I promised to post again about a project I’m working on! And this time I’m working on our curtains. If you have ever stayed over at our house, you know that the guest bedroom had no curtains which was awkward for changing and also made it super bright in the morning. It was time for curtains!

As usual, I looked for free, hand-me down curtains first, especially since we haven’t painted that room yet and aren’t planning on it anytime soon. My mom happened to have my old ones from highschool, which are a neat Ancient Egyptian pattern. She also had a matching decorative pillow, and I had Egyptian art work. Wallah! Room components aligned to decorate the third bedroom. I got the curtains from her and held them up to see how they look and…. OH NO! THEY ARE TOO SHORT!!

Distress! Anger! Frustration! And then it occured to me that I can just make them longer with some other fabric. Now, if this happens to you but you love the look of long, flowy and proper window treatments, then read no further  But if you are creative and somewhat lazy, really like the fabric you already have and are looking for an easy way to curtain your house, then continue.

I went to Jo-Ann’s with my 40% off coupon, and bought a yard of simple black cotton fabric that would match my curtains. I also got the brilliant (so humble, sorry) idea to hide the unsophisticated attachment line with some trim. In this case, short gold fringe.

Fancy setup of my materials and tools, plus George in the background for framed cuteness

I cut the black fabric in half, and then pinned each half to the bottom of my Egyptian fabric. Because I’m lazy, I did not pin the gold fringe but just attached it on free-hand as I sewed the fabrics together. Very lazy but effective. Did I also mention that I have no sewing machine? All hand sewn!

It’s hard to take pictures of pins…

Hand made in the USA!

I then sew the edges of the black fabric so they wouldn’t fray. Installed the curtain rods (different post altogether) and hung up my curtain. Done!

The black fabric allows some light in, which I like because I’m not a vampire

Stay tuned for more updates on this bedroom as we attempt to make a bed frame!

Hello again! It’s been a while. I have neglected the blog, which is not a very domestic thing to do. End of the school year was very hectic, and then the summer started with a busy bang. However, I have found myself with much more time recently, yet have not been posting regularly. Why is that?

Time management is difficult. No matter how many advice websites you read or people you talk to, nothing really makes it easy to suddenly get it all done. Then, there’s the problem of motivation. Somehow, they go hand in hand for me, as busy and stressful times also mean that I have less energy and motivation at the end of the day. Sometimes, the same thing happens when suddenly you have too much time. Too much time to think and always the deceptive feeling that you could get it done later….so why not wait…

Sometimes, creative and energy-consuming projects and hobbies are neglected because they are harder to do than the routine. First, the routine is a priority, because it’s what we need to do each day to function. But it’s also easier, because we don’t have to think about how to make dinner, do the laundry, read a book, etc. We do have to think about how to complete a new project, or even how to start one. I find writing the blogs is so much harder for me, because I really really have to think about it. However creative projects for the home are such a big part of my domestic web. I am sad when I can’t motivate myself or structure time so that I can complete those little things that make our house more beautiful or efficient.

Another problem I run into is motivation, or follow-through. Say I am walking in my garden, and I think of a brilliant idea, “Yes! What an excellent topic!” I may pull out my phone and write a note, but the number of times I actually write a whole blog there and then is scarce. I usually have to go back and read through my notes, discard bad ones, and develop my better ideas. It’s all about discipline, and finding the structured time to write something.

Here are some awesome blog titles that will probably never come to life:

“Mopping, not as Zen when you get your shoes wet”
“Gardening- moving stones around can look nice?!”
“Coexisting with nature: ants (iffy), spiders (necessary but scary), crickets (nope)”
“Reducing dirty dishes: stand in your kitchen and eat out of the pan”

Yup, those are all winners.

And with that, I leave you with the promise that I will post something in the next few weeks about some house projects I have done!

Not quite related to the post, but I did mention spiders and walking in my garden…

I’ve been working on more home organization and projects, and I’m finding more and more that we are frugal with our purchases. It’s always good to check things out and compare prices, but sometimes it’s even better to make do with what you have. It’s not always easy, but sometimes you can think outside the box and solve a problem you may have.

For example, we were getting tired of our disorganized kitchen. We don’t have a built in pantry, so instead we had a collection of smaller shelves that were stacked to the brim with non-perishables, cat items, cook books, you name it. It was a mess and it looked bad, plus things kept falling off. The first thought was to buy a storage furniture that would serve as a pantry- $80 for the cheapest. We also had to fit our small fridge in the picture, and work around a vent as well. We also considered installing new cabinets, but why stop at that? Do a while kitchen remodel… and $20,000 later… You get my point. As it turns out, getting rid of some things but mostly moving everything around and installing a (free) shelf to store the cookbooks solved all the problems! The space was there all along- I just had to use it better and it didn’t even take money to fix that problem. You can also apply this concept to re-doing a room by repainting furniture you already have, moving it around, perhaps moving some things out of the room and into another place. In my opinion, it’s always better to experiment for free before rushing in to spend money.

