Yesterday I wrote about how I sorted out my clothing using the KonMari method, but today I want to share some thoughts on that process and what I learned from it. One thing I learned was about how much energy I usually expend justifying and rationalising my decisions. I’ve decluttered many times before, and I Read More…
Konmari: Clothes, Part 1 (How It Went)
The first stage of the KonMari process is clothing, which also includes shoes, bags and jewellery. Over two days, I completed this whole category. Today, I’ll share how this process went; and tomorrow, I’ll share a few things I learned. Kondo recommends starting with clothes because it’s an easier category with which to learn the process. I was Read More…
Starting the KonMari Method
I’ve decided: I’m going to work through Marie Kondo’s book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. This is a long time in coming. I read the book first more than a year ago and have since returned to it over and over. Of all the books on decluttering and organising I’ve read (which are many), it Read More…
Useful Sewing
Clothing is still my favourite thing to sew, because nothing represents a better interaction of beauty, use, and challenge. However, lately I’ve been enjoying a break from clothing and have been sewing some useful items. Aside from being quicker to make, they require less perfection! The first thing I made was some bunting for Edith’s and Read More…
Memorabilia and Emotional Energy
After a recent move, my mom unearthed more boxes of my stuff in her house. When I started going through them, I kept saying UGH, UGH, AHHHH! Perhaps this is an obvious sign that I should just get rid of the stuff, if just looking at it produces visceral disgust. But I, being myself, dutifully started Read More…
I Require More Receptacles for Recycling
I’ve recently been researching recycling. Say that three times fast. Since I’ve gotten into a good groove with my zero waste efforts in grocery shopping, I’ve been looking elsewhere in my routine for areas to improve. Recycling was one such area. Our city’s curbside recycling services are quite good, including plastics 1-7 among the usual cardboard, glass, Read More…
Zero Waste in the Bathroom
After the kitchen, the bathroom is one area of our home I wanted to tackle for moving towards zero waste. It’s where we use a lot of disposable consumables (baby wipes, cotton rounds, q-tips, razor blades), as well as a lot of plastic bottles and containers – shampoo, conditioner, hair products, deodorant, toothpaste, lotions, hand Read More…
Assorted Cushions: Recycled, Repurposed, and Natural Fibers
Back when we moved last year, one of my visions for our new home was a new set of sofa cushions made by me. At the time, I was learning more about using natural materials, and instead of going to the craft or decor store and buying a bunch of new polyester-stuffed cushions, I wanted Read More…
Duplicate Clutter
A few years ago, I had a pair of cheap pearl earrings that kept falling apart. I glued them together repeatedly until I got tired of it. So I asked Mike for a pair of nice pearl earrings for my birthday; this was while we were engaged and of course he had to buy me romantic Read More…
The Fallback Skirt
I made a new skirt recently. It used to be a dress, which I bought at Goodwill because it was breastfeeding-friendly. However, the fit was never perfect, and since then I’ve made another dress I like better. The fabric, however, was a lovely washed-out blue chambray, and the shape of the skirt was just right. So Read More…