Category Archives: Minimalism

Accessories – How Many?

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I have written here previously about my 1 handbag and an evening purse.  In many minimalist and decluttering blogs there is often a focus on clothes and even shoes which led me to thinking about other accessories and how many is actually enough.

I am not a huge jewellery fanatic but I always wear earrings – I don’t feel dressed unless I have them on.  I do not tend to wear dangly earrings as I am not terribly tall and do not find them flattering.

This is where I keep my earrings.

2012-02-25 01Here is my entire collection of earrings – 9 pairs.

2012-02-25 02

My apologies for the poor quality photo, but I am sure you get the idea.  They are all fairly simple, classic designs which is what I like.

The only earrings I have are ones that I love and use.

What do you have enough of?

Keep It Simple – Laundry

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After reading ‘Simplify’ I keep looking at how I can make various aspects of my life as simple as possible.  The laundry is one example.

I have previously written about tips and tricks for the laundry as well as organisation.

We do not need umpteen different cleaning agents or hair products and the same goes for washing clothes.  This shows all of my laundry products in 2 small racks inside the cupboard door.

2012-01-26 01In the top rack is pre-soak which I use occasionally, box of Sunlight soap and the washing liquid.  Half a capful of liquid is all I need for a load of washing in my front-loading machine.  I use Sunlight soap in a soap saver for most of the hand-washing that I do or rarely a couple of drops of the laundry liquid.

The bottom rack has a cut-down container and tablespoon which I use to measure the pre-soak and dissolve it before adding to a bucket of hot water.  I have a bar of Sard Wonder soap which I store in the container.  Beside this is a partly used container of Napisan which is from when I was soaking cloth nappies for my young grand-daughter.  She no longer wears nappies but I have kept the Napisan as it can be useful for soaking to remove stubborn stains.  Once it is used up I will not replace it.

Silent Green Giants – An Update

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In March last year, during the first couple of weeks of this blog, I posted this entry about our ‘big 3’ – the solar panels, solar hot water and rainwater tanks.

Today I finally received our statement from our electricity company for the meter reading which was done back at the end of November.  This means that we now have the statistics for a full 12 month period of having solar panels and exporting generated power, which is excess to our requirements, back to the grid.

In one year of having our solar panels connected to the grid we will receive a refund of $1,244.33 as well as having $0 in power bills.  This represents a total turnaround of costs over 12 months of $2,392.17.  I am really pleased with the result as it was achieved despite one of the wettest summers on record (and next to no sunshine) in the first 3 months after the installation of the panels.

We have a 3.7kW system which cost nearly $14,000 after the rebates.  We anticipated that we would recover our costs (in refunds and no bills) within about 5 years.  We will go close to achieving this and my goal for the next year is to reduce our electricity consumption even further by being more vigilant in monitoring our usage.  I will also endeavour to make sure that more of our necessary consumption is at night, thereby maximising the power being exported to the grid.

I am pleased that we can minimise our costs as well as making a positive contribution to reducing our carbon footprint.

Minimise For Multipurpose

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I know that keeping our stuff to a minimum and simplifying as much as we can is a good thing but sometimes it is difficult to articulate why this is the case.  It is not until something occurs that we are reminded of just how useful it is to live with less.

Last weekend we had 20 guests for a BBQ lunch on the verandah.  About an hour before they arrived, The Duke announced that we could use the folding table as well.  This happens to be my sewing table and it was far from perfectly tidy.

I quickly tossed a few pieces of fabric and UFO’s on the spare bed and almost instantly we had an extra table for our entertaining.  Even though I had to move a few things it was no real imposition.  It makes sense that this table is being used almost every day rather than being folded up and gathering dust, waiting to be used once or twice per year.

This is the spare bed with everything that was on the sewing table.

2012-01-19 01The BBQ is over and the table is back in the room.  Everything is still on the bed as I am going to take this opportunity to sort out a few more things and find proper homes for them.  The table is pretty well bare at the moment apart from my sewing machine.

I will have to get the sorting done before Saturday afternoon when Miss O and Izz come to stay the night as this is the single bed and trundle bed that they use.

Space and Style

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More is definitely less when it comes to decorating.  I find a single piece much more aesthetically pleasing than a cluttered jumble all vying for your attention.

Here is a glass cutting board which I have standing in a clear acrylic recipe bookstand.  It is both functional and decorative on the kitchen bench.

2012-01-18 01The living room has a long, low bookcase and I have this glass bowl on it.

2012-01-18 02Everything about this means something to me.  The bowl was a gift from my daughters.  The rocks were collected by my parents while travelling through western Queensland and were gathered almost 50 years ago.  The doily is Nottingham lace and was a gift from a close friend.

2012-01-18 03The decorative value is accentuated because there is nothing else competing with the bowl.  Simple and effective.

A Big Project

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I have been debating for some time about how best to arrange my photographs.  I have about 1500 prints in albums, a shoebox full of prints, hundreds in digital format on my computer and the prospect of this number continuing to increase.

As it stands, we rarely look at the albums, never sift through the shoebox and occasionally look at the ones on the computer.  We mostly look at the holiday ones which are actually sorted and categorised which makes it easy to select what we want to view.

2011-12-30 01So my project for 2012 is to have all of my photos sorted and filed.  I have started by scanning the photos in the albums.  The first 650 are done and I hope to have the 5 albums scanned by the time I go back to work after the long weekend.

