Organizing

Living Simply and Efficiently

I recently purchased a new book, Simply Living Well by Julia Watkins. This hard cover book is a guide to creating a natural, low-waste home. The book is filled with great ideas and recipes on how to reduce what you consume and throw away. But it got me thinking about how we live. What are we currently doing that is living efficiently and reduce what we consume and what we throw away?

Composting

About 30% of our kitchen waste is recycled through composting. I have written about this before (see post here) and put every single peel, pit, skin, eggshell and other non-cooked fruits, vegetables and flowers into the composting garbage can. Grass clippings, tree branches and other brown material is also composted here on the property. This significantly reduces our waste that goes to the City’s landfill and dump.

All the luscious rich fertilized soil goes back into the yard~the garden, the orchard and all the bedding areas. Giving back to the land is very rewarding.

Recycling

The City of Phoenix has a recycling program so we separate our garbage into separate bins for pick up once a week. Cardboard boxes, paper, plastic, glass and cans are separated from the trash. In our kitchen we have 3 garbage cans~one for composting, one for trash and the other for recyclables.

Gardening and Chickens

Growing our own fruits and vegetables reduces the number of trips to the grocery store and farmers market. With the exception of summer, the garden is producing the rest of the year. And again, the leftovers go to the chickens or the compost bin. Though we do support local business, having a back up food supply is satisfying.

Our chickens provide us with the most delicious eggs. All the shells are recycled in the compost bin too.

Preserving Food

Growing up in a family of 7, my mother never wasted a thing. For example, leftover stale bread was turned into bread pudding. As a result, it’s hard for me to throw good food away. I just made a big batch of mole chicken and after having it a few days in a row, I will freeze the rest in individual servings for another time. Same with the big pot of chili I just made.

Abundant harvests from the garden or orchard are canned and preserved for use during another season. From fruit preserves to tomato sauce, these are either canned or frozen.

Laundry

Line drying here in Phoenix, especially in the summer, is a quick and easy energy efficient task. Not only does the sun acts as a powerful disinfectant but also has natural bleaching powers. Plus nothing smells better than slipping under freshly washed sheets that are line dried! Even my children notice when their sheets have been washed and dried outside.

Coffee

I recall a time when daily and sometimes more, we would drive through Dutch Brothers and get our coffee. The staff knew us by name and their fun, upbeat vibe was a plus to our cup of Joe. Unfortunately, that coffee location closed, but I shudder to think of ALL those paper cups and plastic tops we used. Dutch Brothers had become a line item on the monthly budget.

Now we make our coffee here at home using my favorite Nespresso machine. The coffee pods get recycled through Nespresso recycling program. Not only have we saved a boat load of money, but we are no longer excessively using paper cups and plastic tops.

Paperwork

As I mentioned in a blog post about my kitchen, there is an industrial shredder placed next to the compost garbage container. See that post here. Daily, the excessive amounts of junk mail is shredded and added to the composting bin. A good use of unwanted junk mail (and all those political flyers!)

Manage our Utilities

About two years ago, I was asked to give a lecture to a group of 7th and 8th grade students about the recent utility (electric) increase that was imposed and how that rate hike affected our neighborhood. Of course, I didn’t even realize we had a rate hike. So in order to provide an intelligent presentation, I got to work and did a thorough evaluation.

What I discovered is that we were not on the most efficient or advantageous utility plan. Once I understood that, then we started paying attention to our electric usage. The first month, we saved so much money. Over time, we saved even more.

Reminders I placed on the major appliances

The moral to this story is 1) understand your utility usage; 2) investigate the best plan for you and your family; 3) by making reasonable changes you can reduce your usage and save a lot of money.

Now, during the warmer months (trust me, air-conditioning bills can be ridiculously expensive here), we monitor our large appliance and air conditioning usage from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Water consumption

Water here in Arizona is a precious resource. Rates go way up in June, July and August. By using flood irrigation provided locally, we are able to deep water the orchard and yard at a low annual cost. The well that we re-instituted many years ago, handles additional yard watering (see that post here).

