Resetting the Room

By Elizabeth Prata

I enjoy being productive. I enjoy knowing I'm using my time and resources well. I always have. After I was saved and became a Christian, I learned the importance of shepherding our resources wisely. This is because all that we have is given to us by God, and when we use our resources well (time, space, money, energy...) then it honors Him, the Giver.

I listen to a podcast and read the blog of Reagan Rose called Redeeming Productivity. In the latest podcast, he talked about 6 tweaks to habits he is trying out. One of those he called "Resetting the Room."

Goodness, I already do that one! I love it! I just didn't have a name to call it, except "normal." LOL.

It's when you leave a room for the day or the night, and you take a moment to put everything back into order the way it was when you entered. You put the sofa pillows back into the corners. You collect the coffee mugs or soda cans and bring them to the kitchen. If the kitchen is your main go-to room, you wash the dishes or put them into the dishwasher, lay the towel over the hook. Make it look organized for yourself or the next person or the next time you enter it.

I enjoy when I walk into a room and it's orderly. It is restful to walk in and be calmed rather than be aggravated. It's why I make my bed every morning. I pick up my clothes and either put them into the hamper or hang them in the closet. When I walk into a room I don't want to have my stomach clench up or grimace because I see all the things I have to do to get the room ready for use instead of being able to come in and just enjoy the room.

When I was growing up, the adult in my home had a different idea of orderly than I did. My love for orderliness comes from that and the opportunity I have now to make my place exactly the way I want it. I know since I live alone it's easier to maintain its tidiness. But even for a married couple or a mom of a busy family, it doesn't take long to re-hang the dishcloth, to put the dishes in the sink, clear off the table of accumulated stuff, put away the laundry.

I think resetting the room makes sense. What do you think? Do just abandon it all and head to bed, and it doesn't bother you? Do you pick up? Obsessively clean LOL, your mileage may vary, but I do enjoy an orderly room.

My little office

This might not look like much, but it's both a victory and a pleasure. Let me explain.

I live in a 425 sf apartment, essentially, 2 rooms plus bath. Every item brought in has to fulfill a need, be beautiful, and/or have a spot to land. I spend the bulk of my time in the apartment at the table, reading, writing, and surfing the internet, which doubles as entertainment with my various streaming services. Therefore, the dining table doubles as a desk, and this area in the kitchen as an office. But how not to have clutter? How to have everything handy, within arm's reach? I do not want it to look messy but I want it to be functional.

If you think about all the accouterments one needs to have a viable office, it's a lot. I have:

Printer (old, the driver is going on it...still works though )
Scanner (old driver, it's going...still works though)
Personal Laminator
printer paper
notebooks
reference books
Bibles
notepads
prayer journal
books I'm reading now
Pens, scissors, paper clips
Post-its
Post-it Arrow Tabs
Cat Nail Clippers, comb
USB chargers
Cellphone
Speakers
Tissues (sappy movies get me every time, so does praying, and reading the Bible)
Table fan
coaster for water/tea/coffee
Lamp (good light is a must!)

All must be within hand. So I created a space where, voila, it is within reach of where I sit. It's organized, and not-unpleasant looking. As an organizer person that is why I call it a victory. This is what you see from different vantage points in the living room, where guests might be. Everything is on or inside the bookcase:

We have a mini-store at school where a salesman comes once a month to set up a display of school-related items teachers might want to buy. In May there was a darling looking little notebook I could not resist. That's my weakness, paper and notebooks.

It's hardcover, and inside one cover is a lined full size pad, and on the other inside cover is another array if post-it sized pads, sticky tabs, a smaller lined pad, and an envelope to contain scraps and notes and stuff. I wasn't sure how I'd use it, but I decided I wanted it anyway. I don't usually gravitate to girly things, but I do like it. Maybe there's frilly hope for me yet.

It since has become my prayer journal, and I sure do love it.

I watched The Karate Kid again on Amazon Prime the other day. I say 'again' because I saw it when it first came out, 34 years ago! Hard to believe how fast time flies. It has held up very well. Everyone needs a Mr Miyagi in their life, someone to be patient, kind, and take an interest. To just be there for you.

