The List

Have you heard of and/or participated in Apartment Therapy's January Cure?

It's a really comprehensive refresher for home and habits.  They released the calendar today, and go into some depth in posts to unpack the assignments in posts throughout the month.

We are January Cure-ing at our house... and today's assignment was to make a list, which reminds me a lot of making a William Morris Master List... Remember this one from my tiny apartment?

And it occurred to me I have not made a wish list/master list for this house...even though we have lived here for 6 months!  I've already figured out this will be a loooong post- but you're welcome to read on!

So here goes nothing:

Kitchen:
Elbow Grease
     -Refinish top of kitchen table- it's raw wood now.
     -Murphy's Oil Soap/deep clean all cabinetry
     -Do a cost analysis for new cabinet/drawer pulls, pick out new ones
     -Deep clean fridge
     -Clean up amount of stuff on outside of fridge
     -pantry organizing
     -windows
     -scrub out recycling and trash bins
     -repaint wall in pantry, put up already-purchased mop hooks
     -deep clean sink
     -evaluate and disperse constantly-on-the-counter things
     -use the backlogged supplies and reupholster the kitchen table chairs already!
Little Expense
     -clean/dirty magnet for dishwasher
     -light/outlet plates replaced
     -new floor mat for in front of sink
     -new dishtowels
If it were our house/BIG projects
     -Replace countertops
     -Put up cookbook/serving piece shelving over doorway

Living Room:
Elbow Grease
     -dust blinds
     -update photos on walls, put old ones into albums/scrapbook spreads
     -repot house plants in need
     -improve landing strip function/capabilities... Add one more crate for shoes/bags, anchor system better
Little Expense
     -new winter/non-Christmas wreath
     -Pillow forms for wingback
     -new baskets for under coffee table that match and function a little better
BIG projects
     -reupholster wingback chairs(supplies already purchased, courage being gathered...)
     -paint the blank canvas on the wall with something great
     -Find a cabinet to go on wall by the door

Studio:
Elbow Grease
     -Get to the floors and deep clean them- rugs outside, beaten out, mopping before replacing.
     -Catalog all un-catalogged fabric, put on board bolts, and find more shelving for it
     -Unpack boxes not touched since move
     -Mount rail system on wall by ironing board
     -Organize steamer trunk
     -pack up books that need to go to the office
     -Organize patterns... Possibly in reinvented steamer trunk?
     -Cull UFOs(UnFinished Objects, usually referring to things one will never finish)
     -Set deadlines for WIPs(Works-In-Progress, which one has not given up hope on).
Little Expense
     -Trashcan
     -extra buckets for rail system(IKEA trip)
     -Phone dock for podcast playing
     -New dry erase board
     -new drawer pulls(need 8)
Big Projects
     -Run shelving over doors on wall to expand open storage of books/projects
     -Recover ironing board
     -refurbish Nana's serger and find it a home

Downstairs Bath:
Elbow Grease
     -get Sharpie stain out of shower curtain
     -touch up paint
     -scrub mirror cabinet and doorknobs
Little Expense
New plunger/toilet brush with caddy
new towel bars and hooks

Study/Library
Elbow Grease
     -throughly vacuum the dog's favorite chair
     -make bill paying drawer more organized and useful
     -attack the catch-all closet; store Christmas decor and party supplies there
     -find way to incorporate personal photos/travel mementos
Little Expense
     -new knobs for desk
     -a couple frames
     -a folio for bills/tax information
     -door hooks for clergy robes and visitor jackets

Mudroom/Laundry
Elbow Grease
     -Fix the paint
     -hang up the hooks
     -Paint the laundry cabinets
     -re-organize laundry cabinets to serve as party supply HQ
     -hang indoor drying line
Little Expense
     -Replace laundry cabinet hardware
     -extend shelving to doorway
     -replace blinds on back door with curtain
     -replace switch/outlet plates
     -new door mat
Big Projects
     -Make dog bed: Inside zippered sack to fill with scraps/outside shells
     -install easy-to-pop-out yet sturdy shelf above washer and dryer
     -workbench for canning jar storage and other equipment with ability to double as prep space
     -winter storage for potatoes, onions, sweet potatoes, and hard squash

...And moving upstairs:

Master Bedroom
Elbow Grease
     -Put all the laundry away and KEEP IT THAT WAY
     -move the things that belong in the attic back into the attic
     -repot the succulent planter
     -clean big dresser mirror
     -dust. clean and condition all hardwood furniture
     -tidy nightstands
     -take donations to Goodwill
     -flip hangers for January closet
Little Expense
     -Toggle to get house phone out of bedroom
     -box to hide router in
     -trashcans for each side of bed
     -prints for a couple empty frames
     -small footstool for fun blue chair
Big Projects
     -Find a secretary desk for my writing corner
     -find (or build) a nightstand for hubs

Master Bathroom
Elbow Grease
     -rearrange cabinet to hold first aid and medicine
     -Clean mirrors
     -reorganize drawers to corral all the... stuff we use on bathroom counter
Little Expense
     -new towel rails
     -trays to corral counter necessities
     -baskets/bins to organize first aid
     -shelf insert for under sink- check kitchen dept at Ikea
     -plunger/toilet brush holder as in downstairs bath
     -spare toilet roll holder

Upstairs Guest Room
Elbow Grease
     -clean dresser mirror
     -dust, clean, and condition all the antique wood furniture
     -hang tapestry or interesting piece of fabric as headboard
Little Expense
     -tiny nightstand
     -nicer lamp
     -bookends
Big Project
     -patch and paint walls
     -find/build bookshelves
     -reclaim closet

I'll refer back to this post as needed, and attempt to keep it up to date!

Words

There are two words stuck in my head as things I want to strive for in 2016.

Balance.

Localize.