Sometimes it’s also nice to make something yourself when the options available to purchase aren’t great, as long as what you need is relatively simple to make (if it’s complicated or needs specialized tools, or if it takes too long and the materials are too expensive, then I advise to DIY only if you enjoy doing the work and plan to do it again). I needed some tassels for a project, and went to the store to find that small tassels were $3.99 each! I needed 10 of them, and that’s $40 for freaking tassels! So instead I bought a yard of fringe for $6 in a color I liked (did I mention that the tassels only came in one color?) and cut that into 10 sections, sowed myself a tassel and done! I also had to buy some embroidery thread to make the tassels, but that was $2.60. The whole project cost me $8.60 and I may have spent about 15 minutes making tassels. .

Sometimes we actually need to buy something, or hire someone to complete a project. But that’s not always needed, and in this convenient world we live in it’s very easy to shop as a go-to. The main idea is to be content with what you have first! Or try to at least.

I’ve been off the past few days and I’ve had lots of time to do something I’ve been wanting to do for a while: organize. Organizing your house or apartment can seem daunting, and it actually is if you try to tackle all of it at once. Here are some things that help me when I feel inclined to organize.

Having an organization method is very important. It’s not just about where to put things, but how you put them away- Do you use this item frequently? How accessible should it be? Is it breakable or heavy? Do you need to stand on a stool to reach it? Etc. I find that inventing a method for yourself takes time, because it’s about trial and error with what works. I have re-arranged my baking supplies hundreds of times, because I keep finding new ways to organize them as things fall on my head. Also I keep adding to them, or getting rid of things as time goes on.

Another piece of advice I’m finding is that if you haven’t even looked at something for a whole year, then you might consider giving it away. Quick, like ripping off a band-aid, so that you don’t have time to worry about the sentimental or potential usefulness of something. If you’ve got less stuff then it’s so much easier to organize and find homes for it (the only side note to this is things you’ve got for sentimental purposes, which you may not look at often but don’t want to give away).

Finally, don’t try to do your entire place at one time, it’ too much! I put things away hastily after we moved last year because our wedding was coming up in less than two months. And then I promptly forgot about many of our things until they literally came crashing down on my head after having been piled up precariously in a closet (I can’t reinforce how much this happens to me, and what a great motivator it is). I knew where I put things, and I didn’t care that they were messy as long as they were accessible. It’s OK to have certain things in a jumble if you currently aren’t using them. As long as you aren’t tripping on things as you walk down the hallway, then just let them be until you have the time to experiment with an efficient organization method. It’s better to organize well, than to semi-organize and then end up with a mess again.

It’s always best to have helpers!

It’s been a couple of busy weeks so I haven’t had much time to think about being domestic, or write posts. I have to admit that not much Zen sweeping has been done in my house, or dishes, but I have been following my own advice on weekday meals at least. Now I need to write a post about how to time manage so I can write posts in time to post them. I may not have said “post” enough times.

In the meantime, here are some photos of spring at my house:

The garden gnome and Testudo are always watching the sunsets together…

Always the best sight to come home to…

As I explained last week, doing dishes seems to be something that piles up a lot for me during the week, when I am caught in the whirlwind of work and activities and so on. Another “simple” task that tends to get tricky for me is making dinner. Unfortunately, it also has to happen EVERY…DAY. Who knew we had to EAT EVERYDAY? Ugh.

It’s hard when you want to make fun, healthy, gourmet, complicated meals. Constantly making boxed mac and cheese isn’t very healthy, and purchasing healthy frozen food gets expensive, very expensive. One big helpful hint I have is to simply make a list of dinner ideas during the weekend so you can plan out the meals, especially for busy days. For example, on Mondays I have 45 mins between jobs, and I’m gone from home 8am until 9pm, so I’ve got to eat dinner in those 45 mins. I can’t waste the precious time deciding what I want to make, looking up recipes, checking if I’ve got ingredients, etc. And being a busy day, I especially need good nutrition. Planning out the meal ahead of time makes it so much easier!

Another tip is to make double to save for later. There are many good recipes that can be frozen, and reheat very well, like chili or sweet potato veggie burgers (more on those later). It takes the same amount of time to prep and cook double, and it’s a huge time saver to microwave your own homemade, delicious and healthy food on your busy days.

A third tip is to plan to make simple dinners. You’d be surprised how fast it is to sauté some veggies and combine them with pre-cooked rice and beans. Or chop up some fruit with nuts and dried craisins for a salad. Even super nutritious sandwiches like avocado, tomato, alfalfa sprouts and hummus are quick to make.

Finally, staples are good. Once you have experimented with recipes, you’ll know which are your favorites and be able to make them much quicker because you’ll know how the process goes. I always find new recipes are harder because I have to figure out if it’s cooked all the way? If it’s supposed to look like this? Find those dinner staples, and plan to cook them certain weeknights.

As a recap:
– plan out meals
– make extra for next time, freeze it
– make simple meals like salad, sandwiches, lightly steamed veggies, etc.
– in a strap, stick to staples
– plan, plan, plan! planning is your friend