I have had fun looking at some of them as I go along.  Here is one you might like.  Note the boxes stashed under the change table.  That was one of my storage solutions for my ‘stuff’.

I plan to keep a full set on the computer as well as a couple of USB sticks kept in different locations as well as uploaded to the web.  Hopefully this will minimise the chance of them all being wiped out by a disaster.

Our current television is networked with the computer so it is easy to view the photos directly on the screen in the lounge room.

I will also be able to put together a selection of relevant photos on DVD for Missy and Belle so that they have a record for themselves.

So, what am I hoping to achieve?

1  The photos in a sensible order and easy to access format so that we can view and enjoy them rather than having them stashed away gathering dust.

2  Not leave an uncatalogued jumble for someone else to sort out when I am gone.

3  Declutter the albums from the bookshelves.

This will all take time but I am pleased that I have made the decision to do it and I am clear in what I want to achieve and how I will do it.

Alongside working on my photos I will be continuing to streamline and simplify both my home and my life.

I have just downloaded a new book to my Kindle.  It is Simplify by Joshua Becker.  I found it on his blog, Becoming Minimalist.  I am off to read it shortly and will let you know what I think.  It is good to see as many perspectives as possible on a subject and minimalism is no exception.

Do you have any big goals for 2012?  I would love to hear what you have planned.

NOTE:  Friday Favourites is on holidays but will be back next week ready for 2012.

One In,One Out

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One of the principles that is often espoused in discussions around decluttering is the idea of “One In,One Out”.

Just before Christmas I bought a new iron as mine had ceased to work as it should.  Since it can still be used (sort of) it would be easy to put it away ‘just in case’.  Just in case what?  Just in case my brand-new one does not work properly?  No, it had to go, so I have given it away.

One of my Christmas gifts was a new frying pan so I have given away the old one.  The original is a cast iron Le Creuset pan which we were given as a wedding present.  It has given wonderful service but is very heavy and can be difficult to lift so it was time for a new home.  I listed it on Freecycle on the recipient is very pleased with her ‘new’ frying pan.
This is my new Neoflam pan.  I have yet to use it but am sure it will be perfect.

2011-12-29 02Have you received new or upgraded versions of existing items as a gift?  Is it time to consider whether you really need both or can one be passed on via Freecycle, Ebay or some other means?

Finishing Touches

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I still have 2 full days to go before Christmas Day and I feel more organised than ever.  I am already planning how I can spread the preparations throughout the year to make it even easier in 2012.  More about that another day.

Today I finished a few things.  The last of the gifts are bought and now wrapped as well.

2011-12-22 01It is a modest collection of mostly practical gifts.  There is no use espousing minimalism and decluttering all year, only to go overboard when Christmas comes around.  The hamper gifts are yet to be labelled and packaged so they are not in the photo.

I had my hair cut, the cards are posted and email correspondence sent.

After a short day at work tomorrow, I will buy some fruit and vegetables as well as mayonnaise, yoghurt and salami.  Then we will be all ready for the festive break.

Missy will arrive tomorrow, then Belle and the family on Saturday.

We will be enjoying a few days with the family from tomorrow.

Don’t forget to drop in tomorrow for another Friday favourite – this time it is another salad for Christmas (or any other time of the year).

Decluttered At Last

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Tonight I want to share the result of some of my decluttering.  Here are the bookshelves in the study.

2011-12-21 01I have finally got them pretty much as I want.  It has taken ages to do and the study is still not finished.  There is still ‘stuff’ on the desk which will stay there until I deal with it and make a decision because if I put it away it will never get properly sorted out.

We have quite a lot of books and find it hard to part with them.  I have managed to be a bit ruthless this time and hopefully we will not accumulate too many more as we both have Kindle e-readers now.  I would recommend them to anyone who is trying to limit the physical books that they have on the shelf.

Do you have any technology that helps to reduce the clutter?

How Much is Enough?

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The essence of minimalism and the inherent decluttering is having enough.  So, the question is, “How much is enough?”

I know it is more than enough and there are still some items that are rarely or never used but this is my linen cupboard.

Linen cupboard
Here is a reasonably comprehensive list of what linen I have.  This includes the contents of the cupboard and what is currently in use.

Bath mats x 4
Bath towels (our use) x 10
Bath towels (guest use) x 4
Hand towels x 8
Face washers x 18
Beach towels x 3
Travel towel (microfibre) x 1
Chamois x 1
Kitchen hand towels x 5
Tea towels x 24
Tablecloths x 12
Placemats x 16
Serviettes x 28
Doilies etc x 15
QS sheet sets (our use) x 3
QS sheet sets (guest use) x 4
Single sheet sets (guest use) x 2
Single bed bedspread x 1
Extra pillowcases x2
Aprons x 2

I also have a summer and winter doona for our bed which we use according to the season.  Apart from that we use the same linen all year.  We keep an extra woollen blanket for cold nights and there are 3 sleeping bags which open out flat and double as extra bedding for guest beds if required.

The guest beds are always made up as we regularly have family staying with us for a night or two.

I have achieved this  pared down linen cupboard as a result of trying not to ‘collect’ linen and only buy what I actually need.  As time goes by this will become less because there are some items which I will not replace when they are worn out.

How much linen do you have?  Do you calculate it per person – eg: 2 towels etc?