Shopping with Reusable Bags

Trader Joes. Love that they used reusable bags before it was cool.-and the designs are unique and FUN! | Trader joes, Reusable bags, Shopping bag design

My car is the keeper of many reusable shopping bags. However, since COVID, no store is using them. Seems unfortunate however, I understand the need to be extra careful now. Hopefully, this too will pass.

Room for Improvement

Like with most things in life, I can certainly improve and lessen my waste. We have too many things that need to be sorted, organized and donated. That is an ongoing project that I need to jump start again. My goal is to reduce the items in each room by 50%. Lofty goal, but maybe I will start this effort after the first of the year. To see where I put Marie Kondo’s organizational tips in place already, see that post here.

18 health benefits of walking everyday outside instead of driving

I’d love to live in a place that doesn’t require driving everywhere. Phoenix is more car-dependent than other cities, but during the cooler weather I do try to bike and walk more.

Green cosmetics: 6 eco-friendly or eco-friendly makeup brands not to be missed

In addition, I need to assess my use of cleansers/detergents and investigate more eco-friendly cosmetics.

So what are you doing to lighten your footprint? Please share any ideas so we can all get better at this!

Happy Wednesday!

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This post shared with Between Naps on the Porch Metamorphosis Monday #614

Upon entering our front hall, you see our grand staircase and an antique petticoat table. But tucked in behind the mirrored table, is a wainscoting panel, just to the left of the door to the powder room. Several months after we purchased the house, we discovered that this panel is not permanently fixed, but slides down to reveal hidden storage under the stairs.

The hidden space

A rather ingenious system with a rope and pulley, the panel drops down below the floor level. Painting of baby chicks done by my friend, Jane Horn.

As the panel slides down, you can see the original lathe and plaster construction of our 110 year old home.

My Mess

Now comes the embarrassing part. This hidden storage area is a collection point for all my seasonal pillows, slip covers for the family room sofa, dining room table leaf and pillow inserts. It is an area that I have been wanting to organize, but as you know, out of sight, out of mind.

After removing all of the items, you can see that this is a rather large space, probably created to provide access to the plumbing to the powder room.

Sorting and Organizing

After cleaning and wiping down this space, I begin to re-organize the contents. Heading to Target, I purchase large plastic storage tubs. Inventory is rather low after the Back-to-School sales, but I start with 6 large containers. Click here for a good selection of stackable plastic storage boxes from Amazon.

Making labels for each box helps with the sorting and organizing. The four different sets of sofa slipcovers takes up a great deal of space.

Since Target didn’t have enough plastic tops for the containers purchased, I keep all the pillows in plastic bags so they don’t get dusty. I utilize all the space under the stairs.

The dining room leaf is placed in a fabric pocket I made with an unused tablecloth. I lean the leaf against the boxes, as it will not fit any other way.

Now when I need a seasonal item, this new organizational system will save time and effort.

Do you have a project that you keep putting off? This under the stairs storage is definitely one that would bother me each season. I am so happy I finally tackled it! To see my recent post about another storage project in the front hall, click here.

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Today, I am happy to be part of a blog hop that revolves around front hall projects!

We all love it when you visit and comment so please enjoy the following DIY Front Entryway Projects. Niky from the House on Silverado jazzes up her front hall for Fall.

Chas from Chas Crazy Creations turns this $1 garage sale find into a sweet side table.

Do you ever wonder how to revamp, update, or makeover a side table? I have been dabbling in making over a few furniture pieces and when I saw this side table for $1 at a garage sale, I thought what have I got to lose! In this post I'm doing a side table makeover with painting, stenciling, and glazing.

My friend, Andrea from Design Morsels loves the color red and check out this colorful front hall project here.

Tarah from Gramma’s House DIY makes clever use of a space in her front entryway. See it here.