Balance... between work and life, surely.  In 2014 and 2015 the world has been inundated with articles about women who "have it all" or how women will never "have it all".  And I don't intend to list them or weigh the merits of them.
But what I mean when I say balance has everything and nothing to do with having it all.  I want to spend time each day writing, and reading, and being outside... I want to know I have been playing in the dirt(or with food I just took out of the dirt) or moving my body in the sunshine... and I desperately want and need to pursue creative endeavors.
I could draw out pie charts or obsessively schedule, but those things have kept me from the doing in years past, so I won't... I will try out the Pomodoro Method on my mornings.  Cycles of work and breaks could be just the ticket.

Localize... Well, I have Barbera Kingsolver to blame  thank for this kick in the pants.  Have you read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle?  I unabashedly recommend it.  I also want to take miles off of my food because of it.  So we're expanding the garden and diversifying what we're planting... I hope to make all the salsa we eat from June(when tomatoes start really coming in) on, and have good things in our freezer, and on our table, and filling up mason jars for those days when they can't be found local and fresh.  One of the benefits of this point in our lives is having the time to invest in this sort of garden... and it's one of those habits I am so glad to be starting young.  It'll have lasting benefits for our whole lives.
But here's the thing.  We can't grow it all.  And what we can't grow, I want to find in or around my community.  It's a way to put money into the economy in this place where we call home, and, more importantly, connect with the people who bring meat and milk to the table.
So I think we'll be on the winning end... with relationships in the community and a full pantry.

Alright 2016.   I'm coming for you.

The William Morris Master List

This is another post in my effort to follow along with Pancakes and French Fries and the amazing William Morris project she's been working on, and encouraging others to work on too.

Okay, friends… a master list.

My apartment, seen below and to the right (terribly off-scale,but you get the idea) being a single lady in a major metropolitan area on a student budget, is the size of a shoebox, and only mine for another 3 months, as of tomorrow.  And I think I’m just now figuring out that the ticket to living in a shoebox is to stop thinking that a bedroom and a living room/kitchen area as having defined rooms like a house. 

A teeny apartment has zones, not rooms.  I have not defined them as well as I could have.

Entry… Cooking… Workspace…Lounging…Storage…Sleeping…Wardrobe...Craftspace.  You know, that sort of thing. 

They overlap, in a silly messy sort of way in my apartment, when they exist at all.  Horizontal spaces and chairs collect clutter, bookshelves overflow(did I mention I am in 19^th grade? Textbooks add up), and things get shoved places so often it’s comical.  Or, it was, before I realized that I’ve surrounded myself with flotsam and jetsam to the point where I don’t have space to live anymore.  So, as I forsee "shoebox living" for myself for the next few years, it’s time to rethink some zones, and things that will live in them.

Entryway:  space to store things that I take with me.  Where paper things land to be sorted, and things like a purse and keys can have a home.  Featuring a reminder board, and maybe(hopefully I’ll actually start going again) a gym bag.

Cooking:  My kitchen is teeny-tiny, and crammed full of food and the things used to prepare it. 

Food:  Store dry ingredients, snacks, spices, and sundry other things… in a pretty, functional way.

Cookware:  For a 24-year-old, I have a lot of it, gifts from my grandmother when she broke up housekeeping.  I want to be able to use it all, because heirlooms aren’t meant to be all pretty things that sit on shelves. The utilitarian stuff should all be just that: utilitarian.

Workspace:  My kitchen table is so much more, as kitchen tables must be in these itty bitty spaces. But mine is one of those horizontal spaces that just collects things much of the time…

Lounging: My coffee table already doubles as storage:  It’s also one of those horizontal, collecting-things places though. 

I have an easy chair I’d love to reclaim and slipcover/re-upholster, and the ottoman that goes with it. 

Storage/Crafting:

Here’s the thing…  I have hobbies.  I sew, I just learned to quilt, I make jewelry, and I’ve been known to collage and scrapbook.  All of those things come with supplies, and the supplies have a way of needing storage.

Fabric:  Cataloged, counted, and stored

Patterns:  ditto

Notions(zippers, thread, buttons… everything you need to sew clothes/quilts that isn’t fabric): Accessible when I need them, not scattered when I don’t.

Art supplies:  Separated from school supplies and stationery, and all of the above ready when I need them. 

Sleeping:  Keep it more for sleep, and make it pretty.

Wardrobe: The thing that started it all. More will show up on my sewing blog about wardrobe, because I’ll be sewing lots, if not all, of my new clothing in 2013.

Closet/Dresser:  Organized, and generally pared down to what is useful and beautiful

Accessories:  Ditto.  Make things/hunt vintage to fill in the holes.

So... yeah.

The goal this week is to conquer some paper and horizontal surfaces.  Paperwork is on the radar already, so I'm gonna move with the momentum.  

The William Morris Project

Welcome!  This is the first time I've ever linked in to anything like this, and I'm hoping y'all will keep me honest and give me some tips and hints along the way.  Thanks for dropping by!

Y’all, have you seen the William Morris Project over at Pancakes and French Fries?

Oh.  My.

Such inspiration.

Last Thursday, I spent a long time looking at impeccable closets and teeny, tiny wardrobes over at small notebook, and I got led to Pancakes and French Fries, and I, without taking a before picture or a picture of the donation pile, the alteration pile, or even the lists, cleaned out two trashbags of things to donate, and a good-sized canvas bin of things in sore need of repair. 

The pile of empty hangers is magic, y’all.

And I found things I didn’t know I still had. 

While reading through the master list that Jules made whenshe started the William Morris project, I thought it might be a really good idea to make a master list of my own. 

I have 3 months left in my apartment- why start now?

Because there’s always a reason not to start, and friends, life is enough of a reason to start.

Look for mine soon.