Simple Living, Part 2
Neatness is key when you live in 500 sq. ft and the same areas have to share functions. It is absolutely essential to be tidy as my daughter says.
So, after a meal, I wash my plate, glass or mug, silverware and little skillet immediately, then dry them and put them back in their place.
neatness is required
When I do wash, it gets folded and put away in drawers or hung in the closet as soon as I bring it home (I wash at my daughter’s.)
I work on one project at a time – right now I’m finishing up the baby blanket just in the nick of time. If I want to art journal, I’ll have to set aside a couple of hours, get out my supplies and complete a page since I have to put it all away in order to eat the next meal on the table. My table loom and sewing machine are going to have to stay stored on a closet shelf for this interim.
It turns out that the best part is the lack of a regular kitchen and pantry. It really cuts down on my purchases to know that there is only room for 1 bag of cookies, 1 box of cereal, a couple of essential spices, and two or three pieces of fruit.
Even the refrigerator is small so I shop often and carefully for the exact meals I want for a day or two. I’m spending a lot less and eating healthy, good food without tempting junk snacks lying around. (Never fear that there is one dark chocolate bar in a dedicated place however!)
I cleaned house this morning and that took all of 20 minutes. Dust, sweep the floors, wipe the counters and table and I’m done – not bad – I like that part.
What I miss most are my books and the rule that I can’t purchase any except on my Nook is hard to keep. I’ve gotten pretty good at bookmarking and highlighting on it, but that’s not the same as jotting a note in the margin or being able to flip back through to find a great quote.
The overall effect though is that this has helped me define what is important to me in a permanent home. A separate hobby/craft room has moved way up the list above a fancy kitchen and that’s saying something for a former kitchen designer!
Built-in bookshelves have also gone to the top along with a sunroom or screened in porch and a woodsy view. An attic, basement and garage are absolute no-noes since they only become hoarding sites for stuff that’s not needed. And convenience to walking/biking trails would be wonderful.
If you started over, what would your priorities be? How can you begin to simplify where you are – it’s really a state of mind as much as a small space.
Maps and a Compass (that works) Required
If I were a cat, I’d have died a long time ago. My curiosity about my surroundings is unbounded. I mean it – I have this insatiable need to see where every road goes, what’s in that shopping center, and what that neighborhood looks like. When I get to a new place I burn endless time and miles just looking around.
I keep an area map on the passenger seat so that I am putting a map in my head at the same time. Unlike some folks I know who get lost in a walk-in closet, I have an excellent sense of direction and once I orient my brain, I can follow directions and get around without too many mistakes.
The problem with southern towns is that unlike the older cities of the north, they are not laid out on a logical grid of numbered streets in one direction and named streets in the other. Places like New York, Philadelphia, and Indianapolis are easy to navigate.
Southern towns have lots of land available around them so they build roads that meander all over the countryside. This area in particular consists of seven or eight separate towns that all sort of run into each other making it really hard to figure out where you are when you do get lost.
And their naming rules…well there don’t seem to be any. My favorite example is Nashville where there is a road (not an interstate beltway) that goes completely around the town but it’s name changes at least 5 times.
In this area a couple of road names are used over and over in different places but they don’t connect. Then there are a lot of destination names like Durham/Chapel Hill Parkway but you have to know which direction you are going for it to make sense.
And that brings me to my compass. Two cars ago, when I owned a BMW, I had a compass in the corner of the rearview mirror that made navigating easy. I got spoiled. Since the Nissan I drive now doesn’t have such extras I went to the auto parts store to find a dashboard compass.
What is it about this country that we have to have 50 choices of everything? The compasses offered ranged from $10 to $50. Now, a compass is a compass, right? It has some sort of a magnet in it that makes the needle find due North and it revolves around in response to the turns you make indicating the direction you are headed.
I never buy the cheapest version of anything so I opted for a $16 one. I read the instructions, oriented it to the North and mounted it to my dashboard. That was about 6 months ago and I have yet to drive in a northerly or easterly direction according to it. No matter what I do I am headed somewhere between WSW and ESE. Needless to say this is not helpful. Note to self: buy a new compass.
The combination of all these things means that my exploring is consuming more gas and time than usual, but after a week of driving several hours a day, I’m feeling like I know where I am in relationship to everything and might be able to limit my curiosity to one day a week. Well, maybe….
Life Happens….
The bad news is that my website is down due to a hosting server crash.
The good news is that my fourth grandchild is about to make his debut into the world!
