A Game of (Falling) Dominoes

That pretty much sums up how the work behind this post seemed like to me and it all started here.

We bought this bread box for our apartment in Brooklyn with it's hole in the wall kitchen.  It worked well there and in the apartment we had before we moved into our house.  Here it was just a big space hog and it took me almost 3 years to come to terms with that and another 5 months to do something about it.  Let the dominoes fall.

I knew I wanted to move the bread into the drawer under the stove, but before I could do that I had to move part of what was in there. Of course I neglected to take a before shot, but it wasn't that exciting. Just picture vitamins and ibuprofen where the bread is now.

Keep them falling.

Said vitamins moved here and the baking condiments that were in this spot moved to the cabinet with the spices.

There they are on the top shelf.  Luckily the spot was empty and nothing had to be moved someplace else. Which brings me back to the spot where the bread box use to be.

We have already come to appreciate the extra square inches of counter space. Plus, I finally got hang up my utensil rod.  Game over (for now).

“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”

- William Morris

Please visit Jules at Pancakes & French Fries for a lot more William Morris inspiration.

Almost

I am almost there or at least I feel a lot closer to being done than I did last week.  Which is funny because there is less than one (working) hour between the two.  In the previous weeks I spent hours sifting through Lego, Playmobil and the like and I felt nothing but overwhelmed and under accomplished. This week I moved some furniture around and I finally feel like I am getting somewhere.

This is pretty much how this side of Sam's room has looked since last August.  When Sam started school I got it in my head that he needed a desk and chair to do his homework (he does it at the dining table).   We bought everything, got it home, put it together and just kind of stuck it on this wall, which had previously had looked like this.  The EXPEDIT moved over to the wall on the left and it all ended up looking kind of indifferent, or better said "Meh."

The circles are off of the wall and the EXPEDIT is back.  Now all you have to do is imagine a world map above the desk.  It was hanging yesterday, but it fell down overnight.  That is what I get for keeping it rolled up for the past year and a half.    I plan on getting a chair or bean bag to put on the now empty wall.  Sam loves it and is not missing any of the things I purged over the past weeks.    I plan on doing another quick purge in the next weeks and there a still some things I need to hang, but I am almost there.

“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”

- William Morris 

 

Please visit Jules at Pancakes and French Fries for a lot more William Morris inspiration.

Not Done

Not done, or maybe I should title this post "I've Started", "Working On It" or something along that line.  At the moment, the title is more appropriate to how I feel about the state of Sam's room.

 

This is pretty much how Sam's room has looked since Christmas.  Sam is the only grandchild on both my and my husband's side and the only child under 18 for the rest of the family, so you can imagine the problem.  To be fair, my husband and I have not been totally faultless. We have reformed our ways though and have found that less is definitely more when it comes to the amount of toys our son should have.  I am still working on how to get the rest of the family to co-operate.
 

One of the first things I tackled was the contents of the art drawers in this cabinet. It had been awhile since I had gone through all of Sam's drawings, so there was quite a bit to sort.  What to keep and what to toss? Generally, I try to be quick and keep those that show progression.

The things I decided to keep went back in the drawer along with the Sam's completed school workbooks (which had been dispersed through out his room).  My thought is for us to review them at the end of the year so Sam can see his progress and then (to secretly) toss them.



The rest went into the recycle bin.

Next up was a purge of the drawer holding all the pencils, markers, scissors etc .

I know that it won't stay like this, but maybe something close.  Besides, it was good to go through it all and throw out the broken rulers, dried markers, and the like.

This picture is all I have to show for the major purge I did of his toys, books, and games.  I had a wonderfully huge (and to me depressing) pile of stuff in the basement all ready to be carted off to our local charity shop.  That pile stood there for a few weeks waiting for me to take a picture of it.  I am pretty sure it yelled, "Cheese!" every time I walked by it, but I never managed to take that wow shot for this post.  Then last week, in a fit, I schlepped it all to the car and brought it to the shop.

 

I know that there is improvement, but I still suspect that there is probably too much stuff.  If I consider the bags that I carted off, the room should be devoid of toys.  There will probably be another toy purge in my near future, but I first want to see how it goes with what is left. 

“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”

- William Morris

Please visit Jules at Pancakes and French Fries for more William Morris inspiration.

More of Less - Picture Gallery

I am not sure how, but another week has gone by and it is time for another post for the William Morris Project.  I have absolutely no idea how Jules did this every day this past October, but I am starting to suspect that super powers were be involved.

I have had a gallery of family pictures in all of our homes.  It took me awhile to hang them when we moved here (yeah, big surprise) and I was perfectly happy with the layout.  Then my brother-in-law had to go and get married last summer and it went to pieces.  I had the picture in the frame and all I had to do was add it. 

It should have been an easy task and yet before I knew it all of the pictures were off of the wall.  They ended up stacked on the stairs and there they stayed, let's say, awhile.  Naturally re-hanging the pictures made my list of things that I wanted get done.

I started off trying a few different layouts and thought that I had it with this one.  Once I started hanging them it just looked off and before I knew it I had moved two of the pictures into different frames.  Does anyone else always find dirt under the glass after their done framing something?  Is that just me?

