KonMari 2018 - The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

Wednesday2000

daisy_1571 wrote: »

Just been catching up with the last few pages and spotted the above, Ive been watching a programme called Tiny House, Big Living recently. Its about people making tiny houses for themselves to live in. They start with the idea that they are narrow and small enough to tow although not all of them end up being moved around, so can have decks or other outside space attached but generally they are between 150 to 250 square feet so you would fit in nicely GQ.

Although some of them annoy me intensely with how stupidly difficult they make their lives (ie the bed sliding partly away under something with a third poking out for the settee - seriously ? Try sitting on that for a few nights and see how comfy it is and how great it is to have to store your pillows and bedclothes somewhere every morning then tell me its better than a proper settee rant over !!) there can be good ideas about how to make things interchangeable and adaptable. I'm sure a search on t'internet would bring up some of the progs if you cant find it on your available tv channels if anyone wants to check it out.

I look at that type of thing on YouTube. I saw one woman who had a guest bed in her living room in her tiny house but she had it made to fit her height exactly and she looked really short. She had better only have people her exact size staying there!:rotfl:

If anyone else is interested in that type of thing, I look at A Streamin Life which is a couple who retired at 33 and 35 and they live in their airstream van in the US.

Another good one is Andrew Ditton as he is a full time caravanner (is that the right word?) from the UK and he has such a cute dog called Dougal.:A

Karmacat

daisy_1571 wrote: »

Just been catching up with the last few pages and spotted the above, Ive been watching a programme called Tiny House, Big Living recently. Its about people making tiny houses for themselves to live in. They start with the idea that they are narrow and small enough to tow although not all of them end up being moved around, so can have decks or other outside space attached but generally they are between 150 to 250 square feet so you would fit in nicely GQ.

Although some of them annoy me intensely with how stupidly difficult they make their lives (ie the bed sliding partly away under something with a third poking out for the settee - seriously ?

:rotfl: I've seen a few of those, Daisy, as I like the programmes either side - Barnwood Builders, and Salvage Dawgs (this is Freeview Channel 42, btw ) but yes, I don't watch Tiny House because the clients are mostly so irritating :rotfl:

An interesting clip came up very recently - one young family was building one in Alaska, and they had no bathroom in it - the woman actually said, I know people think it's weird, but Alaska gets to 50 degrees below, so no one uses water pipes, we all have outhouses (she was an Alaskan born and bred) so fair enough. I wouldn't like it though! I think it was a summer only place - I really hope so :rotfl:

Wednesday2000

I was telling my husband how much clothing I had collected so he went through his wardrobe too and we have 2 bin bags full of clothes for recycling.:T

greent

2 large bags full of various items dropped off at CS today Half an hour's sorting/ tidying in DS3's room resulted in a few small bits for rubbish/ recycling and part of one thing which he discarded the other day (will go in the selling pile when all bits have been found)

Bin day tomorrow - recycling boxes all overflowing and bin (2 weeks worth) is less than 1/4 full - not bad for a family of 6 over Easter hols

Bids on 3 things on flebay - so should hopefully have some items (and lots of packaging - they're breakables!) leave here by early next week

GreyQueen

:T Sing it out, Daisy, sing it out.

Long before the interwebulator was a thing, I used to borrow library books on living in small spaces and end up wanting to throw them across the room, in frustration. I'd never abuse a book like that, my own or the library's, but the whole thing was so false.

I mean, c'mon, a lot of these so-called tiny spaces were actually bigger than my current rooms (and I lived in a bedsit for 3 years at one point). Plus, and I paraphrase from memory congealed from a variety of these design tomes:

And then we got our friend Tarquin the cabinet maker to run up the bespoke cabinets which exactly fit into the space so that we can file our red setter vertically and sleep hanging from vintage coat hooks in the atrium. It's so freeing to be clutter-free, don't you think?

:mad: Yeah, you can have built-to-fit cabinetry and furniture if you have either a chytee-tonne of money or pals willing to work at cost-of-materials in return for a photocredit in your design book. Or are a superb carpenter yourself, with time on your hands.

