h is for....Home
My home to be more specific.
This post was really difficult to write (which would explain the long delay between these A-Z posts).
My home isn't exactly my dream place, nor is it in the condition I wish it were. It may have to do with the fact that I've lived here since my sophomore year of college, so it still feels more like a dorm than a grown up home.
It's crazy to think that I've lived in this place for 7 years now. It was my first place away from home (that wasn't a dorm) and it was my first homeownership. This place has seen me turn from a shy college girl, to a professional with her shit together (for the most part anyway). And it also tells a lot about me.... for instance, if I had to sum up my place in a few words, I would say "cluttered, dark, small, and messy." But I don't mean it in a completely negative sense. Thinking along these lines helps me to see more of who I am and helps me figure out how I want to change my place into what Steven and I both really want.
So before you start thinking that I'm this gross, homebody that needs to star in her own episode of Hoarders: Buried Alive, let me explain.....
It's cluttered because 1- I've lived here for so many years and accumulated a lot of crap, 2-because I inherited things from my mom, dad, grandma, uncle, and step-dad. Odd and ends have helped fill the place, but they don't necessarily go together. It was great during my college days when I just wanted something to fill the empty void, but now it feels, well....cluttered. And 3- I hate tossing things. Steven has helped me in this area though, so I'm not as bad as I once was. But it's just so hard to get rid of things that have a memory behind it, or I think I might need (or use in the classroom). I had to face the truth though, if a giant piece of cardboard has been sitting in my closet for years, its very unlikely I'll ever use it and I need to toss it. Poor Steven has had a rough time with helping me figure this out, but at least I'm on the road to recovery!!!
It's dark, because unknown to me at the time of purchase, it's location doesn't get a lot of sunlight. Ever. So it seems more like a cave than anything, which is good for movies and sleeping in, but not for trying to be active or fighting being sad or depressed.
It's small, because it's only a 2 bedroom condo. Actually, in size it may be considered smaller for a home, but for us, it really is the perfect size. For now.
And it's messy for the simple reason of I hate cleaning. I put it off for as long as possible and that's awful (trust me I know). Plus having puppy who sheds and is getting potty trained doesn't exactly help either. But I'm working on it and I plan on giving it a deep clean in a week or so when school lets out.
In realizing the faults and cons of my place and knowing what I wish I had, I've also come up with some to-dos for our place that I hope will help turn it into more of a grown up home. Of course, a lot of them will take a toll on my budget and time, so they are more of long term goals.
- get hardwood floors for the living area
-get a new sofa
-new cabinets
-new lighting in the kitchen
-declutter the dining room
-replace the bathroom hardware
PS. If you're interested, I've posted pictures every one and again here and here, if you were curious.
xo
kel
Showing posts with label my home. Show all posts
Showing posts with label my home. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Monday, March 26, 2012
52 lists in 52 weeks// week 43
Last year for my birthday I made my annual goal list (24 before 25). I made some loftly goals, but one of them included decluttering my home.
This week I started reading The Happiness Project. I'm only a few chapters in (and am already in love with it), but one of her chapters talks about decluttering her home. In fact, it helped improve her happiness.
So I got to thinking.....even though I've started decluttering, I honestly have barely touched the surface. Now is the perfect time to start. And trust me, Steven agrees. One problem with our living situation is that this has been my home for over 5 years and his for only 1. I've had it decorated the way I've wanted and let's face it, since I'm a control freak, I've kept the apartment pretty much the same. Granted, I did try to get rid of girly stuff (like flowers and posters), but it still looks my place, not ours.
So I went on pinterest. I searched for organizing and decluttering tips. I checked out tons of photos. And books. And websites. And lists.
What I came up with was that this is do-able. I just need to do it. I need to organize my organizing plan and slowly get to it. One task at a time.
The result of all this research are all of these links below (and my own personal organization goal list).
Psst..... have you figured out what the weekly list is??
list 43: What's on your declutter list?
This modern lady blogs all about being a "woman with a plan and routine". She gives tips to her system and how she made it work. It's not just on organizing your home either, but rather organizing your entire life. It gave me a lot of good ideas!
Want a declutter calendar that sends you tips everyday on things you can do to help your system work better? She has a blog too.
There are also some awesome looking books on decluttering that I found on amazon. You can see them here and here.
Then there's "project simplify". Her blog feature lasted for 5 weeks and gives photos and tips. She breaks it down into rooms and "hot spots". It's seriously inspiring.
And lastly, the 21 day challenge. This blogger divides each day into specific spots to clean out and organize, which makes it all a little easier and do-able.
