K.I.S.S: Paper Traps!

I'm very very bad at lots of things: returning phonecalls and emails, cooking with chicken (it freaks me out) and keeping our bills and other admin-y type things in order.

As a result of the last one, I occasionally am late paying bills - oops - which really bugs me. It introduces unnecessary stress into my life, and as we know, I'm allll about reducing stress.

I've been looking at my life and trying to pinpoint the recurring stressors, and while there are many, there are a few that I think can do a better job at managing:

- paperwork/filing
- bills
- weekly meals/grocery shopping
- managing appointments/schedules

I read somewhere that the best way to deal with paper traps is to touch it once. That is, to have a place where you bring in your mail, open it, recycle what's not needed, sort what is and pay your bills or take any required action. It means you know exactly what to do with every thing that comes in your mailbox. Of course, my life isn't that predictable and usually when I bring the mail in I have a hungry baby in one hand and a stack of mail and local newspapers in the other, with a nappy beg around my neck and a toddler hanging off my knee. But, you know, the intention is there...

So with all that in mind, and as part of our ongoing renovations, Sparky and I have decided to build a bench in the back family/dining room that will function as a hub for all that kind of stuff.

I saw this one on design*sponge a few weeks ago and knew that was basically what we were after, so hopefully in the next couple of weeks we will put ours together.

The plan being that we incorporate a place for all the following in the one space:

- opening mail
- recycling any unnecessary mail
- box for action (bills to be paid etc)
- box for filing (paid bills)
- laptop
- phone/laptop/ipad chargers
- home phone
- notepad
- shopping list

Ours will be higher than the one featured above, and we will have a couple of stools tucked in underneath which means I can check emails, pay bills etc while keeping an eye on the kidlets. A vase of flowers or an indoor plant, plus a couple of artworks on the wall and it should match in really well with the midcentury/industrial/nanna/eclectic/crafty/diy vibe we're going for (!!)

Repurposing: Art by Repetition

via design*sponge

A few weeks ago, I spotted this amazing piece of art featured on design*sponge. It was made using bus or train tickets (admitedly very cool and colourful tickets from San Fransisco, but tickets nonetheless) and it got me thinking about what I could put together, using otherwise unused multiples.

I have a bajillion plastic bits and bobs in the storeroom, left over from my Trove days, and these white plastic squares were perfect and easy to put together. I just used tiny balls of Blutack to stick them to the kraft paper, so I was able to reposition them if need be.

Obviously, this one and its twin still need to be hung on the living room wall, but I was so taken with the idea of using everyday or unused items in multiples to create a piece of art or a wall hanging, that I had to share. 

Other possibilities are:

- train/ferry/bus tickets
- buttons
- ribbon
- wool/string
- drinking straws
- bottle tops
- corks
- confetti

via Sharon Whelton on Etsy

Apologies for no Meat-Free Monday yesterday. I've been struck with this tummy bug again and the last thing I wanted to consider was food. It'll be back next week though!!

Rescuing Old Furniture

The furniture hunt over the weekend has really sparked my interest in rescuing and renovating old furniture for our house. Often older furniture is better made which is a plus, and I love the idea of giving something old a new lease on life, and potentially rescuing it from landfill.

I've seen a lot of repurposed and renovated furniture featured on design*sponge and other sites, and am super keen to try my hand at it. I've got a few pieces already that could do with a makeover - a chest of drawers for Isy's room, a tragic desk we bought at Reverse Garbage, a hall stand and our timber outdoor setting.

It's just a matter of finding time to do any/all of these, considering we still need to finish painting the house first. But in the meantime, I'm keeping a little inspiration file:

source unknown

via design*sponge

via Martha Stewart

via design*sponge

via Smile and Wave

via design*sponge

The Before and After Basics column on design*sponge has given me a heap of really good info, and when I finally get around to working on some of these projects I'll be sure to put together a little how-to myself, because I know the product info will likely be different than those available in the States.

Small Touches: Herb Bouquets

I love love love cut flowers in the house. Love. Them.

But for two reasons I don't often buy them: 1) I don't have the extra cash and they are definitely a luxury and 2) I'm a bit iffy on the environmental impact of producing them and the pesticides used in growing them. But they're so pretty.

A while ago I came across the sweetest show, called The Edible Garden. In one episode, Alys the quirky-girl host gave her friend a delightful edible herb bouquet as a house-warming present. I don't have enough herbs to do that but did try an oregano and rosemary bunch in a vase near the door. And, lordy, does it smell good and earthy and herbacious in our house. This is definitely something I'll keep doing.

Oregano and rosemary in our hallway. Smells loverly.

