If you’d love to get organized, but easily feel overwhelmed by it - we get it.

We’re here to help, and we believe that the process of organizing shouldn’t be one-size-fits-all.

With Happy at Home, founder Jenna Blackburn will help you discover your personal organizing style through hands-on organizing and decluttering sessions held right in your home.

We serve clients in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, and surrounding cities in the North Carolina Triangle. So if you’re ready to finally feel at home in your home, let’s connect.

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There is so much work to do, but awareness is a st

There is so much work to do, but awareness is a start.
Fellow white people, please read about, listen to, and learn from the experiences and perspectives of your black friends, neighbors, colleagues, and fellow citizens. We, as white people, MUST STOP valuing our own opinions and perspectives on race over the LIVED EXPERIENCES of hundreds of thousands of Black Americans.
Our role is to learn, understand, and then use whatever voice or platform we have to fight for Black Americans’ rights to the same protections, opportunities, and freedoms that we have (and which we often take for granted). As we become aware of our complicity with these iniquities, we will feel deep, deep discomfort. Good. From discomfort comes change. From discomfort comes growth. But we individually have to CHOOSE to use our discomfort for that change and growth.
Because otherwise, we hide, we deflect, we get defensive, we blame. And nothing positive comes from blaming, deflecting, and defensiveness — only more hate, more violence, more oppression, and more death.
I believe wholeheartedly that people truly do have the power to change themselves. But nobody else can compel us to change — we only change when WE want to. And if we want to see the end of racial oppression in America, it is indeed WE (the white people) who have to change.
Because we are still benefitting from systems (social, political, financial, judicial, etc) that were built to serve people who look like us at the expense of people who don’t.
Acknowledging that is uncomfortable as hell.

But until enough of us decide that our discomfort is less important that the safety and humanity of Black Americans, we won’t do the necessary work to change ourselves and the predatory systems that support oppression.
I’m here to listen, learn, and do better — discomfort be damned.

#Hygge101 Tip 12: Power down📱(last post!) ⁣⠀
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It's one of the core tenants of hygge -- be present. And our phones make it really difficult for us to do that. Our tech addiction also keeps us from experiencing true togetherness with the humans who are physically near us, and most of these devices emit a cool blue light, both of which are 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 un-hygge.⁣⠀
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I struggle with this SO much. I was making progress with less screen time early this year, but when the pandemic hit, I instantly became glued to my screen again -- and I definitely felt the ill-effects.⁣⠀
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It’s easy to beat ourselves up about how much we rely on our phones, but the thing is, these devices were 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 to be addictive. And breaking any sort of addiction is hard, but it’s definitely possible. ⁣⠀
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I’ve enjoyed this hygge experiment so much, and while it challenged me to make presence a priority each day, it also required me to spend quite a bit of time on my phone taking those photos and writing the captions. So I’ve decided to take my own advice and drastically reduce my screen time for the upcoming week.⁣⠀
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This will be my last Instagram post for the next 10 days or so. I’m going on a social media cleanse so I can focus my attention on my people, myself, and my work. I’m cooking up something really exciting, and I can’t wait to dive headfirst into that project this upcoming week with maximum focus and energy. ⁣⠀
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In the meantime, stay hygge, my friends. I’ll be back very soon! ☺️⁣⠀
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#happyathome⠀
#feelathomeinyourhome⁣⠀⁣⠀⠀⁣⁣⠀⠀
#hygge⁣⠀⁣⠀⠀⁣⁣⠀⠀
#hyggetips⁣⠀⁣⠀⠀⁣⁣⠀⠀
#hyggeathome⁣⠀⁣⠀⠀⁣⁣⠀⠀
#howtohygge⁣⁣⁣⠀⠀
#socialmediacleanse ⠀
#digitalsabbatical ⠀
#unplug

#Hygge101 Tip 11: Game on⁣ 🎲⠀ ⁣⠀ I love

#Hygge101 Tip 11: Game on⁣ 🎲⠀
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I love me some board games -- especially when we play on the living room rug! And while I miss playing with our family and friends, a couple's game night is a fun, hygge-approved alternative to just watching TV together. Over the years, Bill and I have collected some great two-player games for just this reason. Some of our faves are: Ticket to Ride, Azul, Stratego, Bananagrams, and Santorini.⁣⠀
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For your own game night, the type of game doesn't really matter, as long as your intention is to enjoy the evening with your fellow players (so maybe skip those games that bring out your uber-competitive side!) Agree to leave the phones in another room, pop a big bowl of popcorn or another snack you can share, and maybe turn on some background music. ⁣⠀
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❓What's your all-time favorite board game? 👇Share below!⁣👇⠀
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#happyathome⁣⠀⁣⠀⠀⁣⁣⠀
#feelathomeinyourhome⁣⠀⁣⠀⠀⁣⁣⠀
#hygge⁣⠀⁣⠀⠀⁣⁣⠀
#hyggetips⁣⠀⁣⠀⠀⁣⁣⠀
#hyggeathome⁣⠀⁣⠀⠀⁣⁣⠀
#howtohygge⁣⁣⁣⠀
#gamenight⁣⠀
#boardgames⠀
#gamenight ⠀
#datenightideas ⠀
#datenightin

