home – Page 2 – No Chaos No Order

Media cabinet

Posted on October 17, 2014 by fairyguts Posted in health, home .

In our old home our media equipment was stored in the basement – everything gloriously exposed, reveling in its awkward electrical hodg-podg-ery. Our new home, though, doesn’t have space for that. We decided to keep it in the living room and the mess of cables and flashing lights and game controllers was both a dust- and baby-magnet. To make it worse, we didn’t have furniture to accommodate it all. We used a sideboard with a folding table on top, and a homemade counter/table with landscaping fabric wrapped around the base. We also used old boxes and sleeping bags shoved along sides and in spaces to keep our danger-baby from climbing up onto the rickety tables. Mmmm – attractive! (Which explains why there is no photograph.)

I couldn’t stand it any more and measured all of the things we wanted to be with the media and I started shopping. We don’t have lots of money, so I needed to be careful with my funds. I started haunting the Habitat for Humanit ReStore and finally found something to work…

measurements and fantasy

Ooo! A sale at the ReStore!

Hmmm … A two-piece desk, but they are priced separately and the top one seems very promising.

Ooo – totally acceptable price!

Before shopping, I wrote the measurements for each media component on its own post-it note to help me experiment with placement.

If I add a second shelf inside the cupboard, everything would fit! I bought it and sent my hubby back to bring it home.

I still had some changes to maximize the space and minimize the visibility of things or the possibility for kids to play with it.

First, we added a second shelf and holes in the back for ventilation.

A lock for one side and a latch for the other keeps the kids out.

But the trickiest part was cutting and finishing a hole in the cabinet door to put the center speaker inside. With some scrap wood behind the speaker, it rests directly against the door but little hands can’t push it out of the way to reach in.

I think it looks pretty nice now! We still have the cable box out and another component that needs to be exposed for remote control use, but eventually I’d like to install glass doors in the far right opening to put them in. For now, we keep toys there!

Quick review of O.N. chapters

Posted on October 13, 2014 by fairyguts Posted in home .

Getting back into using the book Organize Now! to guide my chaos taming has been very helpful! I’d forgotten I had a map for my next moves and it’s injected some vigor into my day. I showed off my craft room a couple days ago and wanted to quickly review previous chapters since I moved into our new house.

I ended up reviewing all of the first four chapters again: Organize Your Mind & Life Vision, Organize Your Priorities, Organize Your Schedule, and Organize Your Cleaning Schedule. Very good reminders of the things I need to TAKE ACTION on to actually bring into my life – another motivating force. I didn’t change much except for my chore list. I haven’t done much cleaning since my first child was born (2.5 years ago!), so I adjusted my expectations and, after looking through Pinterest for ideas, changed how I organized and presented my chores. I’m pretty excited by this – I think it’s slick! The primary inspiration came from Of The Hearth’s tutorial, but I expanded it by adding more layers. Her chart shows rotating chores that aren’t scheduled by day, but here is my chart (not very pretty, though!) which is scheduled:

The center, green square has the daily chores that can happen (although watering outdoor plants is no longer needed).
The yellow squares show the chores that can happen each day of the week and it repeats because that is how I was able to get it to fit with the month chores that come next. It is meant to happen each week, not just the first two weeks of the month.
Purple squares are for monthly chores and I put them in specific date squares, but only because it spread them out evenly throughout the month.
And finally, the blue squares list chores that should happen once or twice a year.

I feel NO compulsion to adhere intently to these days, dates, or frequencies. I see this as a guideline for the ideal situation.

Back to the book, I flipped through the next group of chapters (Organizing Your Papers) and I felt I was keeping up with all of that great. The husband and I even organized our books in our office (non-fiction – by topic, and fiction by author)! I did come across some books and things that I was keeping out of nostalgia and will be featured in future posts. And then they were all recycled! Yahoo!

Now I am back to “Organize Your Things” group of chapters and should be organizing my car next. I want to create a comprehensive emergency kit in the car, so this will take a bit of research and saving for shopping to get it done.

Laundry room: washer/dryer pedistals

Posted on October 9, 2014 by fairyguts Posted in home .

