Tag Archives: minimalism

The ongoing decluttering and minimalism.

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imageimageOur house is small. Very small, under 900 sq feet and laid out awful. It was built in 1949, with a crummy foundation, mostly no insulation etc. when we moved here 20 years ago, no one had lived here for 7 years. It was owned by the nephew of the old man who died. Truly I think now we were nuts. Piles and piles of junk, and more junk. Huge piles of pine needles probably from 20 years. The water pipes broke as soon as we turned on the water. God, what were we thinking. I had a one year old and a 10 year old. What ,was I nuts. ???

But we did it. We’ve come a long way and I’d say it’s a cute bungalow/ house. No real description.

Now, I’m totally into minimalism. And white paint. Not sure about the white paint but maybe as many other bloggers I read who decorate, white is easy to touch up and keeps things fresh. I like different shades. Navajo white is creamy, the kitchen is in Simply White, which I adore.

But, I feel there is too much furniture. I hate feeling crowded. Our front room is also our dining room and where the TV is. So what should I do.  The table needs to stay. I have a Heywood wakefield hutch for my pine cone ware. That stays.

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imageSo I’m thinking to get rid of one of the arts and crafts brown chairs.  But maybe I should do the Poang ( IKEA ) chair! Any ideas!?

Minimalist wardrobe

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I started wearing only certain colors and combinations a few years ago after reading about ‘uniform’ or minimalistic clothing. I liked the idea, it made things nice and simple.. I wear either a black or white or navy v neck t shirt, jeans, and a shirt over. I almost always wear a light shirt in white or black over my t shirt as i often have bruises on my arms from my myeloma.( easily bruising is a symptom). I have  2 pairs of black jeans and a few white capri for summer. I occasionally wear a dark plum sweater in the winter. Since I live in California ,our winters are generally mild and I have North Face polar tech i wear when needed.

I decided to go thru the few clothes I own and really only keep what looks good on me. I got rid of 3 stained black t-shirts and it’ll probably end up giving away 4  jeans. since I don’t have a lot of clothes , I’m going to check out getting one nice pair of jeans at lands end and 2 pima cotton t shirts. First,  i’ll check good will, but that can be hit or miss.

Minimalism in my choice of clothes really works for me. I know what colors or rather what black and  white and navy plus, when I can find it dark purple, works in my minimalistic wardrobe.

I’m also going to try and find a pair of shoes besides keens that i can wear in the fall and winter. it has to be something with great support as i have feet with issues.

I went to the dentist to have him check the splint. everything looks good and I’ll be just waiting for the Invisalign ,which will  take a few more weeks.

i enjoyed an ice tea out at Starbucks and used my mac air while there.

I’m making homemade pizza for my daughter and me tonight.

A simple life

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Since we’ve gone to a more minimalist lifestyle, I’d say our lives are simpler. We have less stuff to clean, less stuff around to take care of.

We’ve always been influenced by simplicity even from the time we were first married and Quakers. I think it’s a progression in life with kids houses etc, to get more stuff and accumulate things. We still live in a very small house, but there’s less stuff. Okay, the barn still has stuff, but not too much. 

I live a simple life. I never am overly busy and never over commit. I’m always a little taken back when people say how busy they are. It’s like, wait, you have a choice. I chose to have lots of time just for me, reading, walking, cooking.  I’d like our finances to be even more simple so I’m trying to pay more on our mortgage but most of the time we have just what we need to pay the bills with a little left over. It’d be nice if we didn’t have a mortgage but that’s not what it is. So, we try and live simply with what we have. We don’t have cable or cc bills. If I use a cc it is paid right away( almost) so there’s no interest and we get points. 

I think that’s the key with living a simple life, do what you can with what you have. Don’t add more stuff, debt or time constraints.

Some things that have helped me are:

getting up early@ 5am is nice

a regular daily walk

decluttering constantly

organizing what we do have so we know where things are and they’re labeled.

a daily housekeeping ,for example, I wipe the bathroom daily, the kitchen counters are kept clean and empty, process one load of laundry daily, use fly lady’s zones on the house. There’s probably other stuff but that’s the basics. 

Life is a journey and it’s all about learning how to live with who you are. 

Christmas shopping done!

