As I posted earlier about being asked to beta test the Shelfster application I am working to give this Evernote competitor a fair shot.
I’ve run into a snag however. I can’t get the clipping software to run on my computer again. It ran fine the first day, but now will not load. I will email them in the morning to see what can be done to troubleshoot but I’m rather disappointed that I couldn’t play some more!
I currently have two little dogs in my life right now: a Chihuahua/terrier mix rescued from a shelter and my cousin’s little Pomeranian. They are sweet little dogs but taking them on a walk can be a challenge. While the Pom is good about staying close the Chihuahua likes to dart here an there--moving so quickly I fear for her when walking beside busy streets!
As a fan of the Dog Whisperer I remained skeptical of Caesar’s method of dog walking. Despite the beauty inherent in those packs of dogs all walking peacefully on a leash I kept thinking “heh, he hasn’t met my dog yet!”
I’ve tried so many other things I finally decided to give his advice a shot. I called the pups to me, snapped on their leashes and immediately had to challenge the Chi as she tried to beat me to the door.
We had a couple of more challenges between the door and the driveway but to my absolute amazement she was walking calmly beside me by the time we reached the end of the drive!
She seems a little confused by the change in my behavior but so far she is walking much better than she ever has on a leash! Yesterday I took them through a busy intersection and upon an overpass just for a test and while they were nervous there was no darting or attempts to act retarded!
I’ve only been using this method of dog walking for a few days but it has definitely simplified the logistics of walking the animals. No longer do I have to constantly juggle leashes to keep them untangled or spend ages untangling them when I’m not fast enough for them—that alone is a blessing! It is also so much more peaceful to walk two dogs who are heeling peacefully beside you than even one dog trying to wander where it will!
If you have dogs you may want to give the Dog Whisperer’s method a try. I can’t guarantee anything, but I do know it has simplified walking these little guys!
This morning I received an email from Noemi Szoke asking me to take a look at Shelfster. They had seen my post on Evernote here and wanted me to see this application.
I have downloaded the software and am now looking through the application. One thing that is very obvious is that Shelfster is geared toward sharing and social media whereas Evernote was not. For each clip you have to choose whether to keep it private or share with the Internet at large. You also have the ability to have connections on Shelfster by exploring other users and what they have saved publicly.
I just installed this application a few minutes ago so I am still learning but I will post discoveries as I go along.
Shelfster is in the beta test stage and I have the ability to share a trial with 10 of my fellow readers. If you are interested in trying out this competitor to Evernote give me a shout and I’ll send the first 10 a link to the beta sign up site.
I wrote here that I had been sleeping in my sleeping bag again.
However a couple of nights ago I fished out the futon again and went back to sleeping on it.
Why?
For one, it’s out of my closet.
Two, I don’t get twisted up inside of it when I toss and turn.
Three, it’s easier to get out of when I have to make a trip to the bathroom at night.
The bathroom one is the biggie. I’ve about killed myself a couple of times half asleep thinking I’m out of the bag and trying to take a couple of steps!
Anyhow, I’m not eliminating the possibility of sleeping in a bag in the future but for now I’m back to the ole’ faithful futon. Maybe I should just cut it down to a single size and be done with it..(maybe I’m too lazy to do that much work too…).
I haven’t done much downsizing lately, though I have noticed that my dishes are done more often now that I have downsized my silverware collection, so I have less dirty dishes piling up the place—a very good thing…
Anyhow, gotta take a moment to give some kudos to David for eliminating a huge shelf and downsizing his car. He has also downsized his apartment to one half the size (and $400 less a month) and only needs 10 boxes to move now! David, you rock dude!
When I first heard of Evernote and how wonderful it was I was more than a little skeptical. I’m not one for particular programs because I tend to switch computers and operating systems frequently during the course of a day, but I decided to give it the old college try.
At first I started clipping little snippets off of webpages that interested me with the add-on for Google Chrome. Then I started scanning notes I had scribbled. Next it was my receipts that I needed to save.
I think I really like this program. It is easy to use, uploads your stuff to a server (if you want) to protect them in case of a computer crash and makes it really easy to tag and categorize items for later retrieval.
I’ve not been combing my house looking for things to place in Evernote; instead as new things come into my life I’ve been slowly adding them to the notebooks I’ve created. Even with this simple foray into the world of Evernote I have noticed a decrease in the paper around here which is wonderful.
