Archive for June, 2010
My little piece of rainbow
I finally got around to arranging some of my books by color. I know it’s a controversial issue (just read the Apartment Therapy forums), and maybe it’s just a creative types’ thing, but I LOVE it! And I LOVE LOVE LOVE the light in my office!
My office is quickly becoming my favorite room in the house. So much so that it has become my inspiration for the decor of the rest of the house. And I finally hung my Enki Bilal poster that I brought back from France last September. It looks A-MA-ZING. Did I mention I love my office?
Starting over
From time to time, I go through a phase where I want to push the “delete” button and start over. Change looks, make new friends, do new things, try new hobbies, change my home decor. Well it’s that time again. I thought it would be fun to share with you my goals for the next months, so here’s a rundown of things I’m currently working on (they aren’t life-changing but it’s still fun to explore the various aspects of me):
First, the home decor part… well, I’m thinking about going even more minimal. I’ve been giving away or selling a lot of stuff over the past years but I still think I have too much stuff. I had this goal of getting rid of one third of my belongