February 2012
10 posts
March 2011
3 posts
Chair Search, Part 1: Craigslistin'
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Craigslist is like the wild west. Every time I venture into that virtual marketplace of random used goods, I feel like everyone there is whooping it up, riding wild-eyed galloping horses, kicking up dust with six-shooters drawn all around me. To coin a phrase, ” You just never know what you’re gonna get.” This is not to say...
Spring Spruce Up! Our Outdoor Play Space Makeover
Here’s what I imagine our neighbors have been thinking of us since we scored and (somewhat painfully) reconstructed our kids’ secondhand play equipment last summer:
“Wow. That’s an ugly playset you have there!”
“Why yes, yes it is. Thanks for noticing. We like to put our least attractive assets right in view of our neighbors whenever possible, so this works...
The Saga Continues...
Just because I’ve been a bad blogger does not mean, believe it or not, that nothing has been happening around here on the “simplifying and organizing” front. It’s been a mixed bag for the last month, but we do have some big news, so keep reading…
Just now, I returned from dropping an entire van load of things to the thrift including, (but not limited to):
a set of...
January 2011
23 posts
5 tags
Week Three Roundup
I never know what’s going to come up next in this process, but I’m enjoying the bends and turns that pursuing our values produces. This week I did things a little differently, dedicating my time to ferreting out the little things from closets and playrooms that just didn’t need to be here anymore. That gave me three bags of things to work with and another two large items that...
Knowing What You Need
“I would not give a fig for the simplicity this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity.”
— Oliver Wendell Holmes
Earlier in the week, at her request, Caia’s closet was cleared of about 60% of what was shoved in it. When it was all said and done, I was left with even more stuff to trash, donate, rehome or sell, (two...
2 tags
Week Two Roundup
This week has been quite unusual with all the snow and the subsequent schedule juggling, but I managed to get all my posts in despite the fact that both my six year old and my one year old were basically hanging on me like monkeys for days on end while we were trapped atop our frozen, beautiful hill. It’s been a challenge keeping them both entertained and although I did post all my items, I...
3 tags
Item 7, Week 2: Room Divider/Screen
I’m not sure why I’m so attached to this thing other than it’s been with me ever since my best girlfriend from college gave it to me. She was moving out of her quaint bungalow duplex in Athens and clearing out her stuff. That was 1996 or 1997. I’ve been lugging this thing around ever since, if you can believe that. I love her and I love it because of that, not to mention...
3 tags
Item 6, Week 2: Blue Lamp
It’s a bit older, but perfectly serviceable and it could, perhaps, go with the blue duvet set for an additional $10. Anyone interested?
3 tags
Item 5, Week 2: Duvet Set
I’d love to give this lovely contemporary duvet set to someone who might use it. I purchased it in late 2009/early 2010 after my mother-in-law gifted us with a lovely new warm down comforter for Christmas, but I’d never owned a European-style duvet set before and I discovered that I like a more tailored bed. I’m kind of picky about my bed linens and this just wasn’t quite...
3 tags
Item 4, Week 2: Mission Style Rocking Chair
This chair was given to me before the birth of my first child. It’s large and very comfortable, even accommodating large men easily. (Hear that, new dads?) When it saw use, I would rock in it with a pillow behind my back and occasionally a stool or footrest. Before I received it, I had visions of late night feeding and soothing and cuddling in a chair like it, but when the baby finally...
“Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving...”
– Lin Yutang
5 tags
The Studio Table in Viking Blue
I’ve mentioned we’re moving rooms around in the house, which is a lengthy process with two little kids and a very busy life, but it’s happening slowly and steadily and I’m happy with the progress. This week, in addition to being snowed in, finally taking down our Christmas decorations (we did four separate Christmas celebrations this year, the last of which happened just...
Item 3, Week 2: Wooden Doll Cradle
This item was purchased for my daughter and was intended to be a project we worked on together. She wanted to paint it blue, and to have me make some custom bedding - sheets, blankets, pillows - for her dolls. We decided that the nicer, newer doll bed she received from her aunt would be the one we kept instead of this one.