The outcome is a website that may not be repaired for a week or so and a new bouncing baby boy….
You can check my FaceBook biz page (Life and Work by Design) or check back here for the baby announcement and website updates.
Simple Living, Part I
This is a picture of the “kitchen” in my little place. Yes, it is a challenge. I wish the TV wasn’t there. I would prefer to live without one if I could have that counter space, but it’s one of those dinosaurs that weighs a ton so it’s not going anywhere…
There is no stove which seems to bother other people more than me. I barely had to clean the oven in my condo when I moved out last spring – it was only used on holidays.
Not having burners however is a serious drawback.
But hey, I’m a girl scout and a home economics major and most of all, I’m adaptable so I’m figuring this out.
The small coffee pot, a toaster oven and a microwave are provided. That’s a start but I’m not a fan of cooking in a microwave and the Mediterranean diet I try to follow includes lots of things that don’t nuke well.
So, despite my resolution not to acquire any more stuff to haul around, I have purchased two small appliances. The first is a rice cooker with a steamer basket. Being a fan of the website Unclutterer, I had ignored the rice cooker craze as just one more gadget that only does what a saucepan and a timer can do.
But, in this situation, it’s a great solution. There is a picture in the manual that shows rice cooking in the bottom while a small salmon filet and some asparagus steam in the top section. Dinner for one in a pot – I like that!
The other acquisition is a tiny electric skillet just big enough for a grilled cheese sandwich or an omelet. It actually works quite well and only cost $12.
The toaster oven will bake potatoes, roast vegetables or cook pizza as well as toast everything to perfection – I had already acquired an appreciation for this gadget.
And oh, yes – there is a refrigerator – it’s in the large storage/closet/pantry area down the hall past the bathroom.
So, with some careful grocery shopping and some extreme organization I think this will work! It is a great experiment in the art of simple living. Just don’t expect a dinner invitation anytime soon….
Trust Your Instincts
Back in June I posted a “Housing Wanted” ad on craigslist to find a place to stay for the fall part of this nomad year.
It said something like “Professional woman seeks a furnished apartment or room Sept. – Dec in Chapel Hill area. Non-smoker, no pets, a quiet writer coming to help with a new grandchild. Up to $900 rent. “
I went out to lunch and logged back into my email box a few hours later to find a message that said, “ I think I have what you’re looking for. She went on to describe a 500 sq. ft apartment that was a fully furnished one bedroom apartment with a private entrance behind their residence. The best part was that the address was in the same neighborhood where my daughter lives with her family!
Bingo! Sometimes my good Karma astounds me…. My instinct was that this was the perfect situation and I didn’t hesitate to respond immediately.
I arranged to have Lisa look at it that afternoon. I asked her to write the owner a deposit check if it looked ok. She called me that evening to report that it was bright, clean and very nicely furnished. The owners were very nice and she gave them a check but she wondered if I knew that it didn’t have a stove.
She found this unthinkable but I just laughed. What a great excuse to not cook! For a couple of months I can deal with a microwave, toaster oven and my George Foreman grill! (And I can always walk to her house to cook if I get in the mood.)
Over the course of the next week about a dozen more responses arrived in my inbox. I deleted 4 immediately because after describing the room they were renting out, they stated that it was exactly $900. A couple more sounded like creepy guys. The rest were from a variety of mature, single women who have big houses and are trying to earn some income renting out rooms. None was nearly as good as the first one.
People I tell this story to question that Craig’s list is a safe way to do this. For sure, I would not commit to something if I didn’t have someone to check it out, but I did find that as I read the responses my intuition kicked in – personalities show through even in email.
Another way to do it would be to place the ad a few weeks before you arrive in town and pay for a hotel room for a couple of nights until you can assess the possibilities.
Fast-forward 3 months…..
I moved in two days ago and it’s great! It is a good exercise in simple living and an inexpensive way to stay in an area for a couple of months. It works out to about $18 a night with even cable and internet provided. My instincts were right on!
It’s also great to be near my daughter’s without overstaying my welcome in their home. And, after the new baby arrives, I’ll be able to go to my own place to get a good night’s sleep or provide one of the exhausted parents with a quiet place for a long nap. (My tele-commuting son-in-law likes that possibility!)
Craig’s list is not always good – it depends on the local area. It seems to be better around college towns but don’t be afraid to give it a try. It’s also good for lots of things like buying and selling stuff, temporary jobs, houses for sale by owner, etc. If you haven’t looked at it, check it out.
