Living beautifully and sustainably
And a longish view of the same space.
So yes, my new office is actually in my bedroom. Which I chose because I can close the door, which minimizes noise and random walk-throughs (my son.)
And it doesn’t feel too weird, as most people who are still employed are working out of random spots of their home.
What are you all doing to create a home office?
The last three times I have refinished a piece of furniture, I vowed to myself that it was the last time. You all are my witnesses. This IS the last time. The above dresser has been in son Mike’s room (where ever that was) for the last 21 years. Before that, it belonged to his father. So I estimate it to be 1960’s vintage. The majority of the piece is yellow pine, a soft, inexpensive wood. The rest is melamine and a bit of plastic for the drawer slides. So it is not precious. I was hoping to send it to the charity shop, but son Mike stated that “he liked it.” And I found it hideous. So it was upon me to effect the change as Mike was content with the status quo.
So the proportions are okay, but I hate the pseudo-Early American handles and the shiny (and lets be real here,) dripped varnish.
I hauled all of this outside and sanded it with both a flat sander and by hand. I calculate it took about 18 hours. Plus I got a bad case of chiggers–don’t ask.
Where I could not sand out the old stain, it looked grey. So that was my choice for the new stain. I thought it would blend. I spent a longish time selecting the new stain at the stain aisle at the home improvement store, and selected a stain color that the samples showed as grey, and was named “Slate.”
Turns out that “Slate” is way more blue than grey. Not a color that I would have consciously chosen. But here we are and I do not absolutely hate it….as I did the previous finish.
Working clockwise, starting at the top: Blender, coffee maker, water kettle, skillet with lid, casserole with lid, 5 glass food storage containers (4 in photo-1 in fridge with food in it,) 4 mugs, 4 glasses, in one of the mugs are: [4 forks, 4 butter knives, 4 soup spoons, 3 serving spoons,] 6 plates, 5 bowls, saucepan w/ lid, 13 various cooking utensils, a measuring cup, 2 sauce dishes, stainless steel mixing bowl, colander, tower grater, fruit bowl, jelly roll pan, 3 dish clothes and the cutting board. #70 items.
Bathroom (#5 items)
No photos beyond what I have already posted. Items: shower liner, trash can, soap dispenser, (fake) plant, jade Buddha statute.
Common Spaces Furniture & Décor (#13 items)
The red chairs (2), rug, black mirror cabinet, mirror, plants (that have lived so far….) x3, jade toad, framed photo, crystal, table, lamp.
Oh, and I forgot the trash can in the kitchen that is semi-attached. so #89 common household items. What a curious game this is…..
Long-time readers know that I count my items each year around my birthday as a mindfulness tool. Many of you have told me that it is your favorite post of the year. Let’s get started.
Miscellaneous items not pictured: cell phone, car, umbrella, the bed. Total miscellaneous items #21.
Clothing (total clothing items #61)
Personal care items #7. Just for transparency, I stopped counting the consumables, but if you are wanting to keep track: I use a natural bar soap which also works as a shampoo and shaving lubricant, a hair conditioner, tooth paste, floss, foundation, eyebrow pencil and mascara.
I’ve started a new category called business which currently has 3 items: the file cabinet and a shredder and a bin for office supplies.
That is a total of 92 objects for myself alone. It does not include household and kitchen items shared with my son. I will do a post later in the summer listing those objects.
Since retirement from paid employment 2 years ago, my meditation practice has become more regular. And due to my yoga practice, my knees have become more flexible.
In the past, I meditated in a nice comfy chair. Lately, I have been assuming the more traditional posture of half lotus position. I thought about creating a more structured meditation space with a floating shelf with flowers and a candle on it.
But the minimalist in me loves for spaces to be mostly empty and flexible and (let’s be real here) easy to clean. So I have created this meditation corner out of objects that also serve at least one other purpose in my home.
I feel more peaceful already.
One of my pandemic routines (can I say that?) is to go for a weekly walk in Forest Park with son Patrick, who lives in the same town where I live. We talk about what has happened in the past week and we admire the flora and fauna and architecture of the park and wax philosophical about whatever moves us. It involves many of my favorite activities: walking, observing beauty, discussing human nature, laughing (Patrick is one of the funniest people I know.)
This last week, we had several occasions to discuss good/bad design, starting with the mustache mask. I made this mask for Patrick as soon as the CDC recommended that everyone wear them while out in public. He requested the cheeky mustache and I was happy to comply. But when he wore the mask and spoke, it would drift down his face until his nose was exposed and he would have to yank it back up. So, while it was charming, it was NOT functional, and he didn’t wear it. Therefore no one got to see how charming it was. Fortunately, a small adjustment of reworking the 2 pleats into 3, was all it took to make the mask both cute and functional.
As we were strolling around the park this past week, we had occasion to use one of it’s many restrooms. And we encountered this sink (for some reason I feel obligated to assure readers that I photographed the sink in the women’s restroom, and had merely verbal confirmation from Patrick that his sink was equally egregious.)
Which led Patrick to say that this design is so bad, that it would be better to have no sink in the bathroom. That is, one would encounter fewer public germs by using the restroom and leaving without washing one’s hands then by touching the wet sink that has been touched by hundreds of other persons between sanitation during a pandemic.
I went to art school a life time ago (I was still a teenager) and while there, was introduced to the argument between form vs. function. And it has always seemed to me that there are so many ways to design a thing that one should start with “Does it work?” and then move into “Is it esthetically pleasing?” A purely functional tool can be beautiful (think of an antique hammer) but something that doesn’t work and is pretty will be tossed as soon as the fashion of that object has passed.