I haven’t come close to the 40 MB limit on uploading for the free account, but the value it is providing so far makes me think the $5 a month fee ($40 a year I think) is a reasonable price to ask for the additional features I understand you receive as well as the increased uploading capacity.
I don’t like promoting things that potentially cost money to use, but this service provides some bang for the buck as well as a free version that kicks butt.
If you would like a simple way of cataloging all those scraps of paper digitally I encourage you to give Evernote a try. It’s a good service.
Hello everyone!
Last night was a rough night. After spending the day working outdoors I guess I didn’t drink enough water and ended up paying for it with an intestinal attack of some sort.
I followed the Water Cure method of sipping water when I finally calmed down enough to think (the pain was rather bad) and eventually it faded enough to where I finally slept.
I do NOT want another night like that.
One note: sleeping bags are not fun during a night of discomfort. Being up and down all night, it seemed as if I would get snuggled into the bag and then have to get back up.
I’m sure it was just me and the discomfort, so I am staying with the sleeping bag, but it was a miserable night. I want to go back to bed but have things I need to get accomplished today.
I think I am going to get dressed and write at the library today for a change of pace. I have got to get some work done today.
Today I decided to stop procrastinating and eliminate the shelf from the kitchen that I no longer needed. Through my simplification/minimalism efforts I had purged more than enough from my cabinets to contain what the shelf held so it was time to take the next step.
I began cleaning off that shelf, getting sidetracked and forcing myself back on track. I saw things here and there that needed to be tossed or purged—then would force myself back on track.
It was a challenge just to stay focused today but part of simplicity is doing just one thing so I plodded on and ended up surprising myself.
Not only did I eliminate that shelf but I also eliminated the little metal shelf as well! Both are now awaiting repurposing in another area of the house…
At this rate one day I will find myself with shelves to eliminate from my life.. I like that thought!
While in the midst of simplifying this kitchen area I decided to rework my laptop area. Instead of using the cheap speakers and letting the good ones go unused I moved the good speakers in here. Where is the logic in not using the good stuff?
I also drug out my wireless keyboard/mouse set from storage and hooked them up to eliminate some cables from this area. Yes, they will use batteries, but I have rechargeable batteries I can use in them. Also I already had this set so why let it sit and rot when it can make life a little easier? This will eliminate a USB hub from this area while keeping a port open on the laptop for when I need to plug in additional devices like my external hard drive or my printer.
I moved the phone and speakers off of the table, which will make moving the laptop to reclaim the table for other purposes. Now instead of having to move the laptop, speakers, phone, keyboard and mouse I will only have the laptop, keyboard and mouse to move.
I ended up with another pile of things to give away from my roamings elsewhere in the house today. Even made it to the storage building for a bit to get the wireless set and eliminated a few things there as well.
I could list everything here but tonight I don’t feel like it is appropriate. I am simply content with eliminating even more from my life.
To celebrate I fixed a quick stir fry and filled my hungry belly. Now I’m ready to walk the puppies and settle down for the night.
This day may not have went in the exact direction I planned for it, but I accomplished a lot today. I hope that today was every bit as productive for you as it was for me.
I have noticed something as I work toward a more simple, minimal lifestyle. Something that may sound silly or may make perfect sense.
While simplifying my life and eliminating the dross a couple of things have happened.
One, my house stays cleaner. I guess it is because there isn’t as much to clutter the areas now—to get rearranged or dusty, but it takes less time to clean when I do clean, and I have to clean less. It just doesn’t get as dirty anymore.
Two, My dishes don’t pile up as much. I have posted in this blog about my dishes in the past, even about failing to keep them washed as I want. However, by simplifying what dishes and silverware I own I am inspired by necessity to keep things washed up, which means I am washing dishes more frequently and so there is less dishes to pile up waiting to be washed. This is a big boon to this girl!
Yes, I could get a dishwasher but I don’t want the expense, I don’t want the maintenance, I don’t want the thing in my way, I don’t want another heavy appliance to move—I just don’t want one! Doesn’t take much water to wash dishes if you use two dishpans and don’t leave the water running!