The first thing we needed in our new home was a washer and dryer. While it was nice to visit my folks a few times a week to do the laundry, the more pregnant I got, the less I wanted to cart our cloths around. After some research and discussion, we decided front loaders would be best for our family. I was undecided for a while. Our pros and cons were evenly balanced. Pros: water and electricity savings = money savings, easier loading/unloading, better energy tax rebates, better consumer guide ratings. Cons: less control over water levels (sometimes I like to use a lot of water depending on soil levels), can’t dye fabric, more expensive initial purchase. Honestly, my deciding factor was mentioned by a friend that she found her kids can reach in to them easier than top-loaders, therefore making laundry a chore they could assume earlier! Wahoo! Decision made! In fact, Robin (now 2 1/2) can help me load them already!

Once we decided to go with front loaders, I really wanted a platform for them to go on. It cost $200 EACH for the official manufacturer’s drawers, so that was out. I looked around on Pinterest for inspiration. One style I saw a lot of used open spaces and laundry baskets, but I could imagine socks and toys getting tossed back there or falling out the back of the baskets and then I’d have to fish them out. I also imagined it’d end up a lint and hair sanctuary and it grossed me out just thinking about getting in there to clean it. So, I decided on drawers.

We measured the space and looked at the listed measurements for the washer and dryer we ordered and drew up a schematic. Just to make things interesting, we were trying to keep the price down by using supplies from the Habitat for Humanity ReStore – including the drawers. Once my Father, an experienced woodworker and contractor, reviewed our plans, we collected our supplies and put it together. The hardest part was finding drawers that would maximize the space and that matched.

While we were shopping for appliances, we noticed that the cabinets in our kitchen and laundry room were purchased off the shelf at the Home Depot and that they offered a variety of wood pieces and moldings for finishing those cabinets. We decided to buy some of this and cover our platform in the same wood for consistency. This also helped us make the drawers match without having to wait for two, large, well made drawers to arrive at the ReStore. We knew it would be so much easier to get the drawer hardware installed before putting the top on the platform, so we needed the drawers right away.

Remove the baseboard.

Build the frame. Level everything as you go! Set the drawer in there just to look nice.

Step back: looking good!

Put the facing base on.

Get husband to install drawer runners and supports.

Put the top on and start installing the finishing boards.

Glue.

Lay the vinyl. Let Helper Baby pose.

It’s going to look so nice once the drawers get their new fronts!

Then the day arrived and the washer and dryer were delivered. They were supposed to install them on the platform. But, when they got here, they showed us a piece of paper that they said we were told about when we ordered the appliances (I still haven’t looked that up, but I don’t remember being told this!) which says they can’t install on owner installed platforms.

2013-09-16 14.02.43 2013-09-16 13.01.33

So, we had to wait for Warren to get home. And then we needed more help, so we called my Dad. Good thing because I miss measured and we had to raise the cupboards so the W/D would fit! I was so embarrassed! But it all worked out and they look lovely on their special base.

A Return to Methodical Organizing

Posted on October 7, 2014 by fairyguts Posted in heart, home .

In a previous post, here, I talked about skipping “Chapter 14: Organize Your Crafts” of the book Organize Now! because we were going to be moving soon. Well, it’s been over a year since we moved and I can finally say my craft organization is done! Welcome to my craft room! (Another photo-heavy post!! Sorry for the loading delay!)

I like to hang my fabrics for visibility. I am doing much better at sticking to my “no project, no fabric” (I have to have a SPECIFIC project in mind if I buy any fabric) rule, which explains why I have a relatively small amount of fabric.

Alright, the closet isn’t immaculate, but my theory is this: those are mostly projects in this area and as I finish the project, it will leave the closet. So the best way to reach optimal closet cleanliness is to finish the projects. So, this is ok.

But, the rest of the room is perfect! My old stereo is easily accessible – I still use it quite a bit! And it’s lovely having ALL of my crafting books right here with me! (The closed closet door clears up that closet mess)

I work hard to keep my leg room clear, otherwise I avoid working at the table and that leads to messes everywhere else in the house (ie: the kitchen counter).

And here is the best part: My peg board! It has all the tools and notions for all my crafts (other, bigger and messier tools are in the garage). I get all a-twitter at the color ordered items! Oooo!

Closer look at the color scale of supplies.

All of my machines are out and ready to use, although, I am planning on sewing covers for them to reduce dust and to keep little fingers from spinning knobs or getting poked or cut on needles or knives.

Some closeups:

I decided not to decorate my tin cans since I wanted the rainbow supplies to be the focus of color interest.