#Hygge101 Tip 10: Weekday Picnic 👩‍🌾⠀
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I'm not a huge picnic fan usually -- it's so much work to haul a meal to a second location! (Plus, someone 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 forgets the napkins or the forks) But a backyard picnic? I can get into that. So before the mosquitoes and heat get too crazy, take a blanket to the backyard and snack in the sun! ⁣🌞⠀
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And if you're working from home like I am, why wait for the weekend? Make your midday meal a bit more special with a weekday picnic. Prepare yourself something simple, leave work behind for as long as you can get away with, and lounge in the grass. ⁣⠀
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You can bring a book or your journal, a speaker for music, or just sit quietly and watch the birds as you munch. Whatever you do, make sure you're NOT WORKING. ⁣⠀
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This is about taking a mindful break from your work day, which actually makes you more productive (not that productivity is the point of hygge, but just sayin' 😉).⠀
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❓What's your fave picnic food? 👇Tell us below!⁣⠀
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#happyathome⁣⠀⁣⠀⠀⁣⠀
#feelathomeinyourhome⁣⠀⁣⠀⠀⁣⠀
#hygge⁣⠀⁣⠀⠀⁣⠀
#hyggetips⁣⠀⁣⠀⠀⁣⠀
#hyggeathome⁣⠀⁣⠀⠀⁣⠀
#howtohygge⁣⁣⠀
#picnic⁣⠀
#backyardpicnic

#Hygge101 Tip 9: Write it down 📓⠀ ⠀ As this

#Hygge101 Tip 9: Write it down 📓⠀
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As this week is winding down, I realize even more just how much I have to be thankful for. This hygge experiment has truly helped me learn to appreciate the little, everyday things that are so easy to take for granted, and I sincerely hope it's inspired you to do the same.⠀
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I haven't bought anything new, or drastically changed my life; I've just forced myself this past week to actively seek out opportunities to savor and embrace all the goodness that's already around me. ⠀
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Have you ever heard the saying "what you focus on expands"? It's so true. As @Cathy.Heller says, our brains are like velcro for negativity. They're designed to keep us alive and protect us from danger -- and they have very a loose definition of "danger". So we have to actively train ourselves to look for the good stuff if we want to overcome this inherent negativity bias.⠀
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Journaling is a great tool to use for this. If you tell yourself you'll need to write down 3 things you're grateful every night, or 1 beautiful thing you saw or did, you will learn to look for these good things throughout your day. The more you do this, the more your brain will habitually seek out things to grateful for. The irritating, scary, and bad stuff will still happen, but over time your brain will learn to find the magic in the mess.⠀
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Please know that if you feel stuck in a mental vortex of worry, fear, and anger...you can change. I know because I've done it. And I'm so freakin' far from perfect -- I still get anxious, upset, and angry, but I recover so much faster. Laughter, appreciation, and love flow so much more freely than I ever thought would be possible for me. Getting here was hard work, but so, so worth it.⠀
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So don't discount the power of journaling. And if you've never tried it -- or you tried it for a few days but gave up because it felt like a waste of time -- there's no time like the present to change your life for the better 💙⠀
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#happyathome⁣⠀⁣⠀⠀
#feelathomeinyourhome⁣⠀⁣⠀⠀
#hygge⁣⠀⁣⠀⠀
#hyggetips⁣⠀⁣⠀⠀
#hyggeathome⁣⠀⁣⠀⠀
#howtohygge⁣⠀⠀
#journal⠀
#gratitude⠀
#changeyourbrain⠀
#positivepsychology

