simple living

Joyfulpaws.com Writing Cottage Video Tour: Before and After of Inside

Posted by Barbara Techel

separate-sunroom-630x420This outside shot was taken a few summers ago.

On my blog yesterday I said I would be spending the day cleaning out and simplifying my writing cottage. I wasn’t sure I’d get it all done in one day. But I did!  This was the hardest room for me to do. So many sentimental things.

But in wanting to live with less stuff, which I’ve been clearing out of my house over the years, I felt ready to tackle my 10 x 12 writing cottage.  Twp large garbage bags went into the trash, two and a half large garbage bags full of stuff I will be donating to Goodwill, and about 100 books I’ll be donating to our local Friends of the Library for their used book sale this summer.

At the end of the day I felt elated!  I’m so excited about my new open, simplified look and I can’t wait to have my first yoga practice in my cottage, which was one of many reasons for clearing out stuff, organizing and cleaning.

Below is a BEFORE video of photos and an AFTER tour.  Hope it inspires you!

BEFORE

AFTER

Living Simply. I Fail Miserably in One Category.

Posted by Barbara Techel

closet collageThis past weekend John installed our closet organizer in our master bedroom. Wow, I can hardly believe what a difference this had made. We have lived in our home for 25 years and the same closet of just two long poles and a shelf above each was in place.

Now mind you, I could have continued to be okay with what we had. But as I wrote in an earlier post about honoring each other in marriage, this was something John felt the need to do (along with a few other projects)  in making our home more complete– as well as more marketable someday.  The nice part of this organizer is that he got much of it with no cost to us because of rebates he obtains from materials he buys at Menard’s as a General Contractor for his construction business. It can add up when you are a remodeling contractor with what was a pretty good year last year.

Another bonus is that now all my clothes fit in one closet. No more hauling seasonal clothes downstairs. Though I have to say, once I got everything in the closet, I couldn’t believe how many clothes I really had!  And honestly, I’ve weeded out through the years and try to follow the rule of one thing in, one thing out.  Then there is “poor John” who got three shelves and about two feet of pole.  As we ladies know though, it truly is all a man needs, right?

As I admire my closet greatly and my secret affair with it lately is to just stand in it and admire it, I realize I fail miserably in the category of living with less stuff when it comes to clothing.  I realize some may look at the photo and think, eee gads, that girl who talks about living simply, sure has lots of clothes!  I also think about tiny house living, which we hope to downsize at some point (from 1,100 ft)–and how I know this will be the hardest part of all for me. I easily justify my clothing addiction to the fact I rarely pay full price or even retail price for things because more often than not I shop at second hand clothing shops.

So as we all are, I am a work in progress.  And unless I suddenly become a dog who needs no clothing (unless I turn into a Dachshund!) I shall have to work on my living simply in the one area I most  need work on.

An Experiment in Less Stuff. The American Dream. Living Simply.

Posted by Barbara Techel

This cabinet used to be full of two sets of dishware, two sets of mixing bowls, glass bowls, bowls, bowls, bowls!!

So this past weekend I decided to de-clutter my kitchen. Ever since I read the book, You Can Buy Happiness (and it’s cheap): How One Woman Radically Simplified Her Life and How You Can Too I’ve been re-thinking some things.  In this book Tammy Strobel, the author, and her husband Logan live in a tiny house.  And I’m talking tiny– it is only 128 square feet.  Now I’m not saying I could live in that tiny of a space, but it sure has got me thinking.

It’s not about living in that amount of space, but about many things. One of which is how we let our stuff control us. Getting hooked into believing we need all these material things. Often times thinking those material things fill us up when all they sometimes do is make us want more, more, more. This is after all the American dream, right?

When we were on vacation in Vermont we stayed in a 900 square foot cottage. Our home is 1,100 square feet on the first level, with 1,000 feet fixed up in the lower level. We have not used the lower level in years even though we have a lovely family room. We are content on the main floor. So while at the cottage, with limited dishware, etc. we noticed how we got along  just fine. I started to really then give thought to all the STUFF I have in my house, especially my kitchen. Did we really NEED all of it?

Well, I decided it would be fun to see what I could actually get rid of. I thought I would look at this as an experiment. It’s not like I can’t go out to a second hand store and buy something I thought we could live without but may find we can’t. But I have a feeling I won’t miss what I all got rid of. And wow, did I get rid of the stuff!  The back of my SUV was full and I mean full!  I clinked and clattered all the way to St. Vincent De Paul Sunday afternoon where I happily donated all of it. I really wish I had taken a photo of my car full of all this stuff, but I forgot. You’ll have to trust me when I say it was full. I felt like Sanford and Son driving down the road.

I got rid of dishes, glassware, pans, pots and silverware that I know without a doubt we have not used in ten years. It just took up space. But more importantly it took up energy. When I look in my cabinets now I see exactly what I have. No looking behind something, or digging to see if what I think is there, is there. It feels incredibly freeing!

What can we really live with and live without? It’s an experiment. Will be interesting to watch it unfold. But this isn’t something I find myself new to as it is something I started about ten years ago. Thinking about what I really need verses what I want and how that affects my choices and living simply. Next I’ll tackle my living room storage cabinet and craft room downstairs which is a mish-mosh of many things.

So what is the American dream? It is different for each of us. To me it is living more simply and having time to care for my new special needs dog, Joie. Time to write, time to walk the dogs, time to share my passion for IVDD dogs and get the word out, time to read, time to be with family and friends, date night and time with my husband, John.

What do you think of my experiment? Have you done something similar?