Here are all my leather working supplies. I made a quick leather strap to hold my alphabet stamps and a shelf with scrap lumber for the other tooling stamps.

The part of this whole project that took the longest was deciding how to store the craft paints. I wanted to be able to see the colors, but have flexibility for waxing and waning supplies. It also needed to be able to fit with the other color items (a wooden divided box was less flexible) and it needed to be CHEAP. I bought 100 4″ pegs for $20, so most of the paint hammocks cost $0.40.

I had the same cost issue with the ribbons. Everything I could come up with cost between $2 – $6 for each one and since I had 10 rows of color I wanted, that was $20-$60. WAY too much for my taste! So, with $0.40 worth of pegs and about $0.33 for wooden dowels, I ended up spending under $8 for the ribbon holders.

I finally spun all my embroidery floss onto paper bobbins and, with $1 at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, got me a dozen shower curtain rings to corral them. Each serger thread cone is on it’s own 4″ peg.

And, some final random progress pics:

Blank wall.

Peg board up and getting painted.

Messy embroidery floss!

Didn’t take nearly as long as I thought it would with the help of this winder!

Winding ribbon onto receipt-paper spindles (make a cashier your friend!).

Wound ribbon.

Some cut leather and two rivets – DONE!

Wrapped and ready to hang.

Another mod to my 1954 Elna Grasshopper

Posted on October 6, 2014 by fairyguts Posted in heart, home .

I turned my electric Elna Grasshopper into a treadle table sewing machine. Well, I didn’t use it very much until we moved into our new home and found out quickly that leaving the flywheel brake on the machine was silly. So I removed it. Here are some photos – mostly incase I ever decide to put it back on the machine!

First, I disconnected the machine from the table top and turned it over.

2013-12-16 16.40.06

Remove the engine casing (engine is already gone).

2013-12-16 16.40.15 2013-12-16 16.40.49 2013-12-16 16.41.55

Notice that the knee-brake rod maintains its tension against the flywheel through the spring held to the rod via an inset screw and against the machine through a hole.

2013-12-16 16.42.20 2013-12-16 16.42.33

Notice, specifically, the turns of the spring and the location of the spring screws in case I want to put it back on someday.

Loosen the spring screw on the knee-brake rod, remove rod from the other side of the machine. Neglect to photograph any of that.

Screw machine back to the table top. Resume sewing.

Farewell to the old stove!

Posted on October 4, 2014 by fairyguts Posted in home .

I loved the stove that was in our Corvallis rental! Such lovely lines, so functional, so substantial. It was quirky but once I cleaned it up and learned it’s moods, I enjoyed using it. Here is what I learned about it.

First, most of the pieces came apart easily! Lift and tug and they were out, ready for cleaning. A local repair and restorer told me to lay the burner pieces outside in the hot sun and liberally coat with oven cleaner, then scrub and rinse with the hose.

The left most burners, after removing the pot stands and the top surface. This is pre-cleaned.

Under the middle griddle section (also pre-cleaned).

And the far right burners.

Second, the burners were supposed to automatically ignite once you turned the knob to release the gas and heard the clicks, but sometimes they wouldn’t. After the cleaning, all but one lit without help. The last one only needed a quick wave over it. I felt the gas just wasn’t traveling down the tube to the pilot flame and when I waved my hand it forced gas down there. But I made that up. All I know is it worked.

burner

The third thing I learned, was that manufacturers tried to think of everything back then. These flashy chromed surfaces under and beside the knobs was not just for looks. They were pull out trays. One set was the second over-flow catcher (you can see them under the burners in the second and fourth photos above). One was a deeper tray that caught fat or spillage from the middle griddle.

Knobs and tray handles. The broiler did require a match to light, but the rest of the oven components had pilot lights.

Fourth lesson, was that cooking instructions were printed right on the oven doors! And they were good rules to follow!

The oven was the hardest part to manage. In the door (seen open above) under the oven compartment was a burner which, if the pilot light was burning, would automatically ignite when the oven temperature knob was turned. But the pilot light was out when we first moved in and it took me months to even bother to try to fix it.

