Project 333 – Making it Work 2

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Posted on November 20, 2013

Now for the next instalment, using the striped shirt as the base for 3 outfits.

Here is the one from yesterday which I will call Outfit 1.

Outfit 2 – black trousers, teal/black/white striped collared shirt with 3/4 sleeve and zip front, turquoise cardigan and black mary janes.

Outfit 3 – white 3/4 pants, black camisole, teal/black/white striped collared shirt with 3/4 sleeve and black leather slides.

Because we live in a temperate climate I have the luxury of being able to wear some of the more versatile items in all seasons. This shirt is a perfect example.

Tomorrow I will show you 2 more ways I wear the black camisole. There are many options for this piece but I will use the opportunity to introduce a couple of the more challenging items.

Project 333 – Making it Work

Woodshed – Finished

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Posted on November 17, 2013

As you know, we demolished the old chicken run a couple of months ago but left the woodshed which was attached to the end of the run. There was only chain wire between the coop and the woodshed and this was removed during the demolition process, leaving the woodshed without a side wall. We had plenty of Colorbond sheeting which we salvaged from the demolition and yesterday The Duke created a side wall. We also had to add a narrow strip to the roof and then finished it off with some metal angle, also salvaged.

The finishing touch was to plant a climbing vine that we bought yesterday. It is a Richmond Birdwing Butterfly Vine. I have been meaning to plant one for ages but have not really had the right spot.

I finally finished tidying and sorting all of the wood in the shed. The wheelie bin is also full of kindling. All of the wood is now in one place instead of various spots around the garage and under the house as well as the woodshed.

This is the area where the chicken run was so we are planning on extending the area which is planted with heliconias, gingers and bromeliads. These are currently on the embankment to the left of the photo and we will extend it into the vacant space. I plan to move some rocks to create a defined edge to the area . The ground has lots of leaf litter as well as chicken manure and composted vegetable scraps so I don’t think we will have any trouble getting them to grow.

Just to let you know that starting from tomorrow I will be doing a series of posts about the practical applications of having a smaller selection of clothes. Please join me then.

Make & Mend – Shelving

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Posted on November 15, 2013

My latest project is something completely different. I designed and made a piece of furniture. ‘Furniture’ is probably a slightly too grand to use as a description for the rustic shelving unit which is made from vintage wooden crates and lengths of undressed pine.

This creation is the culmination of much discussion over a number of years. When we first moved into our home in a country town in South Australia we discovered that the large shed held numerous old treasures that had been collected, perhaps even hoarded by previous owners. Amongst these items were 5 solid wooden crates which had been used to hold explosives. This was evident from the markings on them.

Over the years we have moved house twice, downsized and decluttered many things but the crates, which were someone else’s cast off stuff always managed to make the cut. The Duke would vaguely suggest that we could use them for shelving and they have often been simply stacked one on top of the other and used to store various things in the workshop. I had always had a rough idea of a design for shelving which would make the best use of the boxes that we had. After (yet another) clean-up in the workshop the other weekend my plan finally became clear. I found 2 identical pieces of undressed pine in amongst the odds and ends of wood. The Duke said that they were part of the packaging on the roll of fencing wire we had bought when we were building the chicken run. I needed 8 matching pieces for my planned shelving so I asked at the local farm supplier from whom we had bought the wire. He was happy to give me 6 more pieces that were sitting on a bench out the back of the shop. The pieces of pine would make the ends and legs for the unit.

The Duke trimmed the pine to the length required and we then set about assembling the shelving unit using my design which I had roughly sketched on a piece of paper to convince him that it was feasible.

The only cost was $7.00 for some screws. Some were from our stash but we needed to buy more to complete the project.

The shelves will provide some additional storage in the workshop and were a practical way to use the boxes which had been deemed as too good to throw out. By the way, I checked on eBay and found that similar ones were for sale at between $20 and $60 each. What is my designer original shelving unit worth? I would say that it is priceless!

Make & Mend – Cot Quilt

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Posted on November 12, 2013

As promised here is another of the things I have been working on.

On one of my many attempts to sort/tidy/declutter my sewing room I found some offcuts of material. It is calico with blue teddy bears. I also had some plain calico.

With no-one particular in mind I decided to make a quilt. I discovered that I could make enough blocks to make a cot quilt if I added some plain navy blocks.

The batting and backing were added and the quilting was a simple ‘stitch in the ditch’ where the blocks were joined.

Then it just sat waiting to be bound and finished. I finally got inspired and completed the quilt. Handsewing the binding took a little time but I set myself a goal to get it done and here is the finished product.

I am planning to send it to a friend whose patchwork group are busily making quilts for those who lost their homes in the recent NSW bushfires. I hope it will help a family in need.

I am very gradually decluttering my sewing room. It is a gradual process because I do not want to get rid of stuff but rather to use it up. I plan to make things from the fabric that I have and donate them through various avenues so that others can benefit.

STREAMLINE – Narrow it Down

STREAMLINE – If One Comes In, One Goes Out

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Posted on November 1, 2013

This is a fairly simple strategy – for every item that you welcome into your home another one needs to leave. Whilst this strategy will not turn you into a minimalist overnight, it will certainly maintain the status quo.

One of the most popular applications of the ‘one in, one out’ rule is clothes. Buy a new shirt and then choose one that you can move on. If you are having trouble letting one go, perhaps it is time to ask yourself why you bought the new shirt in the first place. Did you really need it? The last time I looked, we can only wear one shirt at a time so why do we need a wardrobe bulging with clothes?