Some more herby inspiration on this dreary day:

Herb and Chilli Bouquet from Tregothnan Shop

Gorgeous greens from Mermaids and Martinis

From the Natural Wedding Company

Love me a good wreath too, from Natural Home Magazine

River Cottage Love

Dear Mr Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall,


I very much like the cut of your jib. Please sponsor me and my family so we can work and live at River Cottage. Your vegetable garden makes me swoon.


Sincerely,
Brooke

I Wanna Be Like Hugh - by Ben Walker

Please tell me I'm not alone here in my love (in a non-husbandy way, of course) for Mr Fearnley-Whittingstall. He's so earthy and funny and embracing of the simple life. And he's so fabulously...British.

The River Cottage life runs pretty parallel with my ideal lifestyle, and I sometimes dream about living on a big farm, in an old farmhouse, with a huge, abundant vege garden and a handful of livestock, living off our land as much as possible. But the reality is that that is a full-time job and Mr Fearnley-Whittingstall most likely has a staff of gardeners and stock-keepers who look after it all for him.

But I can dream.

Crafty: Pom Poms!

Part of the Lavender Experiment, for me, is to decorate our home with handmade things, things that have a little piece of us in them, things that mean something.

I'm certain I could go and buy loads of pretty knick knacks all at once and have the decorating finished in a matter of days, but A) there's no fun in that, B) there's too much money in that and C) that doesn't express a great deal about us as a family.

I'm a big fan of quirky garlands at the moment and have been working on a woolen pom pom garland for the past couple of days. I forgot how long it takes to make pom poms the old-fashioned way, but I do find the repetitiveness therapeutic so I don't mind.

The progress on my own garland will be slow, I'm sure, but these gorgeous examples keep me inspired:

From Honestly...WTF

From Small Bird

From Millalove

From Honestly...WTF

Loving it crazy: Homegrown Evolution

Hay bale image from Fir0002

I was recently reading a Design*Sponge Small Measures post on eco and green-living books (super score - I've googled all of them and discovered about 5 new favourite similar minded folk!) and one that I was really intrigued by was The Urban Homestead by Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen.

Anyway, turns out they have a blog, Homegrown Evolution, and I'm loving it a little crazy right now. Their mix of gardening, green living tips, insight into the way they're shifting their lifestyle all the while living in a normal, urban area and just really cool information (like the difference between hay and straw - who knew?! Actually I'm sure lots of people know. Just not me.) is more-ish and very very readable. Plus I like how well they articulate issues and thoughts that I roll around inside my head for days before writing about them.

Thought you may enjoy taking a peek while I go and clean up the almighty mess left by our no-longer-present garage. It's either that or playdough. Tough call.

The Painting. Oh, the Painting...

As I mentioned in the last Renovation Nation update, we have millions of square metres of painting to do now that we're back in the house. Which is wonderful because I (seriously) love painting. I find it therapeutic, satisfying and fulfilling. I even enjoy cutting in (I had no idea what this phrase meant until we started renovating - the things you learn in the University of Life)

One problem. I quite often have a very small human being attached to my breast for stretches of time and he is none too pleased if I try to do something other than this whenever it is that he feels like lunch.

So while I help where possible, painting is currently Sparky's domain. And he's doing a damn fine job.

Where I come in is in colour choice and researching paint products. Which is awesome as it combines two interests of mine - interior design and green products. So I thought I'd share what we're up to.

For the majority of the living areas and hallways we're going for a white ceiling (natch) with mid-grey walls, white trim and timber floors. Some inspiration can be found:

Source: bigboyalready.com

Source: Mustard and Sage

Source: Furnnish

So we've decided on the colour we want, and I've done a lot of research into paint brands and products, trying to find the greenest, healthiest product option that is still durable and washable.

Sparky and I painted our bedroom in 100% natural paint not long after we moved in, and I have to say it really is a terrible paint. It marks if you look at it sideways, is entirely unwashable, is incredibly streaky and has a horrible feel to it. So while I applaud those who do use it successfully, we weren't prepared to spend the next 5 years looking at walls that were a filthly, streaky, scratchy finish.

So I kept researching and finally came to choose Wattyl ID for all our interiors. Many professional painters use it, because it has a good finish and excellent coverage, but I was keen on it also because it is a genuine low-VOC paint. It's low-odour and had less than 1g of volatile organic compounds per litre, where the up to 65g is still considered 'good' in environmental terms.

I understand that there are greener options out there, but for us they've never held up when compared to more commercial options. And I'm all about making practical changes where you can, and would rather use a very good low-VOC paint once every five years, rather than a very-good-for-the-environment-but-terrible-for-actual-painting paint every six months.

We've used it to paint the kids' rooms so far and have been really pleased with it. Plus it really doesn't stink.

Now, all we have to do is actually do the painting!