Getting the pilot light lit and to keep it lit was a challenge for one person. Here’s the pilot light. It needs to have gas coming out of it before you can light it with a match. And then it has to stay lit for quite a while – over a minute – before the thermosensor gets warm enough to keep the gas flowing to the pilot light. If you let go of the oven pilot light too soon, the thermosensor doesn’t recognize that there is a flame there and will turn the gas to the pilot light off.

What makes this hard is that you are laying on the floor, reaching into the bottom of the oven holding something burning to the back wall while you are simultaneously holding the oven pilot light down – which is on the top of the oven, but the back, right burner. To make it even more of a challenge, is that the button is very sticky. I had to use pliers and push it in and then pull it out repeatedly to get it to move smoothly. BUT, once it’s moving and someone is holding it down for you, you can light the oven pilot light and you can finally bake you cookies.

Landscaping at our new home

Posted on September 30, 2013 by fairyguts Posted in health, home .

Our new house does not have a very big yard and very few established plants. And some of the ones that were here weren’t to my liking. Two FREE posts to craigslist and I had takers for the unwanted plants in nearly 10 minutes.

The first to go was 5 rose bushes. I like rose flowers, but these were big, leggy bushes, with big thorns and a very light fragrance. I decided I’d rather go with a highly fragrant trellising rose in a different color and give these guys a home with someone who appreciated them.

This small hydrangea was oddly placed and interfered with parking as well as having sadly drab colors. I know I could change the colors with soil additives, but hydrangeas are not high on my favorites list.

Now we have open holes, but it’s ready for me to put something I really like in there! Like more native plants!

Finishing up in Corvallis

Posted on September 29, 2013 by fairyguts Posted in heart, home .

Here’s a bunch of photos just about how CLEAN we got the Corvallis house before we left and the native plant garden I left. I guess, mostly for my memory, but its not so interesting that I want to make a scrapbook page about it.

Here are some pre-weeding pictures:

And here are the post weeding pictures:

The native plant garden

Fairy Lantern

Sword Fern

Fox Glove, Oxalis, and Wild Ginger

Deer Fern

Maiden Fern

False Solomon’s Seal

Lady Fern

Solomon’s Seal (hard to see, above the ginger)

Such a pretty house!!

Major upheaval.

Posted on September 28, 2013 by fairyguts Posted in home .

I guess we just didn’t have enough chaos going on. Last month we bought a house, moved, went on a four day road trip to California, moved some more and cleaned, cleaned, cleaned, cleaned, and CLEANED. I have been recovering and avoiding fainting due to the heat and my pregnancy. I guess, at this stage, I could be prone to fainting just from moving quickly. And my arms fall asleep all the time. It disturbs my sleep and irritates me the rest of the time.

Here are some “before” photos to show where all of our stuff landed after our slap-dash move. As time progresses and each room’s chaos is tamed, I’ll share more photos, but this is where we started:

The patio by the front door:

The office as you come inside:

Into the house past the office and back towards the door again:

A peak in the laundry room and then the kitchen, dining, and living space:

The funky display area in the main room:

Random, nearly empty hall closets:

Guest room:

Craft room:

Master suite:

And finally, where all the stuff ended up, the garage:

We’ve already moved many things out of the garage and into the house. The kitchen is nearly unpacked (we think we’ve found all the kitchen stuff!) and organized and, if you’ve followed me on Facebook, we spent a lot of time on the laundry room (complete post on it’s way!). We are busy, busy!

I would like to try to come up with a ‘style’ or ‘theme’ for our house to help me decorate. This is something I am not good at and often end up with boring spaces because I’m such a fanatic of “functional.” Should be a fun adventure!

Experiment: all purpose cleaner

Posted on September 26, 2013 by fairyguts Posted in health, home .

In my research and experimenting with home made laundry detergent, I decided I needed to test my all-purpose cleaner. As I mentioned earlier, I’ve been using home made household cleaners for several years now to avoid lung irritation and had been using combinations of baking soda, vinegar, castile soap, and/or borax. “All Natural Non-Toxic cleaner” recipes have similar ingredients and inflated claims of efficiency, but some ingredients are not compatible, resulting – most visibly – in precipitate solids. What part of these cleaning recipes are actually useful?

I made a lot of decisions which significantly narrowed the scope of this experiment.