Geeking out on organizing my bookshelves

My philosophy and commitment is to tiny living with low consumerism. Last month I wrote a piece about re-using what you already have to solve a problem, rather than running out to buy something new. The issue arose because I'd been gifted with a bunch of books, but living in a small apartment which I like to keep uncluttered, I'd run out of room and was unwilling to start making piles of books around. I looked at what I had and decided to use a CD tower I'd put outside for a plant stand, and bring it in and make an additional bookshelf. Problem solved.

That was the issue about the books in my Theology section of my lovely home library- too many for the bookcases. But half my books are secular.

I received a book about the early days of Winston Churchill I'm really looking forward to reading, and I bought this charming book from 1945 at the second hand store the other day. I had no room to put them on the shelves.

All my books are organized by topic or theme, including the secular ones. I have an Education section, Natural History, Reference, Novels, The American West, Medieval & Renaissance, and so on. My bookcases are all pretty well organized except for one, the one in the bedroom that I don't use a lot. This had become the catch-all, sadly. I also had not emptied and dusted it in quite some time. (OK, never). Every time I went into the bedroom I'd see it and my stomach would clench and the passing thought arose, "I really have to get to that."

Today was the day. I decided earlier in the week to make a fun project out of it and use the time not only to clean and organize but re-organize the topical sections that had slowly been split up as I carelessly tossed a book here or there.

Why is this important?

Because when you live tiny, everything has to have its place. Secondly, when you accumulate stuff, you have to know what you have, and you have to be able to put your hands on it when you need it. Those are basic Tenets of Organizing.

I have 5 bookcases in the living room, and two in the bedroom.

Below, Mythology, Poetry & Opera, Renaissance & Medieval. Some random Natural History and American West orphaned from the rest in the bedroom. This is untenable.

Below are theology books that could not fit in the main bookcase. And router and modem so I don't have to look at them. These are about church life, missionary biographies, discernment.

Main bookcase. It dominates the living room. Top shelf: Conchology, Art. The rest are theology: commentaries, devotionals, church history.

Below are a few theology books I can't fit into the other two bookshelves.

The bookcase in the kitchen next to my work table has my Bibles, the printer, pens and other office supplies, books I'm reading now, scanner, binders of notes from online classes, and pads of paper. It's all within reach so it makes for a very efficient work station.

Reference books. Big ones! This was the CD Tower/Plant Stand/Bookcase problem solved issue I mentioned up top.

So this afternoon I started with the top shelf and worked my way down.

I reunited the orphaned books and it feels so good. The basket on the middle shelf holds eye glasses and eyeglass cases, plus some hosiery that tends to get lost in the sock drawer. However, if I need the shelf space later I can always find new homes for those smaller items and put the basket in the garage until I need it again.

The books aren't so packed in that I can't even get one out. I threw away a few and made a pile of cookbooks and two others to take to school and give away or put on the swap shelf. A few things I put in the bin I have in the closet. The closet is for deep storage. When you live tiny, you want the available space maximized for things you need to touch more often. This calls for some decision-making, which is why I 'scheduled' it for this weekend instead of the evening after work.

Best of all:

The house is orderly. I've gone through my books so I've refreshed my mind of what I have. This is good if I need to reference something, or if a friend states a need and I can fill it by giving one away. Like, "I really want to read 'To Sir, With Love' but I can't find a copy." I can say, "Oh! I have one I can give you!" Also, the bookcase has been cleaned from top to bottom.

This blog post might seem unnecessarily detailed and/or mundane, but it's my part in attempting to promote the philosophies of tiny living/respecting and using what you have, and how to keep a home organized.

After I got done cleaning/organizing/re-shelving I took a nap. Of course.

Have a good weekend everyone!

Frugal organizing

I often write about ways to save money and time in grocery shopping and cooking. Being frugal in these tight economic times suits many people from all socio-economic levels.