So here's my decluttering list:
1. finish cleaning out the garage.
2. clean out my closet (again).
Like Gretchen mentions, sometimes you need to go back to a place you already cleared and decluttered and see what you might have either overlooked or changed your mind about.
3. work on the bedroom.
4. work on the living room and dining room.
I'm combining these spaces only because they flow into each other and are small since we live in a condo
5. work on the kitchen.
6. combine some things from the house in storage containers in the garage.
7. work on the storage unit outside our condo.
This area is really small, so it ended up being the home of unwanted things that ought to just be thrown away. So no time like the present.
8. take unwanted things to be donated.
Sounds like a duh thing, but honestly there's a point to it, 2 actually. One is that so often I put things in a pile to be donated, but it takes forever to get there, so hopefully this will speed up the process. Two, it's nice to add easy to do and check off items to my to-do lists. That way I don't have a ton of items that take lots of time and energy. I feel more accomplished if there are some I can check off quite easily (especially at the end).
9. something to remember during the whole project: it's okay for the place to look bare.
Maybe this sounds silly, but to me it's something I battle with.
Steven prefers clean, spacious and almost bare looking.
I've always lived in a home where the walls were covered with paintings, and there wasn't a lot of bare space. It also didn't help that when my mom's parents and brother died, we inherited all of their things (including antiques that we didn't have the heart to discard). Because of that, I've always decorated my place likewise. Cluttered. If a wall didn't have a poster or painting, it looked weird and naked. If a drawer or shelf didn't have anything on it, it was awkward looking and needed to be changed.
So I'm trying to change that idea. I'm trying to be okay with bare and uncluttered, because I think it will make me feel less stressed and happier. And I know that's how it will make Steven feel.
10. try new organization idea and techniques. (because i can't leave my list at just 9.....)
something that works better than what I have now.
What does your list look like???
xoxo
kel
And for more organization tips and ideas, you can check out my pinterest.
This week I started reading The Happiness Project. I'm only a few chapters in (and am already in love with it), but one of her chapters talks about decluttering her home. In fact, it helped improve her happiness.
So I got to thinking.....even though I've started decluttering, I honestly have barely touched the surface. Now is the perfect time to start. And trust me, Steven agrees. One problem with our living situation is that this has been my home for over 5 years and his for only 1. I've had it decorated the way I've wanted and let's face it, since I'm a control freak, I've kept the apartment pretty much the same. Granted, I did try to get rid of girly stuff (like flowers and posters), but it still looks my place, not ours.
So I went on pinterest. I searched for organizing and decluttering tips. I checked out tons of photos. And books. And websites. And lists.
What I came up with was that this is do-able. I just need to do it. I need to organize my organizing plan and slowly get to it. One task at a time.
The result of all this research are all of these links below (and my own personal organization goal list).
Psst..... have you figured out what the weekly list is??
list 43: What's on your declutter list?
This modern lady blogs all about being a "woman with a plan and routine". She gives tips to her system and how she made it work. It's not just on organizing your home either, but rather organizing your entire life. It gave me a lot of good ideas!
Want a declutter calendar that sends you tips everyday on things you can do to help your system work better? She has a blog too.
There are also some awesome looking books on decluttering that I found on amazon. You can see them here and here.
Then there's "project simplify". Her blog feature lasted for 5 weeks and gives photos and tips. She breaks it down into rooms and "hot spots". It's seriously inspiring.
And lastly, the 21 day challenge. This blogger divides each day into specific spots to clean out and organize, which makes it all a little easier and do-able.
So here's my decluttering list:
1. finish cleaning out the garage.
2. clean out my closet (again).
Like Gretchen mentions, sometimes you need to go back to a place you already cleared and decluttered and see what you might have either overlooked or changed your mind about.
3. work on the bedroom.
4. work on the living room and dining room.
I'm combining these spaces only because they flow into each other and are small since we live in a condo
5. work on the kitchen.
6. combine some things from the house in storage containers in the garage.
7. work on the storage unit outside our condo.
This area is really small, so it ended up being the home of unwanted things that ought to just be thrown away. So no time like the present.
8. take unwanted things to be donated.
Sounds like a duh thing, but honestly there's a point to it, 2 actually. One is that so often I put things in a pile to be donated, but it takes forever to get there, so hopefully this will speed up the process. Two, it's nice to add easy to do and check off items to my to-do lists. That way I don't have a ton of items that take lots of time and energy. I feel more accomplished if there are some I can check off quite easily (especially at the end).