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I went out and bought 1 more gift card yesterday, and I need one more, then I’m officially done. Actually I’ve been done with my shopping  by dec 1 for most things, but there’s always a few things that linger. So except for some groceries , it’s done.

im feeling very blocked with my minimalism attempts. I’ve gotten rid if tons of stuff, but somehow  I’d like to do even more. Not sure where to start. It’s really going another layer into it. It could be too with Christmas decorations up, things seem more busy…

I think next time I’m alone in the house, which is rare, I’ll walk around and see what areas bother me. I need clear surfaces, and things in there right place. I’ve looked at some e books on minimalism and none of them have really inspired me. Maybe I need a fresh approach. 

So, off to work today, first my walk in a few minutes. Today is day 202. I’m feeling pretty good. No aches or suspicious pain. I’m only half way thru my revlimid cycle. Then I’ll get my blood test the first week of January. I don’t think I’ll see a downward trend, but hopefully it’s not going up. 

Minimalism

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imageimageMinimalism , to me, is having what you need and no more or less. I think it’s defined  in clean spare lines.  No clutter and visually easy on the eyes.

It’s interesting that journey started really when we were first married. B and I were married in a Quaker meeting house. I wore my great grandmothers white dress.( not a wedding dress, but what was called a tea dress, very beautiful with handmade lace).

Quakers are known for there queries which are questions about life really. They speak to the heart of simplicity, generosity, living a conscious life, and non violence. We stayed Quakers for many years. Then after our move from Tucson to Northern California we were about an hours drive from the nearest meeting and lost contact. At the same time zen buddhism started to be very important, and we loved all things Japanese. The shojis, tatami mats, and the no clutter. We meditated, lived very simply.

Later, we built a house, and bought some stuff, not a lot but some. We still slept in a futon on the floor and kept things pretty minimal. Later, we sold that house and moved where we live now. A very small house. Somehow we keep adding too much stuff and I started collecting all things vintage, dishes( my passion), table cloths, toys, on and on. We also had 2 children so there was all that stuff. Then in 2005 I was diagnosed with a blood cancer, and I really couldn’t do much for that first year of treatment. Then after my stem cell transplant when I started to feel better, I discovered fly lady. Her program helped me to with just 15 minutes at a time start to declutter. Then somewhere I just started feeling I needed to get rid of all the things, button collections, extra furniture  on so on. I wanted a minimalist look. In our small house I wanted it to be clear of visual clutter.

I have made great progress. I would like to take it one step further and get rid of a few more things and try to redo our pantry setup, which is covered with a vintage barkcloth. Cute but I’d like a closed cabinet.

we aren’t mortgage free and doubt we’ll ever be , but I try and pay extra when I can. We have ,for the first time an emergency fund and that’s a nice feeling. We are heading toward retirement but its still a ways off. I would love to have the minimal bills as well. I think that speaks to taking minimalism straight into the financial realm. But for us, that’s not now.

But the journey towards this minimalism has been fulfilling and I am thrilled with the results.

Rain, rain, rain!

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I’m going to pack up the Franciscan ware dish set I and put in a cabinet I have. This set is desert  rose. It was service for eight and I have given half away. Mostly they had chips and were mostly seconds. So I’m putting them in a box. If I don’t use them in 6 months for a special occasion, I will give to a friend.

I’m looking into buying shelving called Elfa. I want to seriously change our pantry from our front walk in porch to the kitchen. This shelving looks simple and seems easy to install. Not sure overall how expensive it is.

Today in the rain, I’m going out to the barn and go thru some kids artwork and get it down to 1 bin. I have all their special Waldorf toys in 1 bin. Baby blankets in another. So I am definitely getting it down to a nice small amount. Since I started this minimalism journey, I have really pared everything down. It feels so great.

Should hear from the nurse today or tomorrow on my M protein……….. Worry……..

So have any of you used the Elfa system?

Sunday night chit chat

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  • Reading? The new Jack Reacher”A Wanted Man” , very good.
  • Listening to? We were listening to the wind.
  • Watching?later, Castle.
  • Cooking/Baking? Made the stuffed shells ,from the freezer cookbook, a big salad with blue cheese dressing.
  • Happy you accomplished this week?alot with my new freezer cookbook.
  • Looking forward to next week? I have next Saturday off, so I’ll go to the farmers market!
  • Thankful for today? My 2 great kids, my cancer is stable, and my husband.
  • *Bonus Question* Do you like your name? Would you change it if you could?
  • I’ve always liked Anne or Annie.