Category Archives: Organising

What Shoes to Choose?

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As part of Project 333 I need to include footwear in my 33 items.  This is my real challenge as I have 19 pairs of footwear in my cupboard.  That does not include my slippers, gumboots, old sneakers for gardening and old Birkenstocks for around the yard.

There were 2 pairs of dressy black heels which were given to me – virtually brand-new.  After more than 12 months I have worn one pair once and never worn the other pair.  They were not even in my wardrobe but in the cupboard in the guest room.

Here they are.

2012-03-26 01And the other pair.

2012-03-26 02

They are both destined to go to someone who can wear them and benefit from them today rather than sitting in my cupboard with me worrying about them going mouldy in the humid weather.  These are the first ‘casualties’ of Project 333 – Autumn 2012.

The rest of the shoes do get worn, albeit some not particularly often as they are specialty items.  These include high-heeled knee-high boots, hiking boots and hiking sandals.

If I am not going to blow my 33 items on footwear I am going to have to choose carefully.  At the moment I think these will be the ones that make the cut.

2012-03-26 03Black heels which I wear with my skirts.

2012-03-26 04Ankle boots to wear with trousers in cooler weather.

2012-03-26 05Everyone needs a pair of red shoes, don’t they?  These are the most comfortable shoes in the world and I wear them with my jeans/travel pants.

2012-03-26 06Sandals which I wear with summer skirts, dresses, shorts and 3/4 pants.  I need these as the weather is still quite warm and could be for another month.

I still have a few more days before I have finalise the list so there will be plenty more soul-searching yet.

If you are joining the challenge please post a link to your own blog or feel free to post a list of your items in the comments section.

Project 333

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I have signed up for Project 333, a challenge to have a wardrobe of just 33 items for 3 months.  I will be starting on April 1st so now is the time to start tweaking my list.  You can read all about the project here.

I have started my list and here are some of the items I have selected.  I wonder if they will all make the final cut?

Black/white striped shirt
Pink cardigan

Shirt and pink cardigan

Black cord jacket
Pink and black striped top

007

Black striped top
Pink vest

004

Black/cream blouse
Pink suede jacket

006

Dusty pink top
Black jacket

005

Black top with squares

002 (3)

Grey trousers
Black 3/4 trousers

008

Black skirt

009

Floral skirt

010

That is 14 items so far which should just about cover work and going out wear.  I still need some casual wear and shoes.  I suspect the shoes could be my undoing!

I know that the 3 month period will include a couple of days at an outdoor music festival as well as a celebration dinner at a swish restaurant as well as all of my usual activities.

It is interesting to note that most of the items are between 3 and 8 years old so they have stood the test of time already.  In fact the top with the square pattern on it is over 10 years old.

I will definitely add jeans and travel pants as well as a rugby top and polo-neck knit top.  The definitive list will be posted in the next week or two.  There will also be regular updates on my success (or otherwise).

Will you be joining in?

Home Sweet Home

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There is nothing I enjoy more than a weekend at home without any major commitments.  After a busy week (and this week has been busier than most) I am ready to take my time doing simple tasks at home.

My plans were thwarted slightly this evening as the train is running late.  This was due to congestion from an earlier police incident at on of the central city railway stations.  I made a conscious decision not to let this stress me but I have used the extra time to catch up on some internet reading and now writing my blog.

I am tired after a full week of work and a late night last night, as we went to see Ross Noble, a very funny and irreverent comedian.  I have an easy dinner planned, we will be eating baked potatoes topped with bolognaise sauce and served with some salad.

Tomorrow I intend to get the house back into order now that the bathroom is finished.

Apologies for the lack of posts over the last couple of days along with the brevity of this one as well as no photos.  I promise I will make amends over the weekend.

Have a fun and fulfilling weekend.

Press Play

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I feel as though I have had the ‘Pause’ button on as everything has been on hold while the bathroom was being done.  Now I can see the things that I want to do.  These include:

2012-03-20 01

  • Dust and polish the furniture in the front entry
  • Replace the ornaments and china from the sideboard (these have been residing on my sewing table)
  • Sort out the other clutter that has also accumulated on the table
  • Get back to doing some sewing (including more gift bags which I have cut out)
  • Sweep and wash the verandah – this has some sawdust remnants from the building work

2012-03-20 02Mention of the gift bags reminds me that I did not do an update post for Lazy Brownie Day in February (25th).  I hope to have lots to post for March and get back on track to have a planned, organised Christmas.