After lots more shuffling I finally had all of the pictures up and I am totally happy with the layout. There is plenty of room for future expansion and I added an empty frame that I had on hand.  I am thinking of filling it with one of these.

“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”

- William Morris

More of Less - The Entry Closet

The entry closet should have been an easy (and quick) project for my next William Morris post.   Turns out it took me a little longer than I anticipated and I ended up spending the last few weeks in a sort of photo and memorabilia haze. 

Here is the culprit.  Looks innocent enough, right? 

Even with the doors open it isn't too bad, but kind of frustrating  because last January I posted about that top drawer.  It was kind of the beginning of my quest to a more organized home.  Here is the proof that I am still struggling with it a year later.

No use lamenting though, so back to the task at hand.  I followed usual purging protocol and started pulling everything out,  Yes, those are three lint rollers.  One for each of us? I also dug out three umbrellas, quite an assortment of mints, gum, tissues, charging cables etc.   The decision of what to do with this stuff came pretty easy.   Trash, relocate, keep here and I was done in under 30 minutes.

The real work started on the other side and it was all hidden in those photo boxes and art files you see on the shelves.  Instead of just pulling them out and putting them back when I was done (like I have been doing), I opened them to purge the contents. Pictures and keepsakes covering a span of over twenty-five years all "organized" into boxes.

 I sorted and then I sorted some more.  With each pass I became more ruthless.  No pictures were safe, not even wedding pictures.

I didn't like them, didn't care to keep them;  they ended up in the recycling container.  Thank goodness for the digital age is all I have to say.

 At first glance, the difference isn't huge.

But look at the empty hangers!  Now guests can actually hang up their coats instead throwing them on the stairs.  I also know that things are looking better in those boxes and drawers.

I had this container in another part of the house and think it will be good for the umbrellas.  It is also housing the lint rollers for now.  I will definitely weed down to one and may end up getting rid of that too.  During my purge I found a clothes brush that I brought from my grandmother's house (you can see it in the top right of this picture).  If it works well, the rollers are history.

“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”

- William Morris

Those Little Things (That Nag)

Sometimes it is those little things that just never get done. You know, those things that don't deem important enough to be put on a to-do list.  These are the things that end up nagging me tenfold the amount of time it would actually take to just get them done.  Enter the hand towels in our guest bathroom.

Like the towels, the towel loop not so much.   When a loop came off of one of the towels I knew I would have to do something, eventually.

Eventually came a few months later when I found this ribbon while Christmas shopping.  The picture above almost makes it look like I know what I am doing, but I don't really. 

I winged it and am hoping the ribbon holds the strains a seven year old will undoubtedly put on it.  This is going to be one of the things that I will add to my to-do list just to have the self satisfaction of crossing it off again.

Speaking of lists, I have been working on a major one.  Jules from Pancakes & French Fries is continuing The William Morris Project with a post every Thursday and a link up.  She created an awesome list describing her intentions for each room with all the things she would like to accomplish.  A list broken down by room is exactly what I need to keep me focused.  I will be joining her Thursdays with something that I have accomplished.  Most of the time it will fit under the header of my (slightly withered) More of Less series, but sometimes it will be just be something that I needed wanted to get done for our home (like today).  So, here goes.

Replace loop on guest towels

I am still tweaking my list and will be posting it sometime in the next week.  Today I plan to spend a good part of the day over in the comment section at Jules and visiting all the blogs that have linked up.  Should make for an inspiring day.  Thanks Jules!

“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”

- William Morris

2012

January 5th 6th isn't too late for a Happy New Year post, is it?  I desperately needed to update here because I was still wishing everyone a Merry Christmas with my last post.  Here I am and here is 2012.  Happy New Year!  Hope everyone has had a good start.

I have spent the last few days filling in my new calendar and writing down thoughts on the last year and thoughts for the new.  Kind of sounds meditative, but it was really more of an obsession fest about the shoulda, coulda, woulda of everything.  I have calmed down now, some.

Let's talk goals, ok?

• I  am continuing with the More of Less project I started last year.   There was a little break over the holidays, but I did a few mini projects around the house back in November that I never posted about (you know shoulda, coulda...).
• I also want to find a place for everything in the house.  Not so much to end the search for stuff, more to end the piles of "I don't know where else to put it".
• Read more books (Jules at Pancakes & French Fries is helping out with that with the Book Club she is starting).
• Photography - I will learn to use that SLR (that I gave my husband for Christmas 2010).
• I am doing something with that Thonet stool (can't believe I first posted about it in June).  Still pondering yellow, thinking about black (crazy, no?) and am now seriously considering gold.  Gold would be awesome, right?
• Then there is the usual eating better (am on track), exercising (started again last week), blogging more (first post since Christmas so we will see how that goes), going to bed earlier (writing this at 12:17am - sigh).

How about you?

Anyway, I kind of think that 2012 might be good year. 

Simple Christmas Décor

This seems to be the year of simplified Christmas décor in our house.   It wasn't a conscious decision. It just sort of happened and I am really liking the outcome.  In fact, I see a purge of my holiday decorations coming up.