9. something to remember during the whole project: it's okay for the place to look bare.
Maybe this sounds silly, but to me it's something I battle with.
Steven prefers clean, spacious and almost bare looking.
I've always lived in a home where the walls were covered with paintings, and there wasn't a lot of bare space. It also didn't help that when my mom's parents and brother died, we inherited all of their things (including antiques that we didn't have the heart to discard). Because of that, I've always decorated my place likewise. Cluttered. If a wall didn't have a poster or painting, it looked weird and naked. If a drawer or shelf didn't have anything on it, it was awkward looking and needed to be changed.
So I'm trying to change that idea. I'm trying to be okay with bare and uncluttered, because I think it will make me feel less stressed and happier. And I know that's how it will make Steven feel.
10. try new organization idea and techniques. (because i can't leave my list at just 9.....)
something that works better than what I have now.
What does your list look like???
xoxo
kel
And for more organization tips and ideas, you can check out my pinterest.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
shalom y'all
I'm really trying to change the place around and make it more "us". Ok...maybe it's really just more me, but I'm at least trying.
Here are some peeks....
One of my favorite things about our place is the sign (above) by the door. My friend and her family got it for my mom and I in Jerusalem some years back. It's perfect!
yea.... a couple of weekends ago Steven and I had a Harry Potter "weekend of wizardry". All the movies in 2 days. I must say....I am SOOOO excited for the final one to come out now! I had never seen all the movies before (only 2 or 3).
In Florida, you can never have too many flip flops....or rain boots. ha!
My sock monkey easter basket. I loved it so much, I couldn't put it away after easter.
Picture drawn by Janel. Love it!!
The above (and below) photos are by my bedside. I love the one of my dad clicking his heels. It was taken by my uncle after my dad graduated law school. It's probably one of my favorite photos of him.
Well, there it is. I still have so many more things that I want to change though. I get bored too easily....anyone else get that way? Bored and then feel the need to clean or reorganize or redecorate??
-kel
Here are some peeks....
One of my favorite things about our place is the sign (above) by the door. My friend and her family got it for my mom and I in Jerusalem some years back. It's perfect!
yea.... a couple of weekends ago Steven and I had a Harry Potter "weekend of wizardry". All the movies in 2 days. I must say....I am SOOOO excited for the final one to come out now! I had never seen all the movies before (only 2 or 3).
In Florida, you can never have too many flip flops....or rain boots. ha!
My sock monkey easter basket. I loved it so much, I couldn't put it away after easter.
Picture drawn by Janel. Love it!!
The above (and below) photos are by my bedside. I love the one of my dad clicking his heels. It was taken by my uncle after my dad graduated law school. It's probably one of my favorite photos of him.
Well, there it is. I still have so many more things that I want to change though. I get bored too easily....anyone else get that way? Bored and then feel the need to clean or reorganize or redecorate??
-kel
Friday, April 1, 2011
my style
In thinking about what my home style is.....I sadly have to admit to sum it up in one word would be: clutter.
I am not proud of this. Heck, I despise disorganization...but somehow it happened. My friend Ashley actually described it quite accurately, I like so many styles that I seem to find it hard to pick just one, so I go with a bunch and when I try to incorporate them....clutter ensues.
So I have a new goal.... I want to declutter my place. I also want to make it less girly and more unisex friendly. Afterall, I've had a boy roommate for over a year....
I want my new style to be fresh. Simple. Organized. Spring colors.
Any tips???
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
dear florida
Dear Florida,
Home to amazing cities such as Miami, Fort Lauderdale (and Las Olas), Orlando, Jacksonville, Pensacola, Key West, Naples, Tampa and so on.
and celebrities
and the most gorgeous beaches
and spring breakers!
Miami necklace found here
jacksonville necklace found here
and beautiful homes like this:
and insanely fun theme parks like universal, islands of adventure, busch gardens, wet and wild, disneyworld, epcot, animal kingdom, sea world......
and the most incredible sunsets ever (or at least in my opinion)
and the most gorgeous beaches
and home to the gators, noles, hurricanes, heat, panthers, dolphins, marlins, lightening, rays, ice pilots, jaguars, and my favorite: ospreys!!!....
you are my favorite state. maybe i'm a bit biased and perhaps this is the only state i've ever called home...but still. sunshine state, you hold my heart. while i may sometimes complain (or more than sometimes) about your humidity, hurricanes, rainy summer weather, heat, and lack of winter, i do adore you. you are home.
love always,
me
found here
found here
found here
found here
found here
found here
found here
sooooooo....... your turn
What's your favorite and/or home state?
found here
xoxoxo
kel
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
home again and awesome treats
A couple weeks ago in one of my "5 things I love monday" post I mentioned these adorable postcards from the lovely Becky at Strumpets Crumpets. When I got home from my vacation this weekend, I found a pretty package from her, with the postcards and iphone paper pad I had been drooling over (plus a few other cute items that are to die for). What a sweetheart! Suffice to say Becky, you totally made my day.
