CONWAY, Ark. (KTHV) - The minimalist parenting movement is helping parents simplify their life and calm the ‘‘crazy’’ that parenting can sometimes bring. Now, a company in Faulkner County is going into homes and helping families apply principles of minimalist parenting to their daily life.
With all the stuff in life, it can be stressful for everyone in the home. Some parents want their family to minimalize, but they don't know where to start. That's where Sheryl Mulberry, owner of Fresh Start Conway, comes in.
“We start out living in a house and we end up living in a closet,” said Mulberry. “If you've been in a closet very long you can’t breathe and you want to get out.”
Mulberry said she helps a home become a home again.
“I help people eliminate the mess so families will have less stress and can start fresh,” she said.
Mulberry helps families seeking a more minimalist parenting philosophy to embrace a new way of living with less.
“People are realizing there is just too much stuff and they have got to do something with it,” she said. “People are overwhelmed and things are out of control.”
Mulberry’s company goes into homes and totally minimizes the “stuff” in all their spaces. She recently went into a home of a family of six. Both parents work and are very active in the community. With limited time and an overload of stuff, the family needed help.
“I went in and did a ‘hard reset’ in their whole home,” said Mulberry.
Mulberry said she helped the family declutter and get rid of things that were holding them back from fulfilling their potential.
“Basically I am streamlining their life and helping them run more efficiently,” she said.
Adam and Amanda Bledsoe of Conway said they hired Fresh Start to help transform their way of living.
“We were embarrassed at first because our house was just a mess,” said Adam. “It was these years of pack-ratting all of these things.”
Adam said Mulberry’s team went through the home and took care of all the details.
“It was a really seamless process,” he said.
Mulberry even helped Bledsoe’s kids get involved in taking care of the playroom and bedrooms to minimize the workload for the whole family.
“We were able to transform our kids’ rooms totally and completely,” said Adam. “We absolutely redid their rooms and the kids love going in their rooms now.”
Bledsoe said that family is now working on continually applying the minimalist principles they learned in hopes of maintaining a different kind of lifestyle.
Mulberry said every family she works with is different and their minimalist goals are different but every family can benefit from reorganizing and rethinking their "normal".
“Just make one decision and work on that for a while until you have made a habit,” she said. “Then, make another decision and then work on that.”
For more information on Fresh Start Conway visit their website.