Creating shelves and hidden storage beneath a narrow plant table in our entryway for boots and boot dryers and whatever else we may need to store

Thank you so much for joining me today! Have a wonderful week!

Do you have an odd-shaped closet? Like most older homes, we have a front hall closet in our foyer. Since we rarely wear coats or jackets here, having a closet to hang them in is just bonus space. This particular closet isn’t square, because it tucks underneath the U-shaped front staircase.

One side of the closet has a 9 1/2 foot ceiling while the other side is 6′ tall. One side is shallow at 16″ wide while that other is 24″ wide. Oddly shaped, indeed! Instead of outerwear, this closet houses most of my tablecloths, table runners, napkins and lampshades. I want to share with you some of my odd-shaped closet solutions.

The Before

The closet accommodates our battery box for the security system and an HVAC chase cuts into the closet interior. Plus there is no lighting.

Another embarrassing photo as the closet is a mess. It’s a good place to shove things out of the way when you are having company. Obviously, it is in need of organization and cleaning. Plus, my apologies for the quality of the photos. It’s hard to take pictures inside a small, dark closet!

Shelving Solutions

Using shelf sliders, you can build pull out shelves for easy storage

Originally, the closet had no shelves or rods. Adding two fixed shelves to fit into the deeper side of the closet, and two pull out “shelves” instantly adds storage space. These are custom made to fit the area, using conventional drawer slides. Making the shelves to fit is easy.

Black/white pulls are from Anthropologie

Designing the rack for hanging the tablecloths is fun as it pulls out so I can get access to all the tablecloths. Using wooden dowels placed into a box made from 3.5″ x 3/4″ sections of wood, this is a simple DIY project.

Lighting

Battery operated lighting is added for some illumination. These wall mounted string pulled lights use 2 D batteries. However, there are many other kinds of lights you can find. Here is a link to some that are motion sensor, which I would probably choose now if I didn’t already have these.

Sort and Organize

After emptying out all the contents into the front hall, I took the time to inventory the contents. I did the Marie Kondo method on each item~did it bring me joy? Surprisingly, I had good memories of most of the tablecloths (the one I bought in Italy, that bargain at the yard sale, etc) but a nice pile will be donated to the thrift store. To see how I used this method in our master closet, click here.

The remaining tablecloths are measured and labeled using circular paper tags that you typically see on key chains. These are secured to the tablecloth with a safety pin.

Other tablecloths are folded and placed on the fixed shelves. These linens don’t require as much maintenance as the ones on the hanging rods. The shelves are labeled to differentiate the different shaped linens ~round, square, rectangular.

Different Uses for Ordinary Things

I also add inexpensive double bathroom towel bars to the closet to hang the table runners.

Using bathroom towel bars is a great solution for storing table runners.

The current organization system for napkins is binding like ones together in ribboned packages. Napkins are labeled, ironed and ready to go.

The napkin packages are placed in baskets and sit on one of the fixed shelves. Seasonal napkins are stacked and any tassels or other table decor items are placed in Zip-loc bags.

And there is room on the shelf for placemats.

Use the Space Above Your Head

The final area for storage opportunity is taking advantage of the section of the closet that has a 9 1/2 foot ceiling. Placing a pulley system on the ceiling, allows me to store items up and out of the way.

For me I don’t ever seem to have storage space for lamp shades. Back in the day, I would change out lamp shades for each season (whiter, lighter ones for summer and so on).

I tie the end of the rope to the lamp shade rings and then cover the shades in plastic for protection.

Hoist them up by pulling on the rope and tuck them away and out of sight!

The rope is quite long so I wind it into a neat, small circle and let it rest on the table runner bar. Think of all the things you can tuck up out of sight!

The After

What I like about this closet is that is has storage ideas that work perfectly for this space. The closet is just right around the corner from the dining room, so all linens that are needed for setting a lovely table are within reach. Hanging the finer linen helps keep it wrinkle free and ready to go on the table.

