How not to drown in 'stuff'!

Sitting in the garden with Man Wonderful, cup of tea and my knitting. 

I was asked recently how we manage to live so simply.
A friend feels weighed down by 'stuff' in her house, says she always has cleaning or laundry to do and at times just feels like she is 'drowning in it all'.

We operate the very simple philosophies of want vs need and everything in it's place. 

Let me give you a few examples:

It's summer here in the UK.  Today I'm wearing a navy long cotton shirty/dress:  but I wear this dress all year, no matter the season.  In the autumn I wear it with a dark pair of tights and a bright cardigan and cotton scarf.  In winter I wear it over leggings  under a jumper and scarf.  
I don't need any other dresses.  I dress it up or down for the season.
If I'm going out somewhere posh ( which is rarer than a white Rhino shopping in Tesco ) I can tart my dress up with a long necklace, something beady, a higher pair of shoes and me wearing make-up:  let's face it, it's the 'going-out' that is important - not whether I have a new frock to wear!
People who are close to me are often astounded by the limited number of items of clothing I own - and the same is for Man Wonderful.  But it means we genuinely have less laundry to do.



Now, I've been a mum (I am still one, actually) of a little one and I see the grandkids everyday, and I know that little people get more messy than your average 50 and 70-year old...(*just given away some ages there!) 
BUT: 
We only put something out for a wash if it is dirty.
If you can spot clean or give it a wipe, then 'it'll do' for tomorrow.  
If kids have a fresh clean outfit on and ketchup is spilled on the top, the bottoms can be worn again tomorrow and don't need to go in the wash.
Only wash socks if they are dirty.
I'll be honest here - my leggings or jeans can last a week before laundering as I change my knickers every day!
I operate the 'sniff it and see' policy to outer wear.

Man Wonderful and I share one single wardrobe and one 'tallboy' for our clothes, and laundry is folded and put away as we have laundered them.  
We have two sets of two towels - used and hung up, then in the laundry and the next set are out.
(It amazes me that people wash and change their towels every day:  I use my towel to dry water off myself, not dirt - therefore they are not 'dirty' every day!!)

We don't 'need' any more:  I might 'want' a different set of towels, or 'fancy' a new duvet set...but why spend money when we don't need to?!
However, when we do purchase something new, the old set goes.  
Otherwise it accumulates.



Now, that is how we live.
If your room is full of bits and bobs and you like it that way, live that way!

For me, I prefer a clearer room with few items on display.

This is my work desk.  The chair came from the house I grew up in, the table came from the local charity shop and has a 'flap' at the front that opens out when I want to use the sewing machine.  The printer is from the OU as I'm studying for another degree and the radio is the one we had when we lived in our little touring caravan.

So how do we keep the house tidy?
Quite simply, everything 'lives' somewhere.
Kitchen scissors are in the cutlery drawer. When they have been used and washed if need be, they go back there.
My make-up is in a make-up bag in my bedroom.  I sit on the bed to put makeup on in front of a mirror  -  the makeup then goes straight back in the bag - and the bag goes back on top of the bedside table.
It's a great system for us.

Man Wonderful used an unwanted CD storage unit to make my piano music store.  It stands behind the lounge door, it's easy to access my music and put it away too!

As we get older it makes for an easier life too - Man Wonderful can see his hankies are in his bedside drawer (we are handkerchief rather than tissue people) and he has more than a week's worth of hankies...when I do a hot wash they go in with that and once a week his hankies, when dry, go back in his drawer.

Ahem: I should say at this point that I iron about twice a year...if things fold up, they get folded up - if they need ironing, we try to manage without ironing them!

This is my bedside table with my summer reading sorted out!

There are oodles of films on youtube that show how people keep things in their fridge - colour coded or kept in alphabetical order to suit yourself - me? I keep fresh veg and fruit, and non-dairy things that have been opened in  the fridge.  Everything else has a cupboard where it 'goes' - cans in one place, pasta in another, etc.  Kitchen organising makes shopping easy as we only buy what we are going to eat that week/month.

The last thing I just want to say is that I love cleaning as I love to see things clean in my house and as it is tidy it is really easy to clean.  

Making Vintage Vixen's peanut butter cookies with the Grandkids.

When the grandkids are over I don't tidy or clean while they are here - playing is most important, joining in, have chats, etc.
When it's just the two of us, each evening when we've had dinner the dishes might be in a bowl of water soaking, but we don't wash up until the morning, as that is our time to chill, snuggle on the sofa, read or watch a film.

So there it is:  I'm not obsessive but I do keep things tidied away for an easier life.  If anything I'm a wee bit lazy!!

If anybody has any questions about My Beautiful Life, please post as a comment and I won't publish it; just answer them as a blogpost.

Meantime, keep well and safe!

Tracey xxx

Gorgeous Daughter made this for me for when I have a 'blue' day.