Organization, Baby Steps

Our kitchen cabinets are the original to the house, steel mid-Century GE space age things. We have a dream of having the painted at a car place, but not the funds, so they're rusty and imperfect and perfectly suited for the aesthetic of the rest of our home.

Anyway, a few days ago I was unloading the dishwasher for the bazillionth time (really probably the 3rd time that day...how?! why?!) and decided we needed a better system for the utensils.

As with 90% of the population I vowed not to be more frugal this year, so naturally Charlie needed to make a a custom sorter for the drawer, right? The old and icky contact paper needed to go, too, so I thought a nice piece of fabric doubled over would be a better alternative (after all, it could be washed when the time comes). I measured the drawer, marked the size on the fabric and quickly serged the edges together to make it into a large mat.

Not too shabby for a quick project that didn't cost an extra dime to make, huh?

Green 'n clean carpet follow-up

I meant to spend some time with a few rugs this past weekend, testing out the Earth Friendly Products Carpet Shampoo. Between Fox officially crawling (and trying to crawl up the stairs) and prepping for a 30 day detox I didn't get to all of the rugs, but I did try out the goods.

The EFP shampoo is more concentrated than the Bissell (uses 1.5 oz to Bissell's recommended 2.5 oz). It also uses essential oils for fragrance rather than artificial fragrance, which meant I didn't end up with a migraine post-use. In fact, the EFP fragrance was pretty much undetectable after the rug dried, the Bissell lingered for the next 24 hours or so.

Did it clean as well? Absolutely. I cleaned this small rug from C's and my bedroom, one that sees the most traffic in that room. Though it's relatively new, it needed some attention. For several weeks M had a nighttime cough that I approached with Hyland's Cough Syrup (disappointingly, I realized it has Sodium Benzoate, so out it goes) and raw, local honey. There were spots of gunk across the carpet thanks to the combination of those 2 sticky substances plus nighttime doses.

A quick steam and the dirty water that cycled back into the tank was a murky medium brown. I still had some clean water and shampoo in the tank, so I used it up on an area of the main rug in the den...that very same rug we'd cleaned 2 weeks ago. The 3'x5' area of that rug cycled black water back into the tank. Total yuck to the nth degree.

The visible results: The sticky mess from the bedroom rug is gone. A few of the stains on the larger carpet are significantly less visible than they were after the Bissell round. 

The short of it: I'm glad I researched and decided to try this particular carpet cleaner! While I'm pretty sure nothing can return our carpet to it's new glory, I can definitely breathe easier having little hands and feet playing on it all the time.

The 10 Minute Tiny Pond Project

Having a water feature can bring lots of new creatures to a garden. This isn't really a pond, but a planter I found on end of season clearance at Target. I added a solar aerator, goldfish and plants from the backyard pond, and voila! A new point of interest in the yard for Mabel (the goldfish have a magnetic quality). I'm also hoping it will be a point of interest for nature's own mosquito control, dragonflies and damselflies.

The Play Room

After reading Simplicity Parenting (a few thoughts on it here) I went through M's play room (she calls it her downstairs living room) and purged about half her toys. It still looked cluttered, but I reorganized the layout and found a place for everything.  I've tried to teach her how to clean up her toys but those who know me know I have no business teaching anyone anything about cleaning.

Simply getting everything in its place took so long we both ended up frustrated and irritable. Throughout the process M would find a toy she hadn't played with in a while and understandably want to play with it. The first few times I gently asked her to get back on task, then I finally resorted to the ol' standby threat, "Mabel, if you can't take care of your toys we're going to give them to someone who can." I had a box in my hand to really drive the point home.

With that motivation she picked everything up, threw it all in the box threat and asked me who would get the toys and where we were going to take them. She didn't see it as a threat so much as an opportunity to share. Lesson learned.

Since then we've been tidying a little bit every day but the room generally looks like the toy monster vomited a rainbow of plastic all over the floor.