I get more accomplished. Even though I have stopped using disposables in favor of cloth and started using a clothesline even indoors to dry things. Even though I have gotten rid of my mixer and other “convenience items in favor of a cutting board. Even though I started a frugality blog so as to simplify my thoughts and not bore you, making for additional posts to keep both active—I still have less to do.
I don’t understand it, yet I do. My life is much more peaceful with less in it. I think back to all of the years I would hunt and hunt for things—now I go to a single wall of shelves in my tiny room and locate it within minutes!
I think back to all of the years I tripped over things in the floor—nothing to trip over now!
I think back to all of the things that have been destroyed accidentally by being stepped on, knocked over or whatever—it just doesn’t happen these days!
I look at this shelf in the kitchen I placed here recently—it was stuffed full and now I may eliminate it from the kitchen entirely soon, for it is almost empty.
Amazingly during this whole process not once have I needed something that I have eliminated from my life! That’s a big one with me—when I was a kid my father would hold on to almost everything! He would become frustrated at all of the junk he had piled around and toss some of it—only to need something he tossed a few days later (it never failed). Then there was the common occurrences of having to re-buy something that he knew he already possessed because he couldn’t find it when he needed it—only to locate the needed item a week or so later while looking for something else!
The last side effect I have noticed is that while my possessions have been reduced the quality has increased. I find myself using the “nice things” that I would never use because I have eliminated the cheap stuff from my life. I have also determined ways to increase the quality of my food without increasing my grocery bill. Simply buying a small chunk of meat and slicing it myself at home has saved me an amazing amount of money—I purchased 5.5 pounds of beef round in a single section for a little over $13 and sliced it up into thin steaks that normally cost me almost five dollars a pound! It wasn’t hard, didn’t take any special equipment and I froze them on a pizza pan (it was the sheet I kept because it was newest and my baking sheet was in horrible condition) and transferred them to freezer bags for individual use. So now I have the quality of meat that I adore (the thin, versatile steaks) at a price ($2.48/lb) that fits much easier on my budget.
By investing less in junk food I have extra money in my budget for things I prefer, like mung beans from the health food store for sprouting and all-natural sea salt instead of the bleached regular table salt.
I’m even a bit healthier, by eliminating soft drinks from my daily diet in favor of water somehow I manage to wake up earlier without the help of an alarm clock. Coffee is drank a lot less now, as water is my morning libation of preference. Somehow I find that I don’t miss it. This morning I brewed a single cup—only to find I wanted about half of the little amount I brewed!
I am quite pleased with these side effects thus far, and look forward to experiencing even more of this phenomena.
I eliminated two things today. I guess this wouldn’t be news except those things meant something to me once upon a time.
The very first backpack I used when I started working on computers
It was old and tattered but still I held on to the hope that I would still use it when in fact it is in such poor condition I am afraid to trust anything valuable in it. TOSS!
My favorite Summer Sandals
Okay, so they were falling apart and looked hideous—they were still comfortable!
I have to realize that there comes a time when we need to let go. They were so tattered I would not wear them in public which means I would not really wear them at all. Goodbye, dear shoes.
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I know this may sound silly to most of you out there, but eliminating just these two items was a big thing to me today. It shows me that I am becoming less attached to stuff, and more committed to simplicity and minimalism.
I look around this kitchen and see open spaces where once clutter reigned. Even the shelf I placed in here recently is becoming more empty with each passing day. If I applied myself I could eliminate it from the kitchen entirely, so little is contained upon it. Amazing when you consider the fact that it was packed full!
I’m not where I want to be, not by a long shot, but I’m getting there. One little piece at a time.
The last couple of nights have made me realize that my sleeping bag is not as warm as it used to be. Despite the fact that it is rated for 40F I have woke up chilly indoors with a backup heat source set to 55F.
To solve this I am using a blanket to cover my sleeping bag at night—this keeps me much warmer. I gather all of the use this poor item has received over the last two or three years has paid a toll on it.
Other than that I seem to be sleeping well. With the extra blanket it makes covering the little dog easier when she gets chilled at night. She is a Chihuahua mix and is as cold-natured at night as I am. She no longer tries to get inside the bag with me at least!
Even with this challenge, I think I prefer the sleeping bag to the futon. It is much smaller so I can roll it up and put it away during the day instead of tripping over the futon.
