Yes to Less: Quieting the House for Summer

3 low-lift, high-impact swaps to make for a simple + supernatural summer

Since I’ve been talking about Simple + Supernatural on the podcast lately: First with technology, then with finances, I thought we should bring the conversation here to Substack too. Because if there’s ever a time to simplify, it’s summer.

Everything about this season feels louder and looser. The schedules shift, the house fills up, the heat turns up, and the calendar gets blurry in all the best and worst ways. In the midst of that noise and movement, summer is prime time for making small shifts that create real peace.

And here’s one of my favorite ways to say yes to less in summer:

Start with the outside. Quiet the house.

I learned this trick from The Nester herself (if you know, you know), and it’s completely changed the way I approach the transition into summer with kids at home. It started for me a few years ago, when I realized that the chaos of summer break didn’t have to spill into the atmosphere of our home. Now, every June, I do a quick reset: and it goes a long way in helping our house feel more like a sanctuary than a storm.

Here are a few ways I quiet the house in the summer:

1. Summer is not for throw pillows.

Because summer is not for fussy.

Now listen: I still have a few throw pillows out, because I am me and I’m addicted to a throw pillow. But instead of the usual sixteen, I’m down to six. Just enough to soften a space, not enough to scream at me every time someone flops on the couch. Less fluff = more ease.

2. Create a drop zone that works for you.

Not what Pinterest tells you. Not what your most organized friend says. What actually functions for your life.

Maybe it’s a hall closet that becomes a free-for-all. Maybe it’s a basket by the door where phones live after dinner. Maybe it’s a literal pile in the corner where you pretend the shoes don’t exist. Great. Let it be. A drop zone doesn’t have to be tidy: it just has to keep things from spilling everywhere.

3. Swap the soundtrack.

This is my favorite one.
I love music in the house. But in summer, I go lyric-less.
Gentle jazz. Instrumental worship. Acoustic covers of your favorite songs. Anything that keeps the vibes high and the stimulation low. Trust me: it makes a difference. You don’t even notice it until you do—and then it’s like someone turned down the volume on your whole life.

These are just a few of the rhythms that help me say yes to less in the summer. But I’d love to know:

What helps you quiet your house for the season ahead?

Leave a comment, I want all the tips!

More ways to say yes to less coming soon.
Let’s live light this summer.

Grace and peace,
Jess