Useful and Beautiful

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

- William Morris

This is probably a familiar quote.  I have a version of my own that I attempt to apply.

Have nothing in your house that is there because it was put there six months ago and never moved or that you do not know where it is (like what is in that box or drawer).

Intentional is the key word here. Choice. Did I choose to put [that] there or is [it] there by accident?

More wise words (bear with me, here). The best way to organize and clean an area - drawer, cupboard, shelf - is to completely clear it out. Empty. Nada. Then, clean it, and replace only what you use, love, appreciate, enjoy or think is beautiful enough to adorn your house.

So, I sit here at my desk, surrounded by piles, and That Voice says, "So, Miss Phoney Baloney. What do you know about cleaning things up and organizing? Look at this disaster! You call it productivity, creativity. I call it a mess. What a joke!"

And I have to admit, That Voice is correct. Insulting, intimidating, but correct.

Act Two: The Nester, for the month of June is going au naturel - sans accessories. Nada. She cleared off all her surfaces, plunked all the stuff in their guest room, and will go without for thirty days. With the one rule, if they are using it, it can be out, like candles, computers, a book you are reading, plants, things alive. Her boys were not relegated to the guest room for the thirty days. They all still live there, and whatever is involved in that busy family life is good. But not all the deco, pretty, cute stuff.

So, I sit here at my desk, surrounded by piles, and That Voice says, "Why don't you do this with your desk? Clear it off completely, except for what you really truly handle and use every single day, keep it bare and maintain it that way for thirty days?"

And I have to admit, That Voice is correct.

My desk is my personal disaster area. Much in need of a drastic diet. A fast is in order. A clutter fast. A time to be honest with myself. Instead of calling it creativity and productivity, call it what it is. A disaster, a mess. I have cleared up and organized much of our house, but my desk - sigh.

The Nester is doing a linky party, so others can share their progress, demise, fears, successes. Perhaps my desk is more about the amount of stuff on the surface. Way too much. The challenge to go without. To begin with the minimal basics, for the rest of June.

Life is not about stuff. What freedom to sit at my desk and not be afraid to knock over a pile when I reach for the coffee. I am thinking this will give me inspiration to focus on one project at a time. That it will give me more productivity and creativity.

For some of you, this may come naturally. Not me. This is a process. The Nester is taking on her whole house. Me, just my desk. This is my Everest.

Breathing room. I did leave my calendar, my computer and my devotional books.  And my coffee.

The pile that was on my desk - embarrassing.

I want what is on my desk to be useful and beautiful.

Traveling Lighter, not buried in stuff.

Switch it Around

We have lived in this house for eleven months, almost. A few months ago I felt like the kitchen arrangement just wasn't working. The kitchen isn't that big, but there were a lot of unnecessary steps. For several weeks, I thought about how I used the pots, the baking stuff, the pantry goods (we don't have an official pantry space here). How could I make it better, more efficient, more practical?

The end result? I turned the kitchen over on its head and switched around the contents of  the cupboards, drawers and cabinets. The silverware went into the drawer closest to the table, reversing spots with the measuring cups and spoons, moving them into the drawer on the island. The pots and pans went into the deep corner cabinet with the turny thingy. The pantry goods moved from the turny thing (I'm sure it has a better name), to under the island where the pots and pans had been and where my smart husband added metal wire shelves supported by blocks of wood on either side. Impermanent, flexible, made from pieces we had in the garage, cost, zero. And it doubled the storage space in that cabinet. The cereal drawer switched with the flour and baking supplies.

 The next few days I heard lots of, "Where did the coffee go?" "What did you do with the cereal?" We all settled into the new placings quickly, showing how much better organized it all was. Once in awhile we do still go to the island drawer for the silverware. Old habits die hard.

Every time I open the corner cabinet for a fry pan or a pot, I smile and think, yes, this is where these should be. When the cans and boxes of macaroni and jars of whatever were in there, something would fall off when I spun it around. This is much better.

What things in your life could benefit from switching them around? Maybe the stuff on a closet shelf would work better somewhere else. Or, even better, thinned out and headed out the door. In the months we have been here, I have enjoyed the results of all the thinning out we did when we moved. But the time has come to go through things again, eliminate, clear out, and enjoy more empty space. So much better to have space to breathe, space to grow. What could you switch around?

Easy Oven Cleaner

This formula is my go-to for keeping the oven presentable. Spills happen. Life is messy. But you already know that.

Easy Oven Cleaner
3/4 cup baking soda
1/4 cup salt
1/4 cup water
Mix to make a paste. Smear on the messy spots in the oven. Let sit a few hours, or best, overnight. Wipe clean.

I am attempting to switch away from all the heavy chemical laden cleaners. At one rental we had a double oven. The bottom oven looked like someone had melted half a gallon of chocolate marble ice cream in it. Shudder. I didn't even open the bottom oven for months. We were having a crowd over, though, and I needed both ovens. For that, I bought a spray can of "unscented, odorless" cleaner. It wasn't. But it did the nasty job. Cleaning someone else's mess is different than cleaning your own. Do you feel that way? Our own dirt and mess we can tolerate. Someone else's dirt, though, is - well - disgusting! Anyway, that oven cleaned up fine and was sparkly once all the ice cream - or whatever it was - was gone.

This formula is easy to mix with stuff you already have in the cupboards, easy to spread, and it is easy to go do something else for a few hours while it does its job in the oven, soaking up the goo on the bottom of the oven. If you need to spread it on the sides of the oven, thin it with a little bit more water.

Wipe clean - not perfect, but a clean oven makes me feel like a good housekeeper. And that is a good thing. Perhaps I should mention that this works best if done routinely, as spills happen. Not waiting months until the baked on mess has solidified enough to be carbon dated. But you already know that.

Oh, and I should mention, this formula is from Martha Stewart. Guess I should mention, too, that no reference to a certain product name is intended.

A Clean Pan

It happens. I burn the food in the pan. Probably because I was distracted doing something else. Even with soaking, this will take a lot of scrubbing. I would much rather do something else. Most anything else.

One of my projects, a gradual process, is to get rid of all the cleaning products that use harsh chemicals and switch to natural cleaning products, using baking soda, vinegar, hydrogen peroxide and borax. I haven't made the complete switch yet, but making progress.

Okay. The burned, black encrusted pan. I sprinkled baking soda, a generous layer. Then, I sprinkled drops of water, just enough to barely dampen the soda. And left it overnight. Time to go do something else: read aloud, write, go for a walk, play a game with the kids, read...

In the morning, the hard layer of black crust peeled right off the pan. I rinsed it out, swished it with dish soap and voila, clean and shiny, with hardly any labor.

Nice. I can go for that type of cleaning! Less work, simpler, with fewer cleaning supplies cluttering the shelves.





Another way to travel lighter.
And have shiny pots and pans.