Category Archives: Organising

Slow and Simple – A Goal For Living

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I was sitting and vaguely wondering what I might write today when I found the following words from Courtney Carver at “Project 333“.

Life is noisy. Inboxes are overflowing. To-Do Lists are three pages long. Time flies. We run late. We catch up. We fall behind. We never finish.

All of those things leave us exhausted and uninspired. How can we keep up and slow down at the same time? How can build in more time, space, and resources for health and happiness?

The answer is simple … use less, do less, need less, spend less. Sure, the answer is simple, but where do you start?

Simplicity can start anywhere, but it can’t start everywhere. Beginning a journey into a new way of life in the same you we ran our old way of life doesn’t make sense. Complicating simplicity by trying to do it all at once defeats the purpose. Instead, start small and start in one place.

These words really sang to me and I instantly felt my breathing slow and a sense of calm and order descend.

Courtney is correct, there are so many aspects of our lives that can be simplified that it is easy to get caught up in a whirl.

I participated in Project 333 quite successfully earlier this year.  Since then, I have not actually counted items but I am continually aiming to streamline my entire wardrobe even further.  I now know what styles and colours I really like to wear and make sure that everything I own truly deserves its place in my wardrobe.

2012-05-28 01A wardrobe is a very good place to begin your journey to a simpler life. We all have more clothes than we actually need and it is a confined space and you can easily quantify the contents.

After you have expended considerable time and energy clearing out clothes that you do not wear or even like, you will think twice about buying more.

I can assure you that once you begin, the principles of simplicity will naturally flow to many other facets of your life.  You will find yourself seeking out simpler meals, decorating ideas and simple ideas for recreation and leisure time.

2012-11-21 01Every little bit helps.  Over time you will find that you can apply the underlying principles of Project 333 to areas as diverse as your linen cupboard, utensil drawer and DVD collection.

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If you have less stuff in your life you will need less time, money and energy to acquire, store, clean and organise it.  Release the stuff and reclaim the time and space in your life.

And the final word must come from one of my favourite quotes.  This is from Francine Jay at “Miss Minimalist“.

Life is the space between our things.

So, do we want a fulfilling life or a life full of things?

Back Again

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Blogging has taken a back seat this last week as my ‘real’ life has been rather busy.

We have been away for the weekend to catch up with friends and celebrate a ‘milestone’ birthday for my girlfriend.  We had a fabulous time and I have returned refreshed and with renewed enthusiasm after our short break.

I am working through a pile of mending/alterations of clothes for Missy which I have promised I will finish before she moves interstate in a couple of weeks.  I have spent some time helping her declutter and sort some things prior to her move as it is an ideal time to rationalise exactly what you have and what you need.  There is no point in paying to move things that you really do not want to keep.

2012-11-05 01Speaking of things you do not want to keep, this is a pile of fabric that a friend offered to me last week as she did not see the possibility of using it any time soon.  I have accepted it and have space to store it until I start creating.  I think that may be next year as the next 7 weeks are looking pretty busy in the lead-up to Christmas.  However, I already have some plans for some of the fabric and am looking forward to using it.  Thanks, Sandra.

I mentioned that it is 7 weeks until Christmas but my busyness is not really related to a crazy shopping frenzy or significant over-indulgence in food.  It is more about a self-imposed deadline for projects that I want to complete both at home and at work before the end of the year.  More about that in tomorrow’s post.

In The Dark

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Here is a test to see how organised your bedroom and wardrobe are.

Try getting ready for bed – remove clothes/jewellery, put away shoes, put on night attire and get into bed without turning on the light.

Can you confidently move around the room and place things in their right position because there is no clutter and everything has a home?

Think about how visually impaired people manage.

I regularly do this and realised that it is because there is the bare minimum in our bedroom and it is always in the same place.

Dressing tableThis is my dressing table and I can easily locate the box for my earrings when I remove them.  For years I had heaps of clutter on my dressing table and I yearned to have it clear and tidy and once I achieved that goal I have never let it go.

If you are overwhelmed by your stuff, try setting small goals and then achieve and maintain one thing before moving onto something bigger.