Yesterday I gave it a thorough once-over...it took a solid 8 hours.  Since it's clean, I took a few quick camera phone pics. I'm not one to miss the rare opportunity to brag about a clean room.

My system? I applied what I know about how Mabel plays:

• she's more likely to play with her toys when she can see them; 
• she won't dig through a giant toy box to get out one toy, she likes to peruse the buffet before deciding what looks fun;
• she simply won't make a choice (i.e. she'll ask to watch TV) if given too many options;
• she's much more imaginative if she has a place to park her rump and/or move around without obstacles; 
• given a task she can do herself (e.g. hanging a jacket, putting away shoes) she rises to the challenge; it's a simple way to build her self-confidence and she loves knowing she can do something "by mine own self".

Going through the room, I made a small pile of toys to get rid of. Then I whittled the selection of books, puzzles, and art supplies to about half. Those went into a closet to use as back stock. I bought a few more baskets to organize the cubbies.  I like the clean look of those bins made fit these kinds of shelves and hide the clutter, but picked low-walled baskets so M can easily see what's inside. in loose themes like "things with wheels". At some point in the near future I'll add pictogram labels to each. I  moved a table in from another room, making a corner for crafting. Above the table are some cute little clips for an easily changeable display of her artwork. Just inside the doorway to the room are lots of hooks at her height for hats, necklaces and jackets. Below the hooks to the left is a sizable basket for shoes and slippers. Below the hooks to the right is a picnic basket sturdy enough she can stand on it and play with her nature shelf.

What's nature shelf? They're common to both Montessori and Waldorf philosophies. Generally it's an area dedicated to all the fascinating finds from the great outdoors. I took a wooden box some flash cards came in and made one (errr...asked Charlie to make one) for M. She loves collecting natural objects, examining them, and showing them off when other kids come over. This little area provides the perfect spot for that.

It's back to being a play room meant for play. At least for now.

The $3 (plus the odd scrap or two of building materials) trellis

My oldest brother, Todd, has the gardening itch this year (actually it might be garden pox judging by his scratching) and is converting his front yard to a small farm. I promise to get more pictures of his projects, but first wanted to show off his $3 (plus some bits of building materials he had lying around) trellis.

The basics? taking a 2 x 4 and using a table saw to cut it down into lattice strips, while leaving about 6 - 12 inches at the base uncut. Cut some scrap wood  to create 2 spreaders to fan the boards apart. Todd used screws with scrap pex pipe (cut to about 1-inch lengths) instead of spacers to attach the trellis with wall anchors into the brick facade of his house, but any sort of strong, rigid pipe-like material would work.

We're moving our hops to a sunnier location this year, and a couple of these trellises will help 'em reach for the sky.

Are you planning a garden this year?  Check out this great post that spells it out for the beginner gardener.

Practicing Clutter Bug Restraint

Remember this drawing? I turned it into a repeat pattern and sent it off to Spoonflower to have fabric printed. I had an idea that if it turned out OK I'd use it in the laundry room as a curtain. I picked the cotton voile and ordered 2 yards. It's sheer enough to diffuse bright light, while opaque enough to maintain a good amount of privacy.

There are still a few touch ups left to make the laundry room finished, but I'm so happy with it. I've done my best to keep the clutter to a minimum, which is not a strong point for me. This particular nook of the house gets a good amount of sun, making it a favorite napping spot for 2 little kitties, but it also heats up pretty quickly in the summer. The sheers will diffuse that heat while allowing the natural light in. Plus I think the oranges in the curtains tie the weird orange rug into the room design; it might just stay after all!

The sewing table is covered in a tan cow hide, leftovers from a reupholster project. The brown laminate top was just too industrial for the space. Leather, fortunately grips to the table so the sewing machines don't dance around while in use.


