common and really easy to make. And I’m also sharing practical tips to help you avoid making them too.
Learn from my mistakes and find out how to avoid these common decluttering pitfalls so you can declutter more effectively and efficiently!
Read the full post here: 5 Common Decluttering Mistakes & How to Avoid Them
3. How to Simplify your Life by Decluttering, not Organizing
It’s easy to think organizing is the way to take your home from cluttered and chaotic, to functional and clutter-free.
But organizing alone will never solve your clutter problem.
When you organize clutter, the clutter is all still there – even if it’s neatly organized! If you have too much stuff ,
Check out this post to learn why decluttering, not organizing is the best way to solve your clutter problem for good. Transform your home into a place you love by decluttering first, THEN getting organized!
Read the full post here: How to Simplify your Life by Decluttering, not Organizing
4. 15 Clutter-Free Ways to Treat Yourself When You Feel Like Shopping
This is a great post that tackles the problem of what to do when you feel like shopping, but really don’t want to add more “stuff” to your home.
When you’re working to declutter your life, clearing the clutter is an important part. But an equally important part is significantly slowing down the inflow of new stuff coming into your home.
But many of us struggle with the urge to treat ourselves to something new every once in a while, or simply enjoy shopping.
How do you find the balance between keeping your home clutter-free and simplified when you really feel like shopping or treating yourself?
The good news is you don’t have to quit shopping or treating yourself altogether when you decide to simplify your home. You just need to change what you shop for!
This post shares 15 fun and clutter-free ways to treat yourself without adding clutter to your home! Check it out to find some great ideas to treat yourself without undoing all of your hard work decluttering!
Read the full post here: 15 Clutter-Free Ways to Treat Yourself When You Feel Like Shopping
5. 9 Reasons Why a Capsule Wardrobe is Awesome
One of my favourite decluttering/minimalism projects so far has been when I completely decluttered my clothes and created a capsule wardrobe. And in this post, I’m sharing all about why I love having a capsule wardrobe.
I share all the reasons why having a capsule wardrobe has made my life easier and better. And makes getting dressed something I look forward to.
I honestly can’t believe how much lighter and freer I feel since embracing a capsule wardrobe!
If you’re curious about exactly why I love a capsule wardrobe so much, check out this post! You’ll find plenty of motivation and inspiration to get rid of the clothes you no longer look or feel great in and simplify your own wardrobe!
Read the full post here: 9 Reasons Why a Capsule Wardrobe is Awesome
6. 4 Things you Gain When you Live with Less
Decluttering and simplifying your home and your life can be a lot of work. But the good news is it’s absolutely worth the time and effort you put in!
When you are simplifying and choosing to live with less, it’s not really about what you’re getting rid of. The best part about simplifying your life is what you gain by letting go and choosing to live with less.
When you are willing to let go of the clutter, the distractions, the excess and the “stuff”, you stand to gain so much more. More time, more space, more freedom and ultimately more peace.
In this post, I share 4 valuable things you gain when you make the choice to simplify, declutter and embrace minimalism. Read all about how living with less creates a life of more!
Read the full post here: 4 Things you Gain When you Live with Less
7. 11 Quick & Easy Tips to Declutter More Effectively
Decluttering your home can be a lot of work. But it doesn’t have to be overwhelming! In this post, I share 11 of my favourite quick and easy tips to make decluttering easier.
Use these tips to save time and energy by decluttering more efficiently and more effectively. All so you can start experiencing the benefits of a clutter-free home sooner!
If you’re feeling overwhelmed about decluttering your home, this post is a great place to find my best tips and tricks to make the whole process easier!
Read the full post here: 11 Quick & Easy Tips to Declutter More Effectively
8. Minimalist Bathroom Tour: Simplifying to Make Life Easier
I’ve received many requests this year to share more of my own home and what minimalism looks like for our family. Surprisingly, the tour of our bathrooms was the most popular!
I also shared our playroom, command center and kitchen if you’re interested in checking those out too.
I love seeing what minimalism and simplifying looks like in real life in people’s homes. I always find it interesting, helpful and inspiring to see minimalism put into practice. So, I’m always happy to share more of my own home with you too!
Bathrooms are often hardworking, underappreciated rooms in our homes. And a simplified bathroom makes life so much easier!