We weren’t supposed to get her. The breeder handed us a boy, a black and brown Australian shepherd puppy that we immediately named Pippin. Pippin seemed to be a playful pup at the breeder’s house, frolicking with his siblings, but when Ed and I took him home, he was withdrawn and seemed sad. Pippin was not interested in toys or other games. He wanted to lie silently in the foyer. His eyes were cloudy. His walk was slow. The ride to our house even made him carsick. After a few days, we thought Pippin must be ill, and we sadly took him back. The minute he returned to his brothers and sisters, his whole personality changed and he was happy, running around and playing. We then realized Pippin was not sick; he was just not content to be by himself, and was meant to live in a house where there were other dogs to play with.
At this point, we saw another Aussie puppy in the room - a dog with blue merle coloring, with patches of black, gray, white, and touches of tan. The first thing that stood out was her nose, which was almost totally pink with a few tiny black spots. The second thing was her one blue eye and one brown eye. We fell in love at first sight and took her home. The car ride did not bother her at all. We called her Pinky.
She didn’t bark for a few weeks. She just grunted. We even thought maybe she had a physical inability to bark. One day on the porch, Ed, who was outside trying to housetrain her and trying to hurry her up, said quickly, “C’mon, Babe.” The puppy’s ears perked right up and she stopped in her tracks and looked up at Ed. Ed thought, “She likes the name Babe.” Her breed of dog was bred to herd sheep, and we remembered that wonderful movie, Babe, about a pig who thought she was a dog, who became a champion shepherd. This puppy would be our Babe, our pig-dog with a pink nose who only grunted for the first few weeks. She would be our constant companion for 7 years. She was Ed’s special friend, keeping him company while I was at work. I can’t tell you how many times I came home from work, and he’d say, “Babe and I were talking and we came to a decision. I need to cut down on my pipe smoking/I don’t really need to buy a new pair of jeans/I need to drink more tea and less coffee....” When she’d come in with mud and gravel attached to her fur, Ed would smile and say, “We need to clean you up, you dirty little pig!”
I am so sorry to say that Babe developed epilepsy about 4 years ago. At first it was mild, then it progressed into cluster seizures, 9 in 24 hours, 15 in 24 hours. The electrical storms in her brain was starting to do damage. After this last round of 15 seizures, finally, it affected her ability to walk without stumbling, her ability to recognize us. She forgot how to move her back legs to stand up from a sitting position. She forgot how to tell us she needed to go out. She would get into a tight spot and forget how to back up to get free. She even forgot how to climb into the car. The seizures had done their work and taken our beloved Babe to another dimension. We made the agonizing decision to have her put down on Friday.
It was not an easy decision, and we will never be totally assured that it was the right one. But she had suffered so much. We had all suffered so much, because love will do that to you.
We were in line at the grocery store shortly thereafter, trying to hold the tears inside, when I heard the customer in front of me tell the cashier she had just had surgery and had beaten breast cancer. She was understandably overjoyed. There we were - the happiness of life and health, and the overwhelming sadness of grief and loss - side by side in line. I realized I was in the midst of the very cycle of life. Our third grandchild, a boy, will be born this summer, a few months after Babe will have been gone. Death and birth, within months of each other. Losing and gaining, and experiencing life, as they say, “In sickness and in health, to love and to cherish ‘til death us do part,” - and life goes on.
We weren't supposed to get her. But it turned out we were supposed to get her. The hole she has left never gets completely healed. The memories will stay forever in our minds and hearts. But in the ebb and flow of this earthly existence, we pray to experience acceptance, reassurance, gratitude, and grace, thankful that we were blessed with such a dog as Babe.
For so many, including myself—amusements involve spending money. Going shopping, visiting the movie theatre—almost everything we know to do involves spending money.
We have become so jaded that even watching television does not have the appeal it used to in ages past, instead we must rent a new release of access Video On Demand.
What about trying some simpler amusements? Taking a walk, reading a book—just sitting in the sun perhaps. These things are not only simpler, but much less expensive as well.
Today my daughter was bored and restless so I suggested a trip to the library. They have video game machines, movies and even a large television available for children all free of cost.
She looked around and decided on a couple of books she would like to read this weekend while I worked here on the laptop in the computer section. After that she settled down with her laptop and started playing her Webkins.
While at home she refused to play on her laptop because she was bored but now that we are in a different environment she is happily amusing herself while sitting quietly beside Mom. The cost of this: a little gas to drive to the library. The benefit of having her sit quietly so I can work: Priceless.