I hope you enjoy today’s blog post about closet storage. A delightful group of friends are sharing their Small Space and Closet organization tips. Please check out their information and leave lots of comments!

This post shared with Metamorphosis Monday #606 Between Naps on the Porch

Chas from Chas’ Crazy Creations is giving solutions on How to Organize a Closet with these tips, tricks and hacks.

Andrea from Design Morsels is sharing her tips on Sweater Storage!

Tarah from Grammas House DIY focuses on the small spaces in her Master Bathroom.

Niky from The House on Silverado on Bathroom Drawer and Linen Closet Organization.

Cynthia from Create with Cynthia is doing a roundup of small space organization ideas.

Kristin from White Arrows Home is sharing multi-tasking Closet ideas.

Kippi from Kippi at Home is showing us her Home Office and her Organizing Solutions.

I hope you have enjoyed today’s blog hop and picked up a few new and interesting organizational ideas.

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Our Household/Family binder is one of those tools that provides me with peace of mind. We’ve all asked ourselves, “if I had to leave my house suddenly, what would I take?” I would definitely grab this binder. With technology, you could put all this information on your computer. But I’m still not convinced our data is secured. Our Household/Family binder is packed with pertinent information organized into tabs. This is an active and working tool in our everyday lives.

Reason Behind Creating this Binder

In 2001, the great tragedy of 911 shocked our nation and the world. Suddenly, terrorism was at our doorstep and the way we proceeded with life changed drastically. At that time, I have a 9 month old, and two toddlers. My husband is traveling domestically and internationally. And we are attending large, heavily crowded events. The feeling of vulnerability forced me to think about all the “what ifs.”

In October 2001, we are scheduled to take an international trip and a trans-Atlantic cruise. This is our first trip ever without the children. Plus we would be completely out of touch for periods of time. A rotating set of trusted caregivers will be watching the children. How will they know about all the ins and outs of the house? And God forbid, what if something happened to us? Or one of the children?

It is very much my nature to focus during unsettling times and create working solutions as a way to feel a little more in control. This is when I developed this binder.

A Well-Used Binder

Fast forward to 2020 and the binder is somewhat laughable. In its current condition, the binder is falling apart. All updated information has been shoved inside. You can tell by the cover photo that it was last officially updated in 2009. It is covered in stains and spills too, but obviously well used!

What is currently happening in our country is disconcerting. For me, it is reminiscent of the fear and chaos of 2001. And in the last 19 years, our life stage has changed. Our children are older with two of our 3 children living independently. Some of the information is now obsolete and outdated. So it is time to refresh and clean up the binder.

Making the Binder/Tabs

Find a binder that you like with the proper size spine. Mine is an 1.5″ 3 ring binder with clear plastic cover. It is simple to make a spine label using Word. The tab inserts are made using Avery Label downloadable template.

Tabs in the Binder

Here is a list of the tabs I have in our binder. Obviously you can tailor this to fit your family and lifestyle.

Emergency Information
Children Information
House Info/Contacts
Auto Info
Insurance (house, auto, life)
Animal Information
Security Procedures
Paint Colors/Filter Sizes

What Goes in Each Tab

Since we do have house sitters to look after our animals and home, the emergency section includes pertinent information for someone who doesn’t live here on a regular basis. We also have a separate binder for house sitters with daily instructions on mail, garbage, how to work the television, when to feed the pets, etc.

Emergency Info

Water Shut Off instructions
What to Do in a Power Outage
What to Do if a car is stolen
Who to Contact if something were to happen to us (with their names, addresses, phone numbers, relationship, etc.)
List of immediate neighbors and their contact information
Police Emergency and Non-Emergency #s

Children Info

Doctors contact information
Each child’s DOB, SS#, Contact Info
All vaccinations
Copies of Passports, Credit Cards, Global Pass, Medical Insurance

Home Information/Contacts

Our House Street Address and phone number
List of all contractors/maintenance personnel and their contact information
All Utility companies account #s and phone numbers