Yesterday I picked up some crochet cotton that a friend bought for me in a sale.  I am going to use this to knit some dishcloths.  There are lots of patterns available but I think I will start with the one that Rhonda has in her book, ‘Down to Earth’.

2012-03-20 03I am also pleased to report that almost everything that I listed on Freecycle under the generic heading of ‘Handyman Materials’ has been collected.  I love the fact that someone is going to be able to use these things and it has freed up some space in the workshop.

I am busy at work this week (working off-site for the next 3 days) so it will be the weekend before I make much progress.  Tonight I have finished folding the washing that dried on the indoor airer over the past few days and now it is time to catch up on some ironing.

Going, Going, Gone….

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Today we have spent the day at home catching up on several jobs.

The Duke painted the ceiling of the bathroom and I did the edges of the cornices and also the new architraves on the window and doors.  The ceiling is finished but the architraves need another coat.  We have had the dehumidifier running in the bathroom for most of the day to get the paint thoroughly dry.

Here is a photo which shows the new lights and also the painted ceiling and window frame.

2012-03-18 01I also sorted out various things in the workshop and space under the stairs.  Then it was time to list some things on Freecycle.  Sometimes I do not have much success and other days everything is wanted.  Today was a good day as I have found new homes for 3 small tins of paint, 2 spraycans of paint, a bathroom stool, the old showerscreen, some excess tiles from the laundry, tiling materials (adhesive, grout etc) and some timber slats.  It is great that other people will be able to use them and we have freed up a bit of space.

We moved the cupboard that had previously been at the foot of the stairs and it is now ensconced in the workshop.  All of the paint and painting equipment is now sorted and stored in the cupboard.

As is often the case, the re-arranging is a work in progress so is actually looking worse than when we started but that will soon change.

The showerscreen and mirror should be installed tomorrow so I am looking forward to that.  It will mean that I can then replace all of my china and ornaments back on the sideboard.  These were removed before the bathroom renovation so they would not be damaged when equipment was being brought in and out of the house.  Things will soon be back to normal.

As Poppet would say, ‘what is normal?’

Holiday Planning

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We have started looking at possible holiday destinations.  The first question was Australia or overseas.

I wanted to go to Central Australia  (Uluru and Alice Springs), Darwin and Kakadu National Park.  Due to the wet season, timing is crucial and accommodation is outrageously expensive and limited availability.

Due to the strength of the Australian dollar an overseas trip looked feasible.  Apart from New Zealand, our only other overseas trip was to British Columbia in 2007.  The East Coast of USA has always appealed so we are now looking at possibly going to Washington, Philadelphia, New York and Boston in September/October.

I have downloaded a couple of different Lonely Planet guides to my Kindle and am quickly learning some US geography.  We have friends who know this area quite well as tourists so caught up with them today and have come away with loads of ideas.  Now I need to distill the information and find what we want to see and do.

How do you decide where to take a holiday?  How much do you plan and book in advance or do you leave it to chance?

Any ideas or suggestions gratefully received.

My Desk

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As promised yesterday I have taken some photos of my desk and the drawers.  There are papers and files on my desk during the day but I always pack them up before I leave.  On the extreme left is a vertical file where I keep assorted envelopes and a couple of manilla folders of pending work on the desk.  There is a dual screen monitor with keyboard and mouse.  Other things on the desk are the telephone, rubbish container (we do not have rubbish bins at our desks), block of sticky notes, desk calendar, stapler, calculator, container of pens and filing trays.

To the left of the desk is a small cabinet with 2 drawers and a filing drawer.  This is the top drawer which is mostly stationery items.  There is a bit more in here that can go when I get a chance.  The thing I use most is the paper clips.  I use them for files I am currently working on and once they are completed the papers are shredded and the paper clips go back in the drawer for the next round.  I only use staples when I am sending things to someone else so that I can be sure they do not get separated.

The next drawer has more personal items.  The three containers at the back contain dry crackers, home-made muesli and psyllium husk.  I start work early and generally have my breakfast when I arrive.  The notebook and papers are from a Journal Club I attend.  I have a teatowel and cutlery in one ziplock bag and toothbrush and toothpaste in another.

Beside the drawers is a cupboard with 2 shelves.  This has old files in it and I could probably sort through and discard at least some of them.

Do your habits at home spill over to your work area or vice versa?