That blank wall is tempting me to hang some art, but I'm holding out, waiting on some extra funds to properly frame a photo by Abby Powell. Since we usually take on an anything goes attitude with decorating, I feel like this is the closest room I'll ever have to a Mossy Shed.

There you have it: the quietest, sunniest room in the house. Inspiring space for folding laundry or blah-blah-yawnsville?

A weekend of progress

This is how we started off on Saturday. Pulling down the old ceiling which was water damaged from a roof leak and a couple of tiles were actually falling down.

Inspired by Abbey's ability to get stuff done, I set a goal to finish the room this weekend. So what if it was totally unrealistic? By 7 PM Saturday the room looked like this. (We're waiting to see how much/if the bead board will settle before trying to pull it flat around the edges.)

Then on Sunday morning I woke up at 6:30 while the other 2 2-leggers in the house slept for.another.2.hours. and touched up the paint, moved the orange rug back in and did a little bit of laundry purging.

When we demoed the closets to make the laundry area we saved the wood from the shelving. My granddad built the shelving from construction scraps and old army crate wood. I liked the idea of reintegrating them into the house somehow--you know, keep his industrious spirit a part of the place. The legs to this low table came from some of those shelves. I asked Charlie to make me a 56" long x 22" wide shelf in different types of wood so we wouldn't feel obligated to make it all matchy matchy.I like how it's rustic. Add a few houseplants on it and then we're really talking!


So maybe it's not totally finished, but it's so much better than this, right?

Still to do: Add ornamental trim around the door area to the washer/dryer to keep the look of woodwork uniform with the rest of the house;
hang bi-fold doors to hide the washer/dryer area;
paint trim white;
add sewing table top;
replace blinds with something (anything!) more attractive;
change the rug - I don't want to keep the orange rug, but since we already have it (no more money to spend on this project), for now it stays.

Laundry List

This is going to sound whiny and privileged, so bear with me and know there are also regular life things going on, so the following "issue" isn't really an issue, just an ongoing search for a clutterbug's organizing solution.

Our laundry room is in an upstairs alcove, which means it's visible as a space you walk past anytime you're upstairs. It's a 10 x 10' sunny, warm, welcoming spot when clean, but a stressful eyesore the rest of the time. Let's face it, stressful messy rooms don't get used, and I need to use the laundry room or they'll start complaining at work. 

In my eternal quest for a vacation-land home, I'm stuck. We have a few items (pictured above: free desk rescued from the dumpster by the Mr., similar dresser to the one shown via Craigslist, 3 sorting baskets from Ballard Designs) and I want to keep it as simple as possible.

Any great ideas come to mind for helping me make our ugly space pretty? I'm ready to start outsourcing laundry...hey, that's not such a bad idea. 

A brief intro to our indoor composting station

In case you haven't noticed, we take our compost pretty seriously. There's a worm bin in the kitchen, and passive piles (sometimes hot...but to be honest I haven't had much time to keep turning them so they're passive for now) in the yard. The chickens do a lot of compost work by eating veggie scraps, but we don't give them spent coffee grounds, onions, garlic and a few other things; our worms get those.

The worm bin, though was too awkward for our new kitchen arrangement. In order to get into some of the cabinets the bin had to be moved, and worms don't particularly care to be bothered with that. They like to have little by way of change, so I'd been considering a vertical worm bin for some time. We'd kept them going for 3 years in the storage tote bin, I finally decided it was time to move them to something a little fancier: a Worm Factory. Lucky for me, I know a guy.

I got in touch with my friend (and fellow Master Composter) Stefan and ordered the Worm Factory and a bokashi bucket. {Because if you're going to have worms in your kitchen you might as well have fermenting waste as well, right?}

Bokawha? Bokashi is an anaerobic form of composting. You're basically fermenting the food scraps. I thought we should add that to our composting repertoire because you can add bones and dairy to the bokashi bin.

