Monthly Archives: March 2020

Adapting to Self-Isolation

By Claire Posted in Clutter, Small-House Living Tagged , , , ,

Thanks to our current self-isolation, our living room redo has been put on hold. Our chosen businesses for buying new furniture and carpeting are still open, though by appointment only. But with all the economic chaos going on, we hate to order expensive items and then wonder if the American factories we’d be ordering them from will be able to make them and ship them in a reasonable amount of time…or at all. It depends on how they weather the current situation, and how long it lasts.

So we’re living with our current furniture, which is no big deal, but I sure was pumped to get new stuff. Every time I sit down in the living room, I note how the chair creaks, or how the finish on the leather loveseat is kind of beat up. Not that they are in bad shape, really. It’s just that I was so ready for new furniture.

But more important things are going on right now, so it will have to wait. In the meantime, there are a few areas in the house that could use a little straightening. I’m sure I can find a few things that we don’t need anymore. I’ll do those things now, because once we can go about freely again, I’m not going to want to stay inside and declutter, that’s for sure!

Take Advantage of Your Self-Isolation

By Claire Posted in Clutter, Simpler Living, Small-House Living Tagged , , , , ,

So you’re stuck at home, thanks to this nasty virus that’s going around the world. You can only binge-watch so many shows and movies before you get tired, and antsy. What to do with your excess energy?

Why not take some of it and go through your drawers and closets, removing things you haven’t used in ages? You always say you’re going to do this once you get the time. Well, now you have the time! It will keep you occupied doing something useful, and you can cross something off your mental list that’s been sitting there for far too long.

While you’re at it, watch for “I Was Gonna” items you always meant to use, and actually use a few of them. Open up that old needlework kit and start stitching, or take the brand new weights out of their dusty box and start lifting them. Doing this will lift your spirits.

Once you’ve gone through your house for things you don’t need anymore, you may not be able to donate all of your stuff right away, but you can put those “donate” boxes in your vehicle, or your garage, or even near the front door. Once the restrictions are lifted, hopefully sooner than later, your local Goodwill will reopen, and you can drop off all your extra clutter. Won’t getting out of the house and making a donation to a worthy cause feel good?

Downsize: Living Large in a Small House by Sheri Koones

By Claire Posted in downsizing, Simpler Living, Small-House Living Tagged , ,
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Author Sheri Koones downsized from a nearly 7,000 square foot house to 1,400 square feet when she and her husband became empty-nesters. So she has personal experience with downsizing, and brings that knowledge to this book.

It’s packed with photos of a variety of houses, some small, but others not so small at 1,800-2,000 square feet. (Perhaps the book’s subtitle should have been “Living Large in a Smaller House.”)  Nevertheless, this book offers all sorts of inspiration for those who need or simply want to downsize their living situation.

One very useful aspect of this book is that it includes some homes with separate living space for an adult child or an elderly parent. That’s a common situation these days but you don’t often see it addressed along with downsizing.

Many of the homes are new construction, which won’t be affordable for many people who are downsizing for financial reasons. But the color photos of the interiors offer plenty of inspiration for anyone who is considering furniture arrangements, use of artwork without going overboard, and how to put your personal mark on a home without filling it with clutter.

The author notes that she and some others highlighted in the book went through several purges of belongings before finally settling down in their new, smaller home. Nice to know we weren’t the only ones!

Arranging Furniture in a Small Living Room

By Claire Posted in downsizing, Personal, Small-House Living Tagged , , , , ,

After we moved here, we spent hours trying to arrange our huge furniture in our little living room. No matter what we tried, nothing looked right. In the end we only kept a loveseat, two recliners, two end tables and a wooden chair that we put near the front door. In the years since, we moved them around a few times but never found just the right set-up.

Now we’re starting over. We’re planning to buy a small-scale sofa, a smaller recliner (the two we have are huge!) and an occasional chair or two (one of us wants one chair and the other wants two). Of course, we’re also spending time figuring out where everything should go.

One of the few books that survived the Great Purge when we moved here is a book from the 1990s called Use What You Have Decorating by Lauri Ward. I used that book on our large house and loved it. I’m so glad I saved it because it’s still useful: since she recommends arranging your furniture into groupings (as opposed to spreading it apart and pushing it up against the walls as many people do), it works well for this small house as well as our former large one.

Of course, the photos in the book look pretty dated now, but the principles are still good. I highly recommend this book for anyone who feels like their furniture is just not in the right spots.