There is a kind of frugality to the way we use space, too. I live in a 350 sf apartment. I like that, it is economical to heat, light, and clean. It's frugal to not use or pay for more space than we need, and we really need less than we think.

But a small living space, even with just one person living in it, can become cluttered too if we don't watch out. Add to that, there is always some unused space that can be used, if we think creatively.

In frugal living in a small space, the less cluttered you can be, the better. That means clear and clean surfaces. I don't leave lots of books and magazines and junk on top of the coffee table, dining table, or bookcase tops. The eye likes to stop when it's roaming around the room. The less it has to stop it, the more of a clean sweep the eye can do, the bigger the room will seem. For example, I use a clear cutting board so that it doesn't clutter the small kitchen counter top and make the eye stop. I keep the surfaces clean, as I mentioned, I put the books spines together evenly so that the clean lines on the bookcase look neater. Think of giving your bangs a trim. They always looks neater afterward don't they? Even a small trim.

There are spaces around your home, apartment, trailer, studio etc that you can use. Recently my one closet got pretty packed. I knew where all the things in it were, but they were hard to get to. Having things you're unable to freely and easily use is just the same as not having them at all.

I decided to empty it, sell what I haven't used lately, and re-organize the rest.

I don't have a lot of shoes, but the few I do have I don't want in a pile on the floor. I hate searching for the mate through a dark closet at the last second before I have to leave for work. I decided to get a behind-the-door shoe organizer. It was $8.00. I put my scarves in the empty pockets. They had kept falling to the floor. I continually forgot the ones I had. This way they are out in the light and I can see what I've got. The behind-the-door pocket hanging organizers are useful for the space that is out of sight but filling a previously unused spot. One caveat, make sure that you buy one whose hooks that go over the door can allow the door to close. The hooks for this one are strong enough to hold a full organizer but slim enough to allow the door to close.

There is another behind-the-door spot in my bedroom besides the bedroom closet. It's the bedroom door. I never shut it because I am the only one who lives here, lol. I bought a larger pocketed organizer for that space and use it to put in my hats, canvas bags, and purses. The hooks on this organizer ($7) are the plastic ones on the left side of the top of the door. They don't allow the door to close. So I use this organizer for the door that does not need closing. These items used to be
on the top shelf of the closet. The black bag hanging at the bottom contains other smaller canvas bags. It's light. It needed to be accessible because I use a lot of canvas bags, so I hung it by hanging in as another level to the pockets of the organizer, and I can still use the bottom pocket to hold things.

There is space between the stove and the counter in the kitchen. Hmmm, what can I do with it? It's out of sight to my eye when I look into the kitchen so using the space won't clutter up my small cooking area. I know! I'll use a strong magnet to hold a canvas bag to store my dishtowels in! I only have two drawers, and one is broken. The other holds all my knives. This is a great solution for items I use constantly in making them accessible yet hidden.

Look around your home and look for spots that if used, won't clutter the space or stop the eye from roaming.

The Tea Bar at the Hermitage

I wrote on my other blog about my going into summer mode. In that essay I meant summer mode for ministry. Today is the first day of true summer vacation for me, who works in a public elementary school. On this blog summer mode means other things.

For example, I re-organized my tea and made a tea bar. I've accumulated various teas through purchase or gifts. I crammed them all into nooks and crannies in this kitchen, which is very small. In fact, my entire apartment is 450 sf, and I call it The Hermitage in the summer because I dwell quietly in here and rarely come out.

Living in a small space means having a good memory as to where stuff is, and keeping it organized so you can get to it. In a tiny space, it's rare that I can just go up to something and pull it out, usually it means having to move at least one thing to get to another. Th stuff I use all the time has priority and is always accessible.

The tea has now become a priority. I want to know what I have and be able to gt to it. That means moving some stuff around and re-dedicating other things (like the mason jars) in order to accomplish this. Living small is easy but it takes dedication and practice.

Here is my bar:

The tea set is a British genuine Whittard Clipper series pot and cup. The mug to the side is a favorite alternate to the cup. I have my favorite coasters at the bottom, a friend crocheted those for me and I just love them. The mason jar is a homemade canned banana peppers to use as antipasto when I have tea.

