Simplifying life... while still being OS?

The stand-out comment in this thread for me so far is from Hoglet, "...The house isn't spotless but it's a trade-off, it's good enough".

Allow yourself to be "good enough", "good enough" is fine, everything doesn't have to be perfect.

Those people you see appearing to live the perfect glossy magazine lifestyle, well sometimes it's just an image, and there's an awful lot of furious paddling going on under the water to maintain that image.

OurLass wrote: »

Bublin 1.
I enjoyed reading your post.Thank you:)

I'll second that.

Tallu, I used to rent one floor in a dilapidated mid-Victorian terrace. You did one tiny job and caused 7 other, bigger jobs, it was a blinking nightmare. The slightest move was liable to cause chaos. Lime plaster presents some interesting decor problems.........:p

I shrunk the curtains and remade them (I knew the curtain fabric and the liner would shrink at different rates, but no way was I going to have cotton/ polyester curtains which were dry clean only) so I shrunk them deliberately so they'd be machine-washable in future. Took a few hours to remake them, but it made me happy and really gives the room a lift.

I've never had the budget to buy new stuff, with the exception of the bed and some of the appliances, which I saved hard for. But I enjoy the challenge. It's pretty cool if someone admires your stuff and instead of saying I bought that from ........ you can say nonchalantly, What, that old thing? I made it myself.

I'm perched on a chair on a yak wool rug, which was a random gift from someone who'd brought it back from foriegn parts and didn't know what to do with it as it was too hairy to knit with. So I accepted, sat with it for a few minutes allow my mind to consider the possibities, then a LBM and I knew it had to be a rug.

Cut it up and hooked it, lovely rug of the price of the backing canvas. And a totally unique item, too.

Some great tips and ideas on here.

You can have matching furniture that doesn't break the bank. It just takes patience and time.

I have bought most of my furniture second hand and paid peanuts for it. I can buy a nice solid wood chest of drawers for £10 to £20 and then paint it and up cycle it.

My bedroom furniture is a mix but you would never know because each item is painted the same shade of cream. Two chest of drawers £30, a mirror £1 turns one of them into a dressing table, and a headboard was £5.

My dining table is oak, the welsh dresser is pine, the chairs beech but again all painted cream. I paid £25 for the dresser, saw a similar one in Laura Ashley who were asking £600. :eek: My table was given to me over 40 years ago and the set of 6 chairs were £10. If you count the paint say £100 or so for both rooms. I did buy my bed from new though.

They are all made of solid wood and will last a lifetime - far better than buying flimsy flatpack stuff which drop to bits.

The dining table and a set of drawers that I have in my spare bedroom were both gifted to me are older than I am and I'm 62.

I recently bought a large farmhouse style pine table for £10 and a coffee table for £15. The coffee table is made of mango wood so I won't paint that because the wood looks lovely as it is.

Fabrics, mismatched bedlinen and towels can all be dyed to match. A pack of Dylon costs around £4. Especially useful for towels that are looking a bit dingy but which are still perfectly serviceable. I once dyed my sofa covers which were yellow and starting to look a bit dingy. I dyed them a deep terracotta colour - 2 large sofas so it did take 6 packs of dye but still much cheaper than new covers.

Over the years I have built up a collection of white bedlinen - always bought in the sales;) I have one particular white duvet cover and pillow case set which cost me £8, which must be about 15 years old and it looks like new. I always buy pure cotton rather than polyester/cotton because they last longer and stay nicer than polyester/cotton mixes. None of that awful pilling or bobbling.

If you have pure cotton sheets and bedlinen they can be washed at 90 and I always add soda crystals to the wash. I find it's the polyester/cotton mixes which seem to go grey. You can ring the changes and add colour by adding cushions and throws. A simple cushion is a doddle to make. (I don't bother with zips - I just slip stitch the 4th seam after stuffing the cushion).

I draw the line at white towels though. My sister tried them and whilst they looked wonderful when they were new they soon looked pretty grim. I bought navy for DS1, black for DS2 and a lovely deep burgundy for me. Far more practical. :rotfl: We've had them for years now and they look fine.

You can decorate and furnish your home on a shoestring and still have everything matching and co-ordinated - it just takes time and a bit more effort.

Personally I do prefer what I call an eclectic mix rather than a strictly colour coded house. I think a house is more homely and has more character if it has a few quirky personal touches. I think they can look a bit bland and boring if everything is colour co-ordinated down to the last cushion and picture frame - just a personal choice of course.

You will get there.

A weekend spent de-woodchipping is enough to put anyone off for life - no wonder you feel fed up. Once you are done with that you can get down to the nice part - painting and decorating. The prepping is always the worst bit.

I too am working towards simple and minimalist - but again I think de-cluttering does take time. I did it thoroughly - or so I thought - about a year ago, but I'm currently going through everything again, ready to move house again.

I am being "ruthless" this time. :rotfl:

I'm loving it - I just love the space and the sense of freedom that having fewer possessions and less clutter brings.

Agree with the other posters - batch cooking is your friend. It's just as easy to cook extra and then freeze some for another day. Saves time and money and stops you blowing the budget on those days when you are too tired or don't have time to cook from scratch.