We do not have to spend a fortune to amuse our kids, but we do have to pay attention to their needs. We don’t have to spend a fortune to amuse ourselves if we can only remember how.
When I was a child before the days of computers, video games and cable TV I would play out in the yard, take walks with the dog or read books I checked out from the library. I was taken to different worlds and lives, experiencing things that I would have never experienced otherwise, then I would lay in the grass and daydream that I was there in the world of those books.
What did you do then, and what do you do now for simple amusements?
I am having difficulty keeping up with how many times I do the 10 Things Challenge so I’m going to give up and just begin dating them.
Yesterday and last night I eliminated much more than 10 things, but I did not classify it as such. The post before that I thinned out even more. April 4, 2010 saw me reduce and downsize my bedroom to one almost half the size of my previous one. I have tossed egg slicers and even completed the 10 Things Challenge on April 3, 2010, February 26, 2010 and February 25, 2010. If I thinned out in March, apparently I did not feel the urge to blog about it, and for that I apologise. Thinning down is beginning to become a fact of life here.
I even simplified this blog to enable me to concentrate better on the different aspects of my life (and to better help the reader by making posts more pertinent).
All in all, it has been a busy few months, yet I feel that I am only beginning the journey I began when I started this blog.
I am not eliminating 10 things every week; but overall I am making progress which is the important thing. Already I have a closet filling with items to hand on to my sister, who lost all of her possessions in a move that went awry some time ago and has been slowly trying to regain the quality of possessions that she lost. She cherishes her things and feels the loss keenly so my gleanings are happily going to use rebuilding the possessions she loves, going to a place where they will actually be used (or passed on to someone who will).
The interior of my kitchen cabinets are becoming sparse in comparison to how overstuffed they were when I began. Soon I will have to rearrange in order to better utilize the empty spaces. To celebrate my growing space I have a small batch of bread rising on the stove. A single loaf that will actually be shaped into dinner rolls to prevent waste—I can freeze them until needed which means that less material used, less wasted yet more enjoyment out of a single batch of bread. Even if I had the freezer space I do not know if it would be practical to make more than a single loaf for just me and a young child.
This morning to my delight I discovered that all of the towels I washed last night were dried on the makeshift line I created in the hallway. This is a wonderful discovery, for it means that I can use the dryer even less! I may want to consider eliminating it from my life entirely if this continues as well as it is.
Oh, to be free of one more large thing! That would mean that the only real large items I possessed (besides the van) were the washer and the refrigerator!
So far today I have not eliminated 10 Things, unless you count the duplicates and lids, but such is life.
All of these items were duplicates with the exception of the Tupperware bowl. Some time ago I had purchased all of the Pyrex bakeware I needed/wanted, but then I was unexpectedly gifted with another complete set. He was so delighted at gifting me with something he “knew” I would use (he had been watching me slowly gather my Pyrex collection)! Honestly I was so astounded that he purchased me more of something he knew I had a surplus of that all I could do was politely thank him!
I kept the items and tried to use them for other things—in fact some of the collection did get incorporated into my functional collection of bowls and storage containers, but the baking dishes were too much. I have already given away several large Pyrex baking dishes so these are the last of my overstock (I hope).
This leaves me with one large and small Pyrex baking dish, two Pyrex pie plates, two Pyrex loaf pans, one Pyrex casserole dish, an assortment of nestable Pyrex bowls and a few Pyrex storage containers—all of which are used on a regular basis. Far from minimal to the extreme minimalist, but the perfect amount for me with the amount of cooking I do from scratch (and the occasional leftover).
It is time to shape the bread, so I must close for now. I hope you have a wonderful day!
I am still inspired by The Happy Minimalist
Like a lot of people I have a lot of things I do not need. Some of that stuff (a lot of it actually) falls under “why did I buy that in the first place?”
Two more pairs of jeans, some outdated computer books, a phone book that never gets used, some craft books, a crock pot (I had 2) and several other items have been sacked up to go to my sister’s.
The futon mattress has been placed in the closet for when company comes. For now I think I will sleep in the sleeping bag.
I found that I have unnecessary duplicates of a lot of stuff, and those duplicates are slowly leaving. I am even passing on the stainless steel skillet that goes with the rest of my cookware. It hasn’t been used in years since I started using a cast iron one.