In the mason jars along the top I have Yogi Honey Lavender tea which is smooth and refreshing. Next is Tazo Darjeeling, Organic Rose Hip tea, Rooibos from South Africa, Chai Spice black tea and some Chamomile, and last along the top is a green tea which I enjoy chilled in the summer, with lemon.

In the first of the two jars next to the Whittard set we have some very expensive Talbot tea and a couple of English Breakfast Teas from Harney & Sons. The second container holds copious amounts of Hibiscus Flower tea, which I only enjoy chilled.

I like it. It feels civilized.

Something else I've been thinking of is organizing my crafting supplies. I haven't done any book binding or collaging for a very long time. I gave away the bulk of my supplies a few years ago. But now I feel the urge again. When I gave away my stuff I consolidated it all to one antique trunk in the bedroom. Everything is crammed in there. Living in small spaces all my life, I've always had my art supplies scattered around. Large papers were under the bed, tools were in a bureau drawer next to the socks, paints were in the china cabinet. In this apartment having it all in one spot, albeit the trunk has been OK for the few times I've wanted to drag anything out. But now it's a pain.

You ladies know what I'm talking about, when you want to craft you like to browse through all the papers and get a bird's eye view of all your stuff. Having it easy to get to also means more likely to actually craft instead of just thinking about it.

Living in a small space like I'd said means prioritizing. So why have the extension cords and light bulbs in prime space when I can have my crafting supplies in prime space. I have an antique bureau in the living room that has 9 drawers. Three of them hold candles. One holds extension cords and light bulbs. One holds Christmas bags and ribbons. All of these aforementioned items are used extremely infrequently. Candles when the lights go out, Christmas wrapping once per year, extension cords hardly ever.

I plan to move the bookbinding stuff to the bureau in the living room and the stuff in the bureau to the trunk. The table in the kitchen is where I write, read, eat, and craft. It is a good table with a large top, and is next to where I place my tea or coffee or water. There is good light  and I can happily sit there and make stuff, even having the laptop on the table with a sermon or a movie playing.

I don't need to dedicate all 9 drawers to junk. This is prime space.

I spend most of my time in the kitchen,
having the craft supplies nearby would be great

Anyway, not huge problems. It's nice to worry about my craft supplies instead of the hunger of students at school ... or why they miss so many days at school ... or why they have tear stains on their dirty face...

It's nice to kick back and only worry about reorganizing something!

The Library Book Sale

I've been asked to become the Library Fundraising Chair on the Friends' Executive Board. It's fancier than it sounds. I love the folks on it, they have been great and welcoming. I was a Gray Public Library Trustee and volunteer back before I started The Monument Newspaper, and I worked to help out with their book sale too so I was interested to see how "my" new library does their sale.

Hard covers are tagged at $1 and soft covers are 50 cents. In Gray the books were less expensive but I think people will pay $1 for a hardcover, I know, I bought 8 of them!

The Friends ask a local publishing house to donate, and they receive 41 boxes of fairly new books, all hard covers. Handling all those books is hard so they've made an arrangement with the local jail, who send out inmates to unload the skid and tote in the boxes. The inmates all come away with a free book of their choice.

Expensive or rare books are sold on half.com (an ebay outlet) or librarybooksales.org for closer to their retail or market price.

The Gray library has a wonderful downstairs in which the book sale books are always at the ready arranged alphabetically on shelves. Most libraries do not have such luxurious space and this one is no exception. The day that the skid arrived folding banquet tables are set up in the meeting room and as the inmates brought in the books the volunteers were ready and we unpacked them onto the tables. The idea at first was to get them out of boxes and then when the empties were taken away the books were alphabetized.

They know what they are doing, for sure, and within three hours over a thousand books were unpacked and alphebetized. I'm staffing the checkout table Thursday night on the Friends' preview night, and again on Friday from 10-12 when it opens to the public. Happy reading and remember to support your library!