Meanwhile, back in the real world, most of us who live in small places do so because we cannot afford bigger spaces. Tarquin ain't returning my calls and my furniture was carefully selected from the Sally Ann/ Sense/ Barnardo's/ family cast-offs/ the communal bin area. It more or less fits where it touches, and it all has to touch each other.

Also, on reading some tiny house blogs, it transpires that they're parked up in the 'yard' of family or friends and are using their washer-drier and bathroom and/ or have a storage building or rented storage unit where the bulk of their Stuff actually lives. I'd consider that to be cheating (although I do allow the library service to purchase 'my' books, store them, dust them and array them neatly on shelves for my persusal six days a week, excluding public holidays).

And breathe. I am now going to move some stuff so I can move the clothes airer so I can get into my tiny house kitchen where it leads of my tiny house sitting-room where I am also keeping my (non) tiny pushbike for fear that it'll be stolen like its predecessor.

On the plus side, I shall never have to be showroom-ready when the magazine photographers pop over; keep the door locked, you know it makes sense.

maryb

I remember being very jealous GQ when you mentioned once that your library was open on Sundays. Have they cut back on that now?

Our library service has been outsourced to a not for profit outfit. Early days so can't tell yet what impact it will have.

I used to work in the City and City of London libraries are the BEST!! there's obviously plenty of money sloshing around, they had lots of new stock and loan charges were much lower than my suburban library - and any non fiction DVDs were free to borrow

luxor4t

Wednesday2000 wrote: »

I am going to give my clothes to a recycling place rather than a charity shop.......

I have done this since the nearest CS turned away donations. Shortly after they put up a notice asking that people didn't donate clothing as they were fully stocked. Prices didn't go down to clear the backlog though.....

[Deleted User]

my hospice shop gladly accepts clothing, I am glad to say but paperbacks are in short supply. I guess that they sell them off in bulk to some re-seller. I wanted a couple for light reading but came out with nothing

MK is in serious mode wrt food and food stocks and I wanted to add some nice things to my freezer. OO flour is all used up, every last bit, made blackcurrant pies with it, thin pastry, used up a lot of blackcurrants, all from last year from the allotment. Still enough left until the new crop and there will be fewer and bigger as I have taken out more branches than normal, Two full bags of dates, 1 lb, to make a date and oat slice, also a 1lb of jumbo oats, still have two bags left but I shall have to have porridge for weeks to come

I have just about learnt to order when I need stuff and to get a small enough amount, did this with coffee beans today. I found some nice organic coffee on amazon. I am trying to let the sellers be my storecupboard

GreyQueen

maryb wrote: »

I remember being very jealous GQ when you mentioned once that your library was open on Sundays. Have they cut back on that now?

A very small fraction of the central library opens on a Sunday, just the bit where the most popular fiction paperbacks live. Most of the ones which interest me are in the not-open-on-Sundays bits, but I sometimes pop in to return books on a Sunday. I didn't mention it because it doesn't seem properly open (IYKWIM).

Have been to the horsepickle to have my hip X-rayed and will get the results at some point this month. I was hanging on the phone 28 minutes to get answered to have a one-minute chat to book that appt. Ye gods and little fishes, in that time I drank a pot of tea, ate several biscuits and read a chapter of my library book - speakerphones are such a blessing...... :rotfl:

I have decluttered a birthday gift and card from the stash today and declined an invite to go with one pal to vist another pal this coming weekend. I have known the second person a long time (25 + years) but it's one of those friendships which has become more force of habit than anything else. I figure, it's been nearly 2 years since that person has contacted me by any means (and it still isn't a direct invite) and I don't want to drop everything on a Sunday to go over their place, which is out of town.

Call me shellfish if yer like, but I'm becoming a bit more protective of my time and energy these days.

PollyWollyDoodle

Completely agree with you GQ. I've noticed over the last few years how it's become very one-way with some friends - always happy to see you if you suggest something, but they never make the effort in return.

I'm lucky enough to have some very good friends who I know would be there for me if I needed anything, and whom I see often. I have some other friends who I see less often - mainly due to distance - but it never feels as if it's been months since we met, we just pick up where we left off. And then there are the others .... life is just too short.