It is rather hit and miss as I purge these items. If I am the least bit nervous that item will stay—I do not want to push myself harder than I am ready to go.
My closet has been thinned out considerably yet I still have a lot of things that I enjoy wearing. I have yet to thin out a single item that I actually wear other than some of the jeans cause the cut looked horrible on me and I have several others that look nice and are still comfortable.
It feels good to know that I don’t NEED all of this stuff around here. To know that I can get by with less and still be happy.
Right now I am curled up in one of those heavy duty folding chairs that store away in a bag. I have had this thing for several years. It is comfortable and has survived a lot of abuse. I sit here in my much smaller bedroom with the laptop on my lap. The only electric devices running are the refrigerator, an LED nightlight in the bathroom, an LED desk light in here, my router and this laptop. The LED desk light uses 1.5 watts of electric. I do not know how much the LED night light uses—it is one of those that doubles as a small flashlight that comes on in the event of a power outage.
I was getting low on towels so I washed them despite the rain. I am using a clothesline placed in the hallway to dry them. This way it is no issue if the rain continues for a day or more, and I am still not using the dryer.
To my surprise I have not had the desire to fire up the kerosene heater this evening. The laptop on my lap has generated more than enough heat to knock off the chill.
To move to this home, I sold my couch, loveseat, bedroom suite and Katie’s oversized bunk bed. By doing this I avoided having to beg people to please come move me, help me carry this.. The two moves before this ended with me hiring a guy off the street to help with the heavy stuff the first time and begging a friend the second.
This time, with the exception of the refrigerator, washer and dryer—I moved everything in my van. It took multiple loads but overall was not that bad. I could have lay the big appliances down in the back of my van and hauled them that way but I had a volunteer with a truck and did not refuse the help. :)
My friends considered me insane for selling most of my furniture (well, technically I traded it off for this trailer) but I considered it smart. If I can’t move it, I honestly don’t need it. I can move the appliances with a dolly, but the things that take two people to maneuver just HAD to go.
I am thinking that instead of a refrigerator that a small chest freezer and a large cooler may serve my purposes better than what I have (and use less electricity). Not much actually gets stored in the fridge honestly. When I get meat I freeze it individually on a pizza pan before transferring it to bags for individual portions without the packaging expense. Figure if the big companies can do it, why can’t I? I would have more room to store things that I actually use, like meats on sale, with less room to house things that normally go to waste here (a.k.a. leftovers). Two liter bottles could be frozen and used to chill the contents of the cooler, exchanged on a regular basis with fresh ones from the chest freezer.
I have no intentions of getting rid of my refrigerator and buying a small chest freezer—that makes no practical sense when I already have a refrigerator, even if the freezer on it is smaller than I would prefer. It is something to consider for the future, especially since small chest freezers are almost half the price of even a small refrigerator! I have no idea how old this little fridge is, though it looks fairly new, so it is nice to plan for the future a bit.
If I could go a whole year without my dryer I would sell it and not look back. I’m sure that thing has contributed substantially to my past electric bills. People the world over do without clothes dryers and they survive just fine.
I would have to make small changes, use lighter blankets instead of heavy comforters, especially in winter when they would take a long time to dry indoors—but if I’m sleeping in a sleeping bag that point would be moot. Katie’s bedding is small enough not to be an issue.
Here I am rambling about what I think I can do without. It is almost midnight here, contributing to the diarrhea of words tonight, sorry.
I’ll go to bed and leave you to your life. Good night, good world!
It will definitely give you food for thought.
I decided to see how to live in a much smaller space. In our 2-bedroom home, one of the bedrooms is 8 x 10 feet with a built-in dresser. The other is 12 x 12 feet.
My daughter has had the little bedroom since we moved here, swapping out her numerous toys and keeping her pets elsewhere in the home.
I decided to surprise her by switching the bedrooms.
This is a challenge. My bedroom also doubles as a storage room and the smaller one must do double-duty as well. This should give me ample incentive to downsize.