Decluttering Mindset

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It seems that once you actively engage in decluttering a part of your life, regardless of whether it is physical or mental clutter, there is always more that you can find to do.

My home is far from totally decluttered but I have increasingly found myself applying the same principles to my space in the office.  I work in an open-plan office in a 5 star ‘green’ building.  Many people are resistant to the ‘rules’ attached to this standard, however, I am pleased that we have initiatives such as separate waste and recycling bins in the kitchen areas.  Compared to some others, my work-station is positively spartan.

2012-03-15 01Nevertheless, there are always bits of paper and other junk gathering so each day I check to see what else I can clear away.  It is much easier to work when everything has a home and you have only ‘enough’ of things like stationery supplies.

2012-03-15 02Neither of these desks are mine but I definitely am closer to the tidy than untidy one, thank goodness.  One day I will take a photo so you can see what it is really like.

On another note, Joanna asked what is in my make-up module.  Here is a list.

Liquid foundation
Blush + brush
Mascara
Lipsticks x 3
Eyebrow pencil
Lip pencil
Pencil sharpener
Compact mirror
Tweezers x 2

Apart from that I have a bottle of organic foaming face wash which lives on the shelf in the shower. There is a jar of moisturiser and rose hip oil which I use around my eyes in a different container in the drawer.  I do not use an fancy make-up remover – just the face-wash and water.  So, it is not only the physical stuff that is streamlined.  My beauty and make routine is about as simple as you can get.

What routines have you streamlined to make your life simpler?

Module and Launch

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No , it is not the space shuttle!

I do not wear make-up every day but this afternoon I was going out and planned to put some on, so it was a simple matter of retrieving the module containing my make-up from the drawer of the bathroom cabinet.  Here it is.

Make-up module

Yes, this is my entire make-up collection.

In her book on minimalism, ‘The Joy of Less’, Francine Jay talks about setting limits on the amount of stuff you have and one way of doing this is to create modules.  My make-up module was simply a matter of putting my current streamlined supplies into a container, however, it will help me to maintain a small collection now that it is contained.

Since we do not yet have a bathroom mirror I was able to easily pick up the container and take the whole lot into my bedroom to use the mirror there and then return the module to where it belongs in the bathroom.  No fuss, no searching and no time wasted which suits me perfectly.

Now to the second part of the title – Launch.

I went to the Queensland launch of Rhonda Hetzel’s simple living book, ‘Down to Earth’ at the Maleny Neighbourhood Centre this evening.  I had bought my book about 3 weeks ago and it is well on the way to being a much-loved reference book in my home.  You can read my review in a previous post here.  There was a good crowd of interested and enthusastic people and I really hope that this is just the beginning of more people making a real effort to simplify their lives and reap the benefits.

Putting It Back

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Today was a fairly rare occurrence as we went shopping.  Not grocery shopping but to a couple of large stores.  My first goal was to buy some containers/dividers for the bathroom drawers.

We went Howards Storage World and I bought these.

2012-03-11 01They are acrylic and have small silicone feet on them to stop them sliding in the drawer.  This is how they look in the drawer.

2012-03-11 02I have  done the top two drawers like this, the third drawer is empty and the bottom drawer has the hairdryer in it.

Even though I have culled the contents of the bathroom cabinet a couple of times, most recently when I had to take everything out of the room for the renovations, there was still more to do.  I carefully evaluated every single item before I put it back into the cabinet.  There are still a couple of things that need to be used up and will not be replaced, however, it is almost to the point of having only those things that I actually need or use.

This is the top drawer.

2012-03-11 03The second drawer.

2012-03-11 04This is the cupboard.  I used to have 2 plastic boxes – one was first aid stuff and the other was extras of medications, sanitiser gel etc so I have now condensed them into one slightly larger box.  The bonus is that it is high enough that everything is able to stand up in it.

2012-03-11 05These are the baskets that I had previously used in the bathroom drawers.  They were slightly too big for the space so had got a bit squashed and one was cracked.

2012-03-11 06The broken one (not shown) went in the bin but I scrubbed the others and have now used them to contain some of the small items in the drawers in my sewing room.  They have replaced some cardboard boxes that were a bit the worse for wear after nearly 20 years!

All I have left to do is scrub the 2 plastic boxes from the bathroom cupboard.  One, which has an airtight seal will probably go back to being a food storage container.  That was its original purpose.  The other was previously used for storing toys when Belle and Missy were small so I may offer it to Belle if she needs it for a similar purpose.