Mysteries of the Universe

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One of the great mysteries is how the utensil drawers get so grubby when the utensils are clean when they are put away.  If anyone can throw some light on this I would appreciate it, but in the meantime two of my kitchen drawers are clean again after a blitz yesterday.

2012-10-20 01I decluttered this drawer a few months ago so everything in it stayed, even though there are a couple of things that only rarely get used.  The contents include:

Electric knife
Rolling pin
BBQ tool
Tongs
Cleaning brush (for the juicer)
Avocado slicer
Chip cutter
Garlic press
Cherry stoner
Apple corer
Pineapple peeler/corer
Scone cutter
Cheese slicer
Jar opener
Ice-cream scoop
Vegetable peeler
Grapefruit knife
Fine bladed knife
Citrus zester
Tea strainer
Tea infuser
Knife sharpener
Spaghetti measure
Egg rings
Measuring spoons
Corn cob holders
Wine aerator
Wine vacuum seal
Corkscrews x 2
Can openers x 2 different styles

This is in addition to the knives in the knife block and 2 jars of utensils which are on the bench.  Everything in the utensil jars gets used at least once per week.

2012-10-20 02This is what could probably be described as a ‘junk’ drawer, although nothing in here is junk – it is all useful.

Matches
Notepaper (an old desk calendar)
String tin
Jar of rubber bands
Black felt-tipped pens x 2
Wind-up torches x 2
Set of small screwdrivers
Compass
Calculator
Scissors x 2
Sticky labels
Brown paper
Zip-lock bags (rewashed)
Muslin
Worn-out tea towels (for covering defrosting food etc)
Bag of twist ties
Bread bags (rewashed)
Cling wrap                   }
Alfoil                            } – these have been sitting here for at least 10 years
Freezer go-between  }    will not be replaced whenever I use them up
Baking paper – I bought this last week as it is apparently essential when
baking grain-free
Cut milk container of bits – homemade plant labels, spare O-ring for the breadmaker, labels for homemade cordial etc.

I regularly clean a drawer/cupboard or two each week, so although it seems like a never-ending merry-go-round it is never a huge job.

The Linen Cupboard

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As promised in my post from yesterday, I have finally finished the linen cupboard that I started back in about July.  It was not a huge task as I tend to regularly check my linen and cull any excess that cannot be otherwise used, either by me or someone I know.

I finished it all apart from the 3 tablecloths that I set aside to refashion to fit the oval table.  This is how I left it.

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Most of it looks fine, apart from the 4th shelf with tablecloths, placemats and serviettes in no particular order.

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Here is the close-up of the shelf to be done.

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All finished – the tablecloths are in 3 piles.  One pile of cloths for the table when it is round, one for the extended oval table and one pile of ‘other’ cloths.  These are 3 small square one suitable for afternoon tea as well as 3 bigger cloths for the outdoor table and 2 folding tables which we sometimes use if we have a bigger gathering.  The serviettes are on the same shelf as the tablecloths while the placemats are on the shelf below.

Now I am off to make some more wool wash and hope to post the recipe and instructions here tomorrow.

Re-fashioned and Ready

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The last few weeks have a bit of a struggle blogging-wise as there seems to have been limited material that I have felt like writing about and most of it did not really lend itself to adding photographs.

In the spirit of simplicity I have been working on my sewing room – finishing some projects and working through my ‘to do’ list.  Yesterday I finished the last 2 tablecloths which I had set aside to alter from rectangular to oval to fit my current round dining table when it is extended.  You can read my initial post about this project here.

After the success with the damask cloths I decided to do the same to a plain pink cloth and a polyester lace one that I use as an overlay.  The pink one was fairly straightforward but the lace one was a little trickier.

2012-10-12 01I ended up cutting the hemmed edging and then re-stitching it onto the re-shaped cloth which worked well.

I am now looking forward to the opportunity to use these pretty and functional items.

2012-10-12 02The only thing that remains to be done is to finish sorting and re-organising the linen cupboard which was the activity which precipitated this project in the first place.  More on that one with before and after photos tomorrow.