So this morning I removed everything from her room and started placing my stuff within. One wall was perfect for my shelves so it was completely lined, floor to ceiling with my personal items and the extra stuff we haven’t managed to part with yet. To conceal this I took a piece of wire and some hooks to hang up two white sheets—it totally changes the look of the room! Even though the space is smaller it actually looks a bit bigger somehow with all of the white. I wonder what that room would look like if I painted the walls white as well? Give it a combination of minimalist/shabby chic look or something…
I didn’t think to take any before photos but I took some after photos. The room is not decorated yet, but I wanted to give an idea of what I’ve been doing.
I am hoping that not only will my daughter enjoy the much-enlarged space (I even put the guinea pigs in her new room), but that I will learn more about myself. I am already trying to figure out a way to obtain a twin-sized futon pad—anyone in Western KY want to trade a twin futon for a full?
Honestly, I only use my bedroom for storage, reading and sleeping. I spend most of my time in the kitchen on the laptop so how much space do I actually need? If I managed a futon frame I could put it in the living room as a couch and allow that to serve double-duty as my bed.
Anyway, here are the photos:
This is the view from the doorway. The light is a wall-mount and a bit glaring. That big white fabric wall is hiding floor to ceiling shelves (mismatched of course!). It looks kinda neat in there with all the floaty white fabric, especially where I used it for the curtains as well.
This is my full-size futon folded up in thirds for daytime storage. I would love to have a twin-size one, small enough to fold and put away like the Japanese are famous for, but right now a Japanese shiki futon is out of my budget.
This is from the fabric wall looking toward my closet. I am really thinking of painting all of the paneling in this house white to brighten up the place! White on white would be a fascinating look, and if I got sick of it at least I would have a base coat already down. :)
This is the little built-in dresser. There is a LOT of wasted space above that built-in and I don’t have so much as a mirror to fill it with. I’m thinking of scavenging some old wood I have outside to put a small shelf or two in all of that space. For the moment those old crates will have to do (sigh). Sorry about the light glare.. Next time I will try to take pictures while it is still daylight outside!
Overall it looks pretty good for a day’s hard work! Almost all of my stuff fit, though I am placing a shelf in the living room that was a bit much for the small area!
I will keep you posted on how I cope with such a small bedroom though I must admit—so far it feels like a good change! Just today I eliminated several boxes worth of items and consolidated some more, making for a bit less junk than I had…
On a sad note, I stumbled upon the papers from my mother’s death several years ago. I took about an hour to go through them, reading the statements (she was killed in a car accident in December of 1992), looking at the photos and the picture of the officers freeing her from the car after the accident (it made the front page even so I have that article).
What do you do with stuff like that? I detest that memory. I was 22 and she was my last surviving parent. I want to take that bag and burn it—and the memories with it—but what if Katie wants it when she is older? I really want it out of my life, but Katie is only 10 and too young to understand what it contains.. What do you do in that situation? Every time I look through it and my father’s papers I just sit and cry, but I gather I’m under an obligation to keep this stuff for Katie for when she grows up—but she never met them—she was born many years after they walked this earth. I’m just torn by the entire subject. A need to eliminate things that trigger painful memories and an obligation to pass things on to their grandchildren. What would YOU do?
This is funny so I have to tell on myself!
I set that egg slicer in front of me, planning to use it on some eggs tonight. Boiled the eggs, fished one out---
--And chopped it up with a knife! I was on the second one before I realized what I was doing!
With a laugh, I tossed that stupid egg slicer. I don’t need what I never use!
It was cheap anyway!
I wandered to the outbuilding today and tossed a few things from there. Most of what was discarded was in the building before I bought the place, but such is life.
There were some other things, but I didn’t know what to call them-enough to almost fill my Herbie. I left space within it for any trash I will need to discard between now and next Thursday.
I did discover some things I had considered lost: my whetstone, some matches, the missing clothespins (how they got there I will never know), 2 plastic glasses and an egg slicer.
I probably should just discard the egg slicer—it’s not like I ever use it. In fact, I didn’t realize it was lost until I located it because I always use a knife to slice and chop my eggs!
It really feels good to thin down. I am in hopes by summer’s end to have that outbuilding thinned down to a degree where I can shift some of my more permanent storage items down there. I know—the ideal situation is to get rid of the junk, but some of this stuff I am just not ready to part with yet. As they say on that hoarding show, if you part with things too quickly or easily you will accumulate more junk. My goal is to do this gradually, for a more permanent result instead of a temporary fix.
Overall, I’m not doing too bad. You can see some other things I have discarded here and here.