Freshness. I had read on some blogs that you had to make your cleaner fresh each time you used it. I considered using two spray bottles per cleaner: one would be made up and used for the the full duration of the experiment (over several weeks), while the other bottle would have a fresh batch made up each time. I discarded this option primarily for logistics: I didn’t have another 6 spray bottles.
Specialization. I thought about testing a variety of both all-purpose AND glass cleaners. On reflection, I decided what was different about these two types of cleaners was that one had to leave no residue. I decided I would prefer all of my cleaners to leave no residue, so I would only test one type of cleaner and make residues a condition of cleaning determination.
Vinegars. In my reading, there were claims that orange peels soaked in vinegar increased its cleaning effectiveness and improved the smell. I made some and used it as one of my cleaners to test this claim.
Situations. I created a list of situations I would like to test the cleaners on including: greasy walls, dust build up, food drips on cupboards, finger prints, bug smeared windows, mildew, and soap scum. For the experiment, I needed to be able to recreate these situations in equal amounts and, although I thought of ways to test most, logistics were prohibitive. I felt testing oil and dried food would be sufficient at this time.
Measurements. I looked up ways people measured cleanliness and, in manufacturing settings, there are some high-tech light refraction methods, but they often use black light and white glove visual inspection with “pass/no pass” identification. I decided I would just use visual inspection, as I would in my daily cleaning routine.
Wiping cloths. Since these experiments inform how I clean my own house, and I am a microfiber devote (although, perhaps I should do a third experiment!?!) I elected to use the same ones I have been using for years. I had enough new cloths to have one specifically for each cleaner. I debated about washing the cloths between each soiling type and elected not to, since this would most closely reflect how I would use it.

Hypothesis: Home-made all-purpose cleaner made with water and vinegar cleans better than cleaner made with borax or castile soap.

Prediction: Home made cleaners made with a combination of vinegar and baking soda or vinegar and borax are problematic because of the neutralizing effect the ingredients have on each other (depending on concentrations). Additionally, cleaners made with borax and castile soap create precipitates which damage the spray bottles and leave particulates on the surface being cleaned. I predict a cleaner with only vinegar and water will clean better than a cleaner made with castile soap or borax.

Independent Variable: All-Purpose Cleaners

Dependent Variable: Two soiling types (olive oil and dried food on glass).

Materials:

(6) Home made all-purpose cleaners

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2 c water and 1 T borax
2 c water
1 c water and 1 c vinegar
1 c water and 1 c orange vinegar
1.5 c water and 2 t castile soap
1.5 c water and .5 c vinegar and 1 T borax

(5) Glass tiles
(6) New microfiber cloths.
Soiling types (olive oil and food (cake batter, mustard, raw egg))

Procedure:

Soil each tile with equal amounts of soiling (olive oil or dried food).
Spray the devoted microfiber cloth three times with the cleaner.
Wipe.
Evaluate (pass/no pass)
Repeat 2, 3, and 4 until pass.

Observation:

Olive Oil –

N N P
P
P
N N N N N
N N N N N P
P

Dried Food –

N N N N N N N N N N * N N N N N N N N N N % N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N+
N N N N N N N N N N * N N N N N N N N N N % N N N N N N
N N N N N N N N N N * N N N N N N N N N N % N N N N N N N N
N N N N N N N N N N * N N N N N N N N N N % N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N+
N N N N N N N N N N * N N N N N N N N N N % N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N+
N N N N N N N N N N * N N N N N N N N N N % N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N N+

* At this point, cleaner #2 has cleaned the best, but not completely. I changed the method by squirting the glass directly and letting sit for 1 minute before resuming the spray-and-wipe method.

% Again, #2 is the best so far with #3 a close second. I squirt each glass with cleaner and let sit for 3 minutes. All but cleaner #2 and #3 needed more than 20 more wipes to finally pass.

The orange oil vinegar cleaner itself left an oily residue on glass, so no matter how much I cleaned with it, it left a smear. Here you can see particulates, too.

Conclusion: Plain water was the most successful all-purpose cleaner. Further tests need to be conducted to determine if other detergent recipes with a variety of ingredients and their ratios are more or less effective than plain water.

Discussion: This experiment has prompted me to reduce my cleaning supplies even further. Even though pure water was the best cleaner in this case, I will continue to add vinegar to my cleaning solution. I like the smell, supposed mineral-dissolving-properties (not tested here), and the reported bacteria, mold, and mildew killing properties. Paired with my baking soda pastes, I believe this is all I’ll need for my home!

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