KonMari 2016 - The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

monnagran wrote: »

Talking of tarted-up junk, I passed a shop the other day that dealt in it I looked at various items with eye-watering price tags attached and imagined my grandmother sniffing at it and opining that it would be all right given a coat of paint and some decent handles.
Shabby Chic would have appalled her. She didn't do shabby.

I'm pretty disgusted at the watery emulsion being slathered over perfectly blameless pieces of brown furniture which are then offered here as shabby chic. They're letting just about anyone buy paintbrushes these days, have you noticed?!

Nope, done badly, it sure as hell ain't chic. I was at the dentist last month and browsing one of those posh decor mags and they had wallpaper printed to replicate battered brick walls, peeling mouldy plaster and other unsavoury-looking surfaces.

So's you can spend a fortune to have your living quarters look like a squat or a derelict factory. Only the over-privileged are likely to think that's a good look, hey?:rotfl:

Ahh, buttons. Two old biscuit tins of buttons were inherited from Nan's. I had a quick paw-thru and they were very boring ones, such as mostly off men's clothes. I suggested Mum let me freegle them and they were asked-for within minutes.

One day, part of mine and Kid Bruv's inheritance will be approx 15 kg of buttons, currently housed in a variety of tins and coffee cans (I have collated them all into a single crate in Mum's Bedroom Cupboard of Doom and they are sorted by colour).

I would like to winnow the hoard of ones which most definately won't be used but suspect strong resistance to the very idea plus, frankly, there are much bigger fish to fry. I shall reserve my energies for those.

My workweek has brought several more examples to light of the absolutely enormous hideous problems caused by going into one's later years encumbered by TOO MUCH.

Too much as in too big a home and garden. Homes big and small alike can be vastly encumbered by having too much stuff, stored too erratically, becoming insanitary, attracting rats and insects indoors......... I could (but won't) tell you things which would curl your hair and cause you to regurgitate your breakfasts.

To someone who is past the mid-point of her own life, and free-wheeling gently downhill (if one can freewheel gently whilst yelling along to heavy rock tracks ) it's a constant reminder of the importance of living an uncluttered life.

silvasava, I so agree about the salad drawers. My fridge has one large trough-like one. It's impractical, doesn't run smoothly, and the contents become jumbled. Unless one is storing just cylindrical things like leeks, veggies are apt to stick up above the plimsoll line and foul the glass shelf above it, too. I detest it with a passion.

I will look for some small baskets, ideally secondhand (don't like to encourage the creation of more plastics by buying new plastic items) so that things can be held together by type. I did get a plastic basket out of the undersink cupboard and re-deploy its contents, but I could do with a few more.

I'm planning on spending an hour or two at the junk shop after w*rk today. Who knows what I might get my paws into over there.........? If it's amusing, I'll be sure to share.

You might be able to get a new-to-you salad drawer off an otherwise defunct fridge from freegle or the tip. I've thought if mine ever died the death, I'd try that route.

That's going to be almost impossible to source as a used item. Shame.

The large filing box from my work office has gone! More space to move and less visual clutter, what's not to love?

I'm organising dd2's birthday party; she's inviting 5 friends from school. She was allowed 6 (because she turned 6), but only wanted 5. We made the invites ourselves, it'll be this Wednesday, straight after school. We'll hopefully be in the garden, have homebaked pancakes, play a few games, slay a piñata (I have a homemade one in the attic - it was the spare one I made last year for dd1's birthday party), and at 14.00 it's finished. Short and sweet.

I've put a few grown-from-seed courgette plants in the flower beds, I've put a few grown-from-bulb dahlia plants in same flower beds Kondoed lots of dandelions and ragwort, cut down the bits of grapevine that are entering neighbours' garden. They kindly let us use the metal fence in between our houses for grapevine support, and they have been told they can pick any grapes they fancy, but I'd like to not intrude too much on their garden and have the vine just on our side.

I have managed to empty two large cardboard boxes :j but have had to put some of the contents (labelled) into a perspex lidded box and have two small boxes for a dd to either take home or throw out if she comes round at the weekend.

Having to sit down in between sorting and emptying boxes as knees are stiff and I get easily tired. Hoping to sort out more boxes this afternoon.

Have stripped two double beds and a day bed and have the bedding in the wash so feel I have made a good start. Unfortunately it keeps raining heavily for a very short period at a time so I have to keep dashing outside. At this rate I might have to use the dri buddy or even the tumble drier rather than having damp washing hanging around.

Might have all three spare bedrooms used for Saturday night if family stay over.