Auto Information

Insurance Identification Cards
Make, Model, VIN#, License Plate to each car
Names and Addresses for Car Repair
Auto Insurance Information
Road Side Service Information
Onstar Information
Copies of Drivers Licenses, Recent Auto Repairs

Home/Auto/Life/Medical Insurance

Summary of Residential and Auto Coverage
All current insurance policies for home(s), car(s), life, umbrella, travel

Security Procedures

Alarm Instructions
Fire Alarm Instructions
How to Operate Gates
Legend for Alarm Codes
Programming Guide

Animal Information

List of animals, their breed, description, age
Veterinarian/Groomer contact information
Animal Control License #s
Microchip Information
Current pictures of each animal
Vaccination Certificates
Recent Medical information

Paint Colors and HVAC Filters

This section may seem a bit out of line with the others, but I cannot tell you how many times I reference our paint colors. Plus the filters are replaced every month and we have several vents. This is a great section to add items like this.

Current paint colors for exterior and interior of all buildings
List of sizes of filters for each area of the house

The House/Family information binder is a time saver too. If I need a copy of a passport or medical identification card, it is readily available, without me having to search. When the children were little, I would have current photos with their height, weight and descriptive information readily available. Who can remember all of that, especially in the middle of a crisis or emergency?

My theory is that if you plan and prepare for the worst, then the worst will never happen. Do you have a Household/Family Binder? With an active and busy life, it is comforting to know that there is a place where important information is kept and can be accessed easily.

This post shared with To Grammas House We Go #207

Creative Crafts Linky Party #5

Turnabout Tuesday #65-My Wee Abode

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Here is a peek into our home office. I have not shown this room before, probably because it tends to get messy! The home office is located upstairs between my art room and the master bedroom. As much of our home interior is painted white and neutral colors, the office space is more masculine and dark, reminiscent of an old law office. My husband uses it primarily as his main work area.

The office is a highly functioning U-shaped space with French doors leading out to the wrap around outdoor terrace. This second story location provides expansive views to the east, south and west. To see more about this terrace, click here.

The custom-made cabinets are stained a cherry/ebony color with a high gloss finish. When designing the space, we needed lots of book shelves and filing space for important documents and records.

On one side of the short U, is the copier station. All the business supplies are stored below~file folders, binders, copy paper, ink and back up school supplies.

On the other end of the U, is a small secondary workstation. Even though I don’t do much of my work there, I do consider it my space.

Here is where I display a collection of watercolors of a previous home. When I lived in Alameda, California in an 1894 Victorian, a group of plein air painters asked if they could conduct an art class in front of the house. Four artists spent the day with their chairs and easels carefully studying the lines of the house.

Each painting expresses a different perspective. But since I couldn’t decide which one I liked the best, I purchased all four of them.

Located below the bookcases are numerous filing drawers which are perfect to keep all the required documents like taxes and titles.

The main workstation has access to the desk and computer station by way of a swivel chair. Sorry for the photo quality~lack of natural light.

An old pottery crock holds all the blueprints to the property. It is time to go in and clean out old tax records and documents again. I try and do that every 3 years or so, but it is an easy job to drop down to the bottom of the procrastination list.

I hope you enjoyed seeing our home office and forgive me for the less than high quality photos. To read more about the restoration of the 2nd story master bedroom, bath and office, click here.

Part of me is tempted to paint all the cabinets a high gloss blue, but again, there is a long list of other projects that require attention. This one would be a fun design change, but certainly not necessary. What do you think?

Wishing you a great Tuesday!

This post shared with Charming Homes & Gardens Party #21

What chickens/duck get when it’s 113 degrees outside

After being out of town for 12 days, I’m feeling a bit lost here at home. The stacks of mail, bills need to be paid and I just don’t feel like doing much of anything in 111 degree heat. Seems like all the good relaxing vibes fly right out the window and are replaced with the foreboding sense of responsibility and chores. So today’s post is about catching up with you!