Adding meat to my diet way back when created a new challenge for our household food waste. Before, when there was meat in our house, it was only Charlie's meals and I wasn't a fan of touching/preparing the stuff, so everything was of the heat-and-serve variety that no longer resembled the formerly living creature it once was. No skin, no bones, no fat to cut off.

Now, though, the meat comes straight from the farmer; it looks like meat, there are bones, there is skin, there is fat. Usually trimmed fat and skin go to the furry kids, but bones pose a risk so they are sometimes used for broth preparation, but ultimately go to the landfill.

After little rearranging in the kitchen, the worms are in their new home and the bokashi has started a-brewing. I'll keep you filled in as things progress, but for now I love the fact that I can open the cabinets without shifting everything around. A bonus for the new set up? The two new bins take up less space than the old worm bin alone!

Oh, this new old thing?

I spent a little time over the holiday break working on home projects that weren't on the agenda. This particular one started by cleaning out a closet, finding a piece of upholstery that was about 7 yards long and wondering what I'd  bought it for. I couldn't and still can't remember. Surely it was a great price, though? As far as the fabric goes, I think it's a polyester faux brown pony hide sort of texture, but it's soft and almost velvety. Very very comfy.

Like all good procrastinators tend to do with all the more important things needing to be done in mind, I set out to make a slip cover for our hand-me-down sofa. If you couldn't tell which is the better version of the sofa, it's the velvety brown version on the left. I promise the slip cover is an improvement from the worn fabric of its bygone days, despite my lack of photography skills. I didn't have enough fabric to do the pillows, so I'm still deciding what to do about them. Even before the new look we'd just keep them in a pile somewhere in the corner of the room and use bed pillows for a little extra comfort.

I'll save reupholstering those for the next bout of major house projects...you know, for when I need another excuse not to do something.

We've been enjoying the new old sofa quite a bit  since winter weather has moved in. Lots of TV time and family snuggling, plus it's nice to have a cover that can be tossed into the washer when a certain little someone decides to try out a glue stick on the furniture! Best of all? It didn't cost a new old dime!

playful and pretty

In case you don't check into [tend] every day like I do, you might've missed my guest post! It truly was an honor to be invited to write a post, so I do hope you'll check it out. Those gals are so thoughtful!

If you entered to win a poster over at Mine Creations, don't forget to check back soon. Julia will announce the winner in the next couple days.

This weekend we'll be out in the field {literally} finishing up a project that's been in the works about a year!

We're also chipping away at making a big girl room for M. She never cared for her nursery, preferring co-sleeping to a crib and playing in the same room we are in, so the nurdio is back to full-on studio and the middle bedroom will be her room. We've ordered Safe Paint Milk Paint and it's on the way, and Monday we'll start painting the walls a light salmon color (90% white, 10% salmon).



We have a used (vintage?) ceiling fan similar to the one pictured. While looking for a picture of a close match to share I found forums and sites of people desperate for vintage ceiling fans. Apparently, if you've got one you're getting rid of, there's a market people--don't just give away potential beaucoup bucks.

The plan is to make her room have the fragile, fleeting, magical softness of an Abby Trys Again photograph with the playfulness and durability of an active child's room. It takes restraint and that's not my strong point.

Wish us luck and we hope you have a phenomenal weekend. What are you getting into?

Plans for no plans?

Who turned this Friday into a Monday??  We started the day trying to wrap our brains around how we could both get to work with a flat tire on one car.

So on a cheerier note, I'd like to ease into the weekend with some favorites around the internet:
Grosgrain Fabulous and Free Pattern Month! (And check out the Grosgrain Sewing flickr pool). Fair warning, read Grosgrain Fabulous and you'll end up clicking on a billion links and not look up from your computer screen for a couple hours. Plus your head will be ready to explode from all the inspiration.

Then there's a little something Charlie has planned for the weekend. It means the earth oven and new pond plans will be postponed a bit, but I don't mind. Nope, not at all.