A clutter-free bathroom helps reduce some of the chaos in the morning rush, makes it easier to keep the bathroom clean and tidy, and lets you start and end your days in a calm, clutter-free space.
Not only that, but bathrooms are great places to start decluttering. They are usually smaller spaces which are easier to tackle, and you can see results faster. And you usually don’t store your most precious or sentimental items in the bathroom, making the decluttering decisions easier!
I hope you enjoy seeing what our version of minimalism looks like in this tour of our minimalist bathrooms!
Read the full post here: Minimalist Bathroom Tour: Simplifying to Make Life Easier
9. Minimalism & Hygge: How to Get Cozy Without the Clutter
This was one of my favourite posts to write because I absolutely love having a cozy, but simplified clutter-free home. Although I haven’t always realized it, finding the balance between minimalism and Hygge is how I naturally prefer my home.
Minimalism and Hygge are two concepts I didn’t think had much in common at first. But I’ve learned not only do they fit together, but they compliment each other in many ways.
In this post, I explore how creating a Hygge home can be a natural extension of your simplifying, decluttering and minimalist efforts.
Along with sharing my simple tips to embrace both minimalism and Hygge in your home and your life. Learn how to get cozy, without the clutter!
Read the full post here: Minimalism & Hygge: How to Get Cozy Without the Clutter
10. Minimalist Playroom Tour: Creating a Simple, Playful Space
When I asked on Instagram what spaces people would like to see in our home, how we handle toys was the most popular response.
Kids’ stuff and toys often seem to be one of the biggest hurdles many families face when simplifying and decluttering. But minimalism with kids is not only possible, it makes life so much easier!
In our current home, we converted a formal dining room that we would likely very rarely use, into a playroom for our kids. It’s been great to have a centrally located space to keep the toys.
Check out this post for a full tour of our simplified, minimalist playroom and see more of what minimalism looks like in real life for our family of four!
Read the full post here: Minimalist Playroom Tour: Creating a Simple, Playful Space
A few bonus popular simple living posts!
In addition to my top ten most popular simple living posts from 2018, I want to share 3 bonus posts with you as well. These were all written near the end of 2017. While they were still too new to make the 2017 list of most popular posts last December, they have been steadily gaining popularity all year.
In case you missed them, or want to check them out again, here are 3 more post I think you’ll love!
11. How to Make Decluttering Sentimental Items Easy
Decluttering sentimental items can be hard. We feel emotionally attached to our sentimental items and it can be hard to be objective when decluttering them and let some go.
But spending the time and effort decluttering sentimental items can have a huge positive impact on your home and your life. It helps clear the clutter from our homes, storage rooms and even our hearts!
When you let go of the things you don’t truly love or value, you give yourself more time, space and energy to appreciate the things you really do love and value. Because when everything is important, nothing is.
In this post, I share 11 tips to help make decluttering sentimental items easier.
Read the full post here: How to Make Decluttering Sentimental Items Easy
12. 13 Reasons you Struggle to Declutter & How to Overcome Them
Decluttering your whole house can be hard – physically, emotionally and mentally. It’s completely normal to hit a few stumbling blocks along the way on your decluttering and simplifying journey.
I’ve found, if you’re struggling to declutter, sometimes the best approach is to figure out WHY you are struggling. Often, once you know why you’re struggling, it becomes easier to move past it.
In this post, I’m sharing 13 common reasons you may be struggling to declutter. And what you can do to overcome them.
Read the full post here: 13 Reasons you Struggle to Declutter & How to Overcome Them
13. How to Find the Perfect Version of Minimalism for You
This post is such an important topic. As you’re working to declutter your home and embrace minimalism, it’s easy to get caught up in comparison.
Maybe you don’t feel “minimalist enough” compared to someone you see on social media. Or maybe you think minimalism needs to look a certain way to be done “right”.
But the truth is, minimalism is not about following someone else’s rules, standards or version of minimalism. Instead, minimalism is about deciding what is important to you, then getting rid of anything that’s not important to you.
We all value different things, so we will all be striving for a different version of minimalism based on what is important to us.
This is a great post to help you get clear about what minimalism means to you and how you want it to look in your life.
Read the full post here: How to Find the Perfect Version of Minimalism for You
I hope you enjoyed this round of the most popular simple living posts from 2018. Be sure to check out last year’s list too to find some more great posts!
Did you have a favourite post from this year? Let me know in the comments below!