My time at the Cabin

The good news is that we finally got rain in the mountains and lots of it. When we have such a dry summer, it doesn’t take much for a massive forest fire to start. The one and only day I decided to go do run errands (Walmart, Home Depot, Lowe’s) is when I got caught in a torrential downpour. Given the ground is so dry, the volume of rain couldn’t absorb fast enough.

Here is what I posted on Instagram. The roads were badly flooded within minutes after the first clap of thunder. This felt like my first flash flood and when I was driving through this, escape options raced through my mind.

Perhaps the storm disrupted nature, as it was shortly thereafter that I had a bat(s), mouse and woodpecker experience. A bat, possibly two, flying around inside the bedroom, a mouse in the house and then several woodpeckers.

Coronavirus: should we be afraid of bats? - Geographical Magazine — Image from Geographical Magazine

The next day I searched everywhere and never found the bat(s). Later that evening, Mr. Mouse visited me again. I set a trap, put really good Brie cheese on it and then hoped I didn’t hear it snap shut in the middle of the night. When I woke up the next morning, the trap was still engaged but the cheese was missing. Very smart mouse.

Did you know that a group of woodpeckers is called a descent? Well, that what it felt like. The woodpeckers are relentless in pecking at our cedar siding. All day long….tap..tap..tap. I must have looked like a mad woman running outside scaring them away. Look at the damage they’ve done. The challenge is that they are a protected species and insurance doesn’t cover the repair.

In search of the bats/mouse

The unintended consequence of not finding the bat(s) or mouse resulted in me deep cleaning. Envisioning a dead bat or mouse behind a sofa was impetus enough to get me scrubbing.

So how often do you deep clean? You know, really clean, where you move furniture, roll up the rugs, and wipe down every single surface? Me? Not so much. Maybe once a year?

Sprucing up the furniture

Since we are at 7500 feet in altitude, unless it is raining it is quite dry. And the furniture suffers.

This Howard’s Feed-N-Wax wood polish and conditioner is a good one. See the side that wood that is conditioned and the one that is not? The results are impressive and it smells nice. Click here for the link.

Cleaning all the Vents

If I could re-design something, HVAC vents would be it. These are the most unattractive and dust collecting devices ever created.

Hours were spent moving all the rugs, vacuuming underneath and then cleaning the floors with Bona Floor Cleaner. I use this same cleaner on our 110 year old hardwood floors in Phoenix and prefer it to other wood floor cleaners.

What is out of sight is out of mind, so I climbed on a ladder and looked on top of the curtain rods. Eeek! Lots of cobwebs.

How often do you clean your lampshades? Finally, I did this to all of mine.

This cluttered cord look is disturbing and I really need a system to label each and every cord. But in the meantime, I just vacuumed behind all the various cabinets.

The great room has 3 large sliding doors. The grooves where the doors slide get so dusty and dirty.

After all of this, which literally took me hours, I didn’t find any mice or bats, dead or alive. Which makes me wonder where they went….

The good news now is the cabin is the cleanest it has ever been and then, of course, I had to leave to head home to Phoenix!

Project Update

Now that I’m back home, yesterday I started the actual stenciling of the pool house bathroom floor. To date, the floor has been cleaned, primed and painted with 2 coats of white paint.

This will be a time consuming one. Here’s my progress so far. I do feel like I’ve bitten off a bit much but I can’t stop now.

This room doesn’t get a lot of natural direct light so the photos are a bit dingy with the overhead lights on. A bigger project than anticipated, it will definitely take some time to complete. To see another floor stenciling project I did, click here.

Summer Canning

My friend, Rick asked me if I wanted 50 pounds of tomatoes as he has a farmer resource. Naturally I said yes and now wondering when I’m going to have time to can them. But homemade tomato sauce is so good and worth the effort!

So between stenciling, canning and paying bills, that’s my exciting weekend! Please tell me you are doing something fun and exciting so I can live vicariously through you!!!

Happy Saturday, my friends.

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