Have you ever stayed at a really nice hotel while

Have you ever stayed at a really nice hotel while on vacation? When you're in the hotel room, you probably aren't marveling at how pristine the place is; you're just enjoying the trip. ⁣⠀
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But then you return home, and suddenly you notice all the marks on walls, the dog hair on the baseboards, and how dingy the couch is looking. (...or is it just me? Double tap if you can relate!!)⁣⠀
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Lately, the opposite has been true. We're home so much that we've likely become blind to some of those smaller chores that we know we're supposed to do. I was in the shower the other day and noticed how grimy the grout is...it's, like, 𝘣𝘢𝘥 y'all. How did I not see that the day before? It's not like the grime appeared overnight!⁣ 😱⠀
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In normal times, I use a chore tracker to stay on top of jobs like this, but I've totally slacked on using it since lockdown (I mean, I'm home all the time anyway, so why do I need a system??) -- and it shows. ⁣⠀
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So I made a list of 15 spots around my house that I've been straight-up neglecting, and turned it into a blog post (complete with links to lots of cleaning tutorials) in case your home could use some TLC too. ⁣⠀
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Click the link in my bio to check it out!⁣ ⠀
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#feelathomeinyourhome⠀⠀⁣⠀
#intentionalhousekeeping⠀⁣⠀
#modernhomemaking⁣⠀
#housekeeping⠀⁣⠀
#homekeeping⠀⁣⠀
#housecleaning⠀⁣⠀
#cleaningroutine⁣⠀
#quarantinecleaning

#Hygge101 Tip 8: Turn the page⁣ 📚⠀ ⁣⠀ C

#Hygge101 Tip 8: Turn the page⁣ 📚⠀
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Confession: My name is Jenna, and I'm an audiobook addict. It BLOWS MY MIND when people say they can't do audiobooks. When I was a kid, I used to check out books on tape (and then, books on CD) from the library to listen to while I played with my Barbies. Over the years, I think I've trained myself to retain more details when I listen than when I read with my eyeballs. ⁣⠀
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But I've also trained myself to always be doing stuff while I listen. With an audiobook, I can clean the house, or drive, or even take a shower (yes, I have a waterproof speaker; I told you I was an addict). But when I'm reading a physical book, all I can do is sit there and, well, read⁣.⠀
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For years, this made me either fidget or fall asleep, so reading books was something I only did in bed (I think it took me over a year to read Stephen King's Pet Sematary this way). But it turns out, not all books exist on audio, and also Audible gets a little pricey when you read several books per month. So I had to retrain myself to read without conking out.⁣⠀
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Nowadays, reading a physical book is something I do almost every morning, but I rarely read in the evenings. That's shifted since I've been embracing hygge. Now it's a common practice to skip TV time in the evening, brew a cup of chamomile, and read whatever book I'm loving at the moment. This week it's The Joy Diet by Martha Beck (which has nothing to do with weight loss and everything to do with embracing a life of presence and joy).⁣⠀
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So, my friends, why not keep the TV dark some evenings and curl up with a good book?⁣⠀
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👇 Tell me below: What are you reading right now? ⁣⠀
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#happyathome⁣⠀⁣⠀
#feelathomeinyourhome⁣⠀⁣⠀
#hygge⁣⠀⁣⠀
#hyggetips⁣⠀⁣⠀
#hyggeathome⁣⠀⁣⠀
#howtohygge⁣⠀
#book⁣⠀
#books⁣⠀
#reading⁣⠀
#bookworm

#Hygge101 Tip 7: Get baked ⁣🍞⠀ ⁣⠀ If yo

#Hygge101 Tip 7: Get baked ⁣🍞⠀
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If you can find yeast (or have a generous friend like @astapasta24 who will give you her extra sourdough starter), bake some bread! Bill has been sourdough king these last few weeks, and even though I'm not eating gluten at the moment, I love the way the house smells when the bread is in the oven. Plus, they're pretty photogenic. (Don't worry, he's already promised to make me a special loaf when my Whole30 is over!) ⁣⠀
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For extra hygge, enjoy your fresh bread with some jam or fruit preserves. Also, coffee (always coffee) ☕️⠀
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If sweets are more up your alley, try your hand at cream cheese pastries (they're easier to make than you might think!), streusel-topped muffins, or your favorite cake 🍰 Get the whole family involved in the baking process and make it an event!⁣⠀
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❓Have you jumped on the #quarantinebaking bandwagon? Let us know what you made below! ⁣👇⠀
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#happyathome⁣⠀⁣⠀
#feelathomeinyourhome⁣⠀⁣⠀
#hygge⁣⠀⁣⠀
#hyggetips⁣⠀⁣⠀
#hyggeathome⁣⠀⁣⠀
#howtohygge⁣⠀
#sourdough⁣⠀
#bread⁣⠀
#baking⁣⠀
#cake⁣⠀
#sweets

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