If you want your own....check them out at her lovely shop.
I also came home to a bunch of pen pal letters, netflix movies, and the new anthro catalog! I think I'm set for the next week. :)
I think it's time that I also FINALLY share with you my living room decor. I changed it up for Spring (yes I realize how long ago that was) but I decided to keep them up. When I first moved into my place I tried to make the living room like a movie theatre- so the colors were red, black and yellow (a bit depressing I know, but it worked!) However lately I've needed a change- so the new colors are pink, white and yellow (as you can tell!) I really like it and I also got some ideas from the lovely Elsie and Promise as well as some help from my friend Erica (who helped me paint the album covers) and my amazing boyfriend (who hung the albums for me). :)
If you want your own....check them out at her lovely shop.
I also came home to a bunch of pen pal letters, netflix movies, and the new anthro catalog! I think I'm set for the next week. :)
I think it's time that I also FINALLY share with you my living room decor. I changed it up for Spring (yes I realize how long ago that was) but I decided to keep them up. When I first moved into my place I tried to make the living room like a movie theatre- so the colors were red, black and yellow (a bit depressing I know, but it worked!) However lately I've needed a change- so the new colors are pink, white and yellow (as you can tell!) I really like it and I also got some ideas from the lovely Elsie and Promise as well as some help from my friend Erica (who helped me paint the album covers) and my amazing boyfriend (who hung the albums for me). :)
What do you think???
lovelove,
kel
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
fact tuesday (my home)
*i saw this survey on janel's blog (and some other pretty blogs as well) and thought it would be a cute idea for my fact tuesday feature! so enjoy!!
A- My AIR CONDITIONER is set on: 75 ish
B- My BEDROOM theme is: blue, black, white, and tan.... well im trying to stick to those colors only
B- My BEDROOM theme is: blue, black, white, and tan.... well im trying to stick to those colors only
C- The CAR in the driveway is: a grey 05 jetta v-dub!
D- My DESK looks: a bit messy. it's a small antique desk, so theres not much room on it and its contstanly cluttered (even though I rarely ever sit there!)
E- The EXACT time I wake up daily is: well, it should be 7, but it's more around 8 :( im horrible i know.
F- The FIRST thing I wash in the shower is: my hair
G- My GARAGE is filled with: everyone's stuff. it's mainly a storage area now for my stuff, my roommates stuff, and some other friends of mine also have put their stuff in it.
H- My HOME is: a condo and i love it!
I- If you peeked INSIDE my bathroom you'd see: lots of pink!
J- My favorite JUICE is: apple
K- The best part of my KITCHEN is: how open it is
L- The LAST person who visited my home was: the boy
M- The last piece of MAIL for me was: a pen pal letter!!! :)
N- My NEIGHBORS think I'm: i have no clue, i honestly know only 1 of them, we pretty much all keep to ourselves (which kinda makes me sad)
O- If you OPENED my fridge you'd see: my roommate's food, i havent been to the store in months
P- My last house PARTY was: when my former roomie moved in, almost 6 months ago
Q- A QUICK meal I like to fix is: leftovers!! yumyum
R- My favorite ROOM of the house is: tough call...but i guess my room. i lovelovelove my bed!
S- The SHAMPOO brand I use is: a bunch, i trade them out. pantene prov, tresemme, and john freida (sorry if those are spelled incorrectly, im sure they are!)
T- My largest TELEVISION is: in the living room, it's a 32 inch. i like my bfs tho at his place, it's a 50 i believe....
U- UNDER my bed you will find: tons of boxes (im a pack rat and you never know when you'll need one!), my keyboard, my cds, and anything else that i have no other space for.
V- The last time I VACUUMED was: ekkk how bad is this, i dont even remember!
W- Looking out my WINDOW I see: my porch, the sidewalk or street next to my place, and the neighbors
X- I wish I had X-TRA: rooms. i would LOVE a craft room
Y- My YARD is: shared with all my neighbors, its small but that doesn't bother me at all!
Z- ZZZZZZZ My bedtime is: too late. (12-1)
YOUR TURN!!!
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