 A few festive branches.

Pine cones, some additional candles, and just a little bit of shimmer.

Wishing everyone a peaceful third advent.

More of Less

Is thinking about posting the same as actually posting?  Maybe "More of Less" also applies to blogging? This blog in particular.  Excuses I know, but somewhat valid sounding.

Well, I have been busy with stuff. Literally.

I took this picture the eve before our big Sperrmüll pick up a few weeks ago.  This pile of stuff equals the weight I felt lifted from my shoulders when I came home the next day to find it gone.

A long overdue closet purge is another item that I can finally strike through on my to do list.  The fruits of my labor consisted of 5 bags of clothes to donate and a bag destined for the trash.  Among the items I let go was a top that I wore the day my grandmother died.  Every time I looked at it, wore it (yes I did), or washed it I was transported to that horrid day.  I should have donated it a long time ago, but it is gone now and I suppose it is all part of the process of mourning.

I realize that I have been heavy on the topic of organizing and purging, but it is what has been on my mind.  Hopefully you will bear with me, because I am not quite done.   Besides all of the purging I did bring something "new" into our home.  A post on that later this week.

More of Less

You might remember the painting from my post about it in March or you might remember the More or Less post I did back in April about the contents of the top drawer of this cabinet.

 

However,  I forgot neglected  did not want to show you what is behind the doors of the cabinet.  Here we go.

 

It could be worse, but it could be a lot better.  So, I pulled everything out to survey the situation.  This is always the point that I want to quit and run away. Far away.

Sheets and duvets that I will never use again, old pillows, a curtain from our apartment (love the fabric), gift wrap supplies and a small stash of children's gifts.  It might seem over the top to have a gift stash (and I had been beginning to think so), but I have actually gone into the stash twice in the last 4 weeks. So, for now it is a keeper.

I dropped off the extra linens, along with 6 bags of clothes, purses, and miscellaneous accessories at an Oxfam store this morning.  After this Christmas I should be down to one roll of gift wrap (brown packing paper) and then all of the gift related stuff can fit on one shelf.  Who knows maybe I will get all crazy and keep one shelf (hold on to your seat belts) empty.  Sometime down the line I need to oil the cabinet and do something about the old and dingy contact paper.  I am just going to simmer down for now though.

After all, this is much better.

More of Less

I have been obsessed with interested in organizing for a long time. Especially if other people are doing the organizing and I am watching the process on TV or on my computer screen.  Oh, I have dabbled in the process in the past (see my very neglected More of Less column).  In fact,  I am pretty sure that one of my very first purchases ever at IKEA included storage boxes.  I got rid of those boxes in January and wrote about it in my first post titled  More of Less.  Over the course of my "column" I lost sight of the title or maybe I just wasn't ready for what it really meant or not fully committed.  Who knows.

I am still not there, but I am closer.  For the longest time I thought being organized only involved putting things in pretty boxes or containers. It does not, that is merely a quick fix.  A few weeks ago I read this.

Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.
–William Morris.

Now this is the house that I want to live in and those should be the words repeated before something is organized into a box. Jules at Pancakes & French Fries is on her best way with her October series titled "31 Days of William Morris" and her blog is where I first read the quote.  It is also the place I have found countless hours of blog reading excellence.  Really.  Go have a look.

So what does this mean?  It means that I am taking no prisoners and  have ordered a special trash pick-up for large bulky items (called Sperrmüll in Germany).  Everything has to be out on the curb on the morning of October 25th.   I mean business.

I am also back in my shelves, containers and cabinets. Here is a photo of the after of a bathroom drawer,  unfortunately there is no before picture.

It was one of those organizing projects that came about spontaneously.  As in, I opened the drawer and went into a fit.  It was a productive fit.  I threw out a lot of stuff (mainly lipgloss).  You know the half used, can't remember when I bought it kind.  Most importantly I found a use for the dividers that  came with the pullout drawers from the IKEA PAX closet.  I hope they will help keep mayhem at bay. This post is all about purging, but sometimes it pays to keep (see the useful part of the quote).  I even had to partake in some saw action so that the slats would fit. Yes, I am talking real big time blogger stuff and I only have this picture to show for it.

More of Less

It has been very rainy here in Germany, so I had to regroup my to-do list and am now working on some projects I had thought to do in the Fall and Winter.  Last November I started to organize my spice cabinet.  Notice the word November (wet and grey).  It is now July (also wet and grey).  OK, I am now moving on. I still have a five tickets for the outdoor pool.  Moving on. At the BBQ we had this weekend guests huddled around the grills. Really moving on. Now. 

First thing I did was buy more jars during my trip to IKEA.  I had originally thought to buy the DROPPAR jars, but when I saw the ones from the 365+ IHÄRDIG series it was container love at first sight.  After a little rethinking about which spices would go in what jars I got out my glass marker  and got to work. Labeling was a step that I skipped last go around and I came to find it is really hard to tell the difference between curcuma, curry and masala once they are in the jars.

 

Much better.

I got rid of the box the salt comes in and am now storing it in this canning jar.  The opening was the perfect size to use during cooking.   Then I just added an unnecessary label and I was happy.