This got Patrick and I to talking about good and bad design we have encountered. A few that we discussed: my mom has a blown-glass water/juice pitcher that cracked the first time that she put water and ice in it. She still finds it beautiful, and has it on display in a prominent place in her dining area. More than once, helpful guests have tried to fill it with water for a meal and she has to let them know it is purely decorative now.
I like this design for my dish soap bottle:
Although, I note, that it took me awhile to notice that it didn’t dribble. And Patrick states that this is one of the battles that good design fights–when it functions well, without irritating the user, it goes unnoticed.
And that brought up one more area of good design/bad design: websites. Patrick has a degree in computer science and engineering. I asked for him to give me examples of good and bad website design. He gave me the addresses of two websites (both are for items that I have no interest in purchasing.)
This one was fun and I enjoyed watching the actors depict the stories (which had little to do with the product.) The video was engaging and enjoyable as its own art form, that is, if the video was being posted in a park or movie theatre without the Pepsi logo, it would be just (maybe more) enjoyable.
Son Patrick is also involved in the design and marketing of board games and he gave me this website, which is the premiere website for learning about all things board game. He also gave me the following reflection. People play board games because they are fun. But to learn more about the board games that they love to play, they have to negotiate this:
And I immediately understood what he was trying to tell me. Upon entering this website, I thought “Ick!” Too much work!” “I’m going to get a computer virus here!” I made myself click around to various parts of the site, to learn a bit about it and check how it functioned. And at a bare bones level it does function. (And my fellow minimalists will be excited to learn that I read on one of the forums of a person offering for free unwanted games and pieces that he had decided to declutter after dealing with the collections of his recently deceased mother.)
But I took home Patrick’s message: if you work in an entertainment industry, then all places where you engage with the public should also be entertaining.
My personal evaluation of good design starts with: Does it work/function? And then is it esthetically pleasing? There is no solid reason that design can not do both.
Think of the function of a chair. It is to support a human (or pet, or decorative object) off the floor in a way that respects human anatomy and gravity. And then think of all the variety of expressions of that function. From floor cushions to Ming dynasty chairs to cardboard chairs to Louis XVI chairs to Eames chairs to Target/IKEA chairs…..
But in my mind, the function always comes first.
Beloved readers-I would love to hear your encounters with good and bad design.
To my American readers– Happy Mother’s Day! And virtually the rest of the post has nothing to do with Mother’s Day…
Earlier in the week, a property came on the market that is an excellent candidate for the Net-Zero-Energy-Use Home conversion project. It is in an ideal location. It is a good shape and size for my project. It is distressed, so has a low asking price. I made an appointment to tour the property. And while I was waiting, I read a news story that unemployment in the United States is nearing 15%. While I was touring the property, my real estate agent got a text from the listing agent that she had already received multiple offers for the property over the asking price and that if I was interested, to submit my best offer by midnight.
I thought about how I had counselled all of you, just last week-that this is not the time to make big changes. I thought about how the housing market may change drastically in the next 12-18 months due to the large amount of unemployment. I thought about how eager I am to get started with this project……and then I let the property go.
I’m a little sad about it, but overall think it is the best decision for now.
Then, I went for a walk in the park to cheer me up.
It is almost a proverb that Thou Shalt Not Make Big Decisions During a Big Loss (or grieving a big loss.) The Covid-19 virus has placed all of us in a “big loss.” So, this is the time for staying home and taking in information about this huge change and only making small changes, if at all possible.
So, my efforts are local and my posts are about small changes. Here goes:
And then into masks.
In the past, I have worked on these larger projects while beloved son, Mike, was out of town working at his dad’s farm. But he has secured a local job at a local grocery and is home every evening. (Yay!!!) So this is my workaround to letting him know what floor space I am working on and that is “foots off.”
And here are just a few random photos from my walks in Forest Park this past week.
Can you see the purple Iris on the bank on the right?
Must remind you all–this is in the middle of a big city (think of Central Park in NY.)
So my beloved readers- Stay safe. Take care of your immediate physical needs. Begin to think about what we all will want in the new world that is evoling. Do Not make big changes just yet.
And if you have lost a person or something else that is precious to you: Rest. And grieve. And rest. What ever that means for you. Rest. And Grieve. And Rest.
No big projects this week. But a few small joys to share!
From the vegan blog ConnoisseurVeg –on the blog, Alissa serves it with chips as a dipping sauce….but my friends, just think about all the things that you love that have cheese sauce…
I have made it with macaroni for my son. (Sorry, no photo, because it disappeared so fast!)
I have been going for a walk every day. Sometimes my walk is in Forest Park, which has so many lovely places. I’ve discovered some new trails. Some days I just walk to the post office to mail something. Some days I walk to one of the family-owned, local eateries in my neighborhood that I want to support during this challenging time.
And when I am sheltering at home, sometimes I am working on fabric masks for myself and friends. Here is an example of one for a friend…who is a redhead and requested a ginger mustache.
And I am working on a couple of projects that might not have bloggable results for some time. So it goes.
Beloved readers-please share how you are spending your shelter at home time.
My son’s bedroom has two closets and he uses only one of them. This closet has become the place where I store the “bed in a box” and painting supplies and just random stuff I had not yet found a home for.
The pool noodles and the lawn chairs (which we use for outdoor music concerts) may not get used this summer, but eventually we will be able to gather again. We will save them for that time.
The stuff that I will donate to Habitat for Humanity and a charity shop have to go back in the closet for now. But at least it is organized.
And here are a couple of bonus photos from our walk in the park this week.
Be well, beloved readers.