Oh, and if I look melancholy in this picture, it's because Miss M just barely fits under my chin anymore, otherwise I'm blissing out on cuddle time. I plan on doing a lot of that this weekend.

Do you have plans for the weekend? How 'bout plans for no plans? 

All these "simplify" posts made me think I'd better show why I feel like we need to pare down. I'm thinking a little self-imposed homework/look book/workbook is sorely needed. You know, a little something like The Marion House Book did.

We (half-) jokingly call our style "Trash Americana". I think I first heard the phrase at a Wilco show, but maybe Mr. Tweedy described the band as Trash Electro-Americana? Whatever, living in a Wilco world isn't really my cup of whiskey; especially not since that last album. The style is also evidence as to why I think this Abe Lincoln needlepoint is A.W.E.S.O.M.E. (found on shopgoodwill.com)

I'm on a fairly strict self-imposed spending freeze, though, so I didn't bid on it. Someone else will have to give ol' honest Abe a good home.

A little bit about our stuff: Painting of creepy monkey face by Charlie--I love it so much I had it framed. The space between the painting and the boat are an in-process spot. I've got all sorts of little bits and pieces of art to put up, but I'm not sure what I want to put there. Big boat and display cabinet were both free--the boat from one of Charlie's freelance gigs, the display case from an architectural model we were getting rid of here at work.

Nautical float also a freebie that came home with C. Doily Skulls/assemblage art by C's friend Robert Childers. The wooden school-type clock was a new purchase--a gift for C for Christmas. Ship copper wire string art from Goodwill. The yellow fiberglass kids chair was from an attic sale. Vintage coffee table from eBay. I don't care for this grouping, but since it's behind the sofa I don't see it much and it's just going to stay there.

Plycraft Chair was a Craigslist purchase. The guy swore he took a Herman Miller tag off it, but it didn't take too much research to find out it's not an Eames chair. We're halfway through reupholstering it in tan leather.  The sofa was also a Craigslist find (though not a cheap score by any means) and was recently reupholstered in Alexander Girard for Herman Miller fabric. The best we can guess is that the frame and design are by Knoll.

Change and Progress: Gaining Plenty

Before I ended up holed up inside for 3 days, I made a little chart for documenting resolution progress. You can click on the worksheet you want to use, or find links to them on the downloads page.

We {actually, C} worked on the chair a little more. I found out I was approved for my permaculture design certificate {Can I get a woot woot? What, you're not still stuck in the nineties like I am?} and getting all geared up for the Gardening Like a Forest workshop with Dave Jacke.

What else is goin on? 
Abbey is having a Valentine's giveaway.
Poppytalk kicks off Winter Colours Week with RED!
I'm enjoying Mothering magazine via Progressive Pioneer, and {thanks to her recommendations} have a long list of books to check out from the library.

How was your weekend? Whatcha got on your radar for the week?

a lazy weekend

Top o' the Monday to ya!

We had big plans to put new flooring down in the kitchen, but the tiles didn't come in, so that's going to have to wait for another weekend. {Gotta love a good excuse to procrastinate!} We're going with Armstrong's Gentian Blue and (a name I can't remember) white checkerboard, and once that's finished we're going to replace the counter tops with butcher block.

We've got old white painted steel and glass cabinets, which are space age awesome, but some of the glass has broken over time and is near impossible to match. Instead we're thinking of using an oiled luan that will match the counters, with an over sized circle cut out to open and shut them. I see it in my mind as clean and modern, but I also wonder if it could come out looking really trailer trashy bad.

Speaking of trashy bad---well, not trashy, but bad. And hilarious.

Instead of all that fancy housework, we got Mabel back on schedule with her sleep, a task far greater and far more rewarding than new floors. For real.

How 'bout you? What did the weekend hold in store?

A few blogs I sopped up like gravy on a biscuit this past weekend:
are so happy * janae hardy * kristina sostarko * veja cecilia

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