Do you re-fashion or re-purpose linen in order to extract the maximum use from it?

Owl or Fowl

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Are you an ‘owl’ (night person) or ‘fowl’ (morning person)?  I am definitely a fowl.  I generally get up at 5am to leave for work by 5.40am but even if I have no specific commitments I am often out of bed and rearing to go well before 7am.

It is so much more efficient to plan your day so that you get the maximum benefit from your prime time.  I can achieve more in 30 minutes in the morning than I can in 3 hours of an evening.

This evening is an excellent example – there is a basket of clean clothes to fold, some ironing to do, sewing to work on as well as sweeping and mopping floors.  I will not be doing any of it tonight but once I have had about 8 hours sleep it will be finished in less than an hour.

When do you do your best work?  Do you have different times for different activities?  How do you structure you day and what needs doing?

Party, Party, Party……..Now For *STOPTOBER*

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We have been home for 2 weeks now and life just seems to have been an endless whirl.  I feel as though my feet have barely touched the ground.  The whirl culminated yesterday with taking Miss O and Izz to a friend’s birthday party, then we headed off to a picnic for a belated celebration of Belle’s 30th birthday and finally dinner with our neighbours.  These were all enjoyable but now it is time to stop and take stock.

There are jobs to do at home which have been neglected so now is the time to get organised.  The everyday stuff that keep the wheels running smoothly – making sure the washing and ironing is all up to date, menus planned so that we have meals ready for when we arrive home from work, gardens prepared for summer vegetable growing and so on.  My sewing and other creative pursuits are waiting for me and I am itching to get back to them.

I also read this post from Frugal Queen and I am definitely joining in *STOPTOBER*  While I am not sure that I can spend NOTHING for the whole month I intend to spend the absolute minimum, stop and think before I spend and generally make do with what we have. To keep me accountable I will post each day about my success (or otherwise) of not spending and keep a tally of how much I spend and what I buy.

I am really looking forward to this challenge and sharing with you.  Please consider joining in (you can make your own rules) and let me know how you go.

A Fresh Look

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One of the benefits of holidays and being away from our home is that sometimes you can take a step back and review things from a distance.

A few months ago I considered buying a new doona cover for our bed since the one we have had for over 10 years definitely does not match the current colour scheme.  It has been like that for about 4 years but it had taken me that long to consider it.  One of the things that was holding me back was why get rid of the existing cover which is still in excellent condition.

While we were away I suddenly realised that the doona cover on our bed would look perfect on the bed in the guest room and then I could justify buying a new one for our bed.

2012-09-21 01Here is the revamped guest room.

On Wednesday we looked for a new cover which proved to be quite a challenge as it is obvious that the colours in our room (Wedgewood blue with cream trim) are  definitely not the latest trend.  Most of the bed linen was either neutrals in cream/grey/coffee palettes or bright geometric designs.  However, I eventually found something suitable.

2012-09-21 02I also bought another cover in a grape colour with a muted floral design.  I will use that during the winter months for a change.  This is the first time that I have ever had bed linen to change with the seasons.  Thanks to the sale prices, I was able to buy the 2 covers for the full price of just one of them.

I am very happy with the results of my rearrangement of the bed linen.  Now I have  the bedspread which was on the guest bed to put away in the linen cupboard while I consider its fate.

Most of our furnishings/colours are relatively classic and are chosen because they are what we like rather than what is this year’s “must have”.  This can make things difficult at times, especially when you are looking for a colour or design that is not ‘in’.

Do you follow the latest trends in interior design or are you happy with what you have?  Any tips for updating on a budget?

Split & Stacked

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Today The Duke split some more firewood and I stacked it.  This is the perfect time of the year for this kind of job as the weather is pleasant during the day and we have had no rain for about a month so the wood is really dry.

Here it is all stacked along the side of the woodshed.  This is in addition to the stack that we have under the house.  We do not use a lot of wood so this will be a good start on our supply for next winter.  It is a great feeling to know that what we are doing know will keep us warm next year.

Do you do any seasonal preparation ahead of time?