Let me know if you or one of your children/grandchildren would like this...
Item 2, Week 2: Large Wicker Basket
Here’s the second item of the week. I’ve gotten a couple of days behind with my posts, so I’m catching up today. We’ve been snowed in with school cancelled the last three days, so the usual rules of life have been a bit altered. Most of the things I’m posting this week will end up at the thrift unless someone claims them, so if you like one of them, let me know!...
“Be content with what you have, rejoice in the way things are. When you realize...”
– Lao Tzu
Item 1, Week 2: Baby Walker
It’s been a challenge to consider where each thing that we’re ready to divest ourselves of will go, but in doing so, I’ve discovered that I feel quite purposeful. This is a not a wholesale dump that we’re doing; it’s a thoughtful shedding of things that have less energy for us, but that may have a good use for someone else. That feels good. So this is more than a...
“Frugality is one of the most beautiful and joyful words in the English language,...”
– Elise Boulding
7 tags
Week One Roundup
This week was insanely productive. I got rid of my seven items and also got started on moving the studio to the new space and packing up the baby’s room until it’s time to move him into his new room. I also bought the supplies I’ll need to repaint my studio desk and to paint one wall in my new space as a blue (!) chalkboard wall.
The other project I’m working on is...
4 tags
Thrifty Fun: Items 6 & 7
Box #1:
Yesterday, I dropped off these two boxes to the American Family Thrift Store. Box one is full to the brim with little girl clothes and shoes and other items.
Box #2:
Box two was full (and already securely taped shut when I took the picture) with baby boy clothes, shoes, and various hats and bibs, crib sheets, blankets and other baby-related items.
The interesting part of this...
“Simplicity is a deceptively complex achievement of thought and design.”
– - inspired by Muji and RISD President John Maeda’s thoughts at Laws of Simplicity.
3 tags
Garden House Remix
We’re moving three rooms at once, which sounds like a lot of work, and it is, but hopefully it will all make sense once stuff stops flying around the house. The three rooms in question are 1. the bedroom being used as Christopher Thomas’ office, 2. the small room off our master being used as a nursery, and 3. the bonus room over the garage being used as my art studio. The office is...
4 tags
Giveaway | Athletic Wear
Item number 4 of 7 for the week was a bag of four pieces of athletic clothing - three technical shirts and a pair of pants - that I no longer wear but can’t quite drop at the thrift without a pang or two. I gave them instead to my doll of a running partner, who is not at all built like me, but will hopefully be able to use at least one or two of the pieces.
She and I discussed the...
4 tags
Kid Project | Lego House
Thought you might like to see the two day project that culminated in this adorable Lego house. This was Santa’s gift to Caia this year, but I’m pretty sure I could live in a house with this many windows. As a bonus, the roof of the house with the two large windows swings up and out to reveal the entire second floor. Swank.
6 tags
FREE: King Mattress Set | Item 3, Week 1: Jan....
1/2/11 UPDATE: This item has been claimed! Thanks for all the interest.
We were offered a brand spanking new pillow top mattress set about a month ago by dear, dear friends of ours who happened to have an extra set from a house they purchased fully furnished, so we jumped at the chance for a new bed, while simultaneously thanking them… profusely. Having it delivered right before the...
6 tags
Kid Project | Miniature Art Studio
It’s finally time for me to be posting here, as it’s New Year’s Day 2011. I’m so excited about this simplicity project that I wanted to share what we’ve been up to outside of cleaning and organizing and clearing things out; after all, this project is about more than just stuff; it’s about us living the lives we really want and creating space that supports who we...
December 2010
1 post
4 tags
FOR SALE: Kitchen Table & Chairs | Item 1/7, Week...
The first thing we’re getting rid of is our kitchen table and chairs. I’m counting it as one thing, not 5, since it’s a set. I’ve listed it on Craigslist here:
http://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/fuo/2137431967.html
We bought this table when we first moved into our new home (which is actually my OLD home - the one I grew up in, but that’s a story for another...