Appliances are another area where we can tend to buy a new version yet retain the old one. It is usually consigned to the back of the cupboard or the garage ‘just in case’. Just in case the bright new shiny one breaks down? Do we really buy things expecting them to fail? If the previous one needed replacing it is time for it to go.

We recently purchased a new refrigerator. After a considerable time spent looking and debating the various options available this is the one we bought.

Of course, there was the question of what to do with the old one. The Duke briefly canvassed the option of keeping it downstairs as a ‘beer fridge’ but we realised that it was completely unnecessary and would use up space and electricity. I advertised it on Freecycle and am pleased to say that it has gone to a young couple who were trying to set up a home with very little in the way of resources.

Most of us live in relative affluence and virtually everything we buy is an upgrade/replacement/newer version of something we already own. Therefore, there will be something to move out of your home. If the previous item was broken it should be consigned to the rubbish/recycling. If it is still functional someone else may benefit from having it. No-one benefits from it being stashed away to deteriorate in your garage or basement.

As an aside, I find this principle of ‘one in, one out’ a fantastic disincentive to shop. “Why spend my hard-earned cash on something when I have a perfectly good one at home?” is the question I often ask myself.

How effective are you at ‘one in, one out’?

STREAMLINE – Limits

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Posted on October 30, 2013

In years gone by our stuff was limited to a large degree by the availability and cost of most items. Goods were generally produced locally and in a relatively labour-intensive manner. Disposable incomes were less and stuff cost more when compared to incomes. Global manufacturing and transport, cheap labour and distribution have meant that there is a seemingly endless supply of stuff for you to purchase at your local shopping mall.

Since the natural limits of accessibility and affordability have been removed, it is up to us to take control or we will end up drowning in our stuff. The ultimate limit is the size of your home; you can fit a lot more in a 2 storey, 4 bedroom family home than a studio apartment. However, even this does not deter some people as evidenced by the burgeoning industry of off-site storage facilities.

You can easily apply limits to things like your books by simply choosing not to have the shelves overflowing. As you buy or acquire new books, make space for them by moving others along. We all have books that we are not sure why we are keeping them. Will you read them again? No? Time to go. This way you will eventually end up with a selection of books that you really love and are proud to have on your shelves.

Perhaps you can choose an arbitrary number such as 20 DVDs, 10 t-shirts or 6 champagne flutes. Make sure that you don’t simply choose a number that allows you to maintain the status quo. It needs to be challenging yet achievable as well as pertinent to your unique situation.

No matter what the item, you need to ask yourself the question, “Do I really need x of this item?” Nothing needs to be immune from this process – lipsticks, plates, socks, CDs, towels, candles and cookbooks are all fair game.

Once you set limits on your stuff and force yourself to choose, you will naturally choose ‘the best’. How you make that choice is a personal decision but making the choice means that you consider the merit of each piece carefully and you will appreciate its worth to you and your life. The stuff that makes the cut will have an opportunity to shine in the decluttered environment.

It is not only physical stuff that you can set limits on. You can set limits on your participation in events. For example, you may decide that you will only spend one night a week playing sport, therefore you will choose the one you enjoy most. This may give you a chance to excel rather than putting in a mediocre performance in 3 different sports on 3 different nights of the week. You may choose to limit your association with people who do not enhance your life.

Limits can be seen as restrictive but the limits you set on your stuff will actually be liberating as you are the one making the choices. Don’t let your stuff rule you and your life.

STREAMLINE – Modules

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Posted on October 28, 2013

Today I want to share the next step in the ‘Streamline’ process that is outlined the book, “The Joy of Less”.

The concept of modules is that like things are kept together but more than that, it is about creating a group of items required for a particular task or activity. It could be keeping your knitting needles, wool and pattern all together in one basket so that you can pick up your knitting at any time and know that it is all there. Perhaps, creating a bill-paying station where you have all of the items required such as pens, stapler, filing box etc.

By keeping like items together this method helps you to identify where you have an unnecessary duplication of items. An example is pens: If you have them lying around on various desks, drawers, kitchen bench, side tables etc it is difficult to understand just how many there are. Gather them up, check to see which ones don’t work (there will be some),and place them all together. So, do you really need 57 pens? They last for ages and you probably have more than a lifetime’s supply! Choose the best 10, keep them together in a convenient and confined spot. 47 pens that have been lying around the house as clutter are gone!!

Once you start thinking in terms of modules you can apply the principle to almost anything in and around your home.

On the weekend, The Duke and I spent quite a bit of time decluttering, sorting and organising the workshop. It is definitely a work in progress but now we can actually see some of the half-finished projects that had been buried under other things, completely forgotten or simply unable to be worked on due to the clutter on the workbench. Much of what we did was putting like with like. There were pieces of baling twine which we keep for various odd jobs. It seemed like everywhere I turned there was another bit of baling twine but they are now all together in one plastic bag and easy to find when we need a piece.

We have almost finished demolishing the old chicken run and this has entailed removing the side of the woodshed which was adjacent to the run. The woodshed will remain and a new side panel built to keep the weather out and the wood dry. This has prompted us to look critically at all of the various piles of wood – everything from tree branches to leftover material from previous building projects. We are attempting to get all of the suitable firewood in one place in the woodshed so that we can easily access it when needed in the winter months. One day the firewood ‘module’ will be complete!

The wood is currently in piles to be cut for firewood, stored for future projects or simply of no use and needs to be re-homed or dumped.

Modules create efficiency and also limits. Whilst the STREAMLINE process is most definitely NOT about rushing out and buying a whole lot of pretty boxes to stash your stuff in, it does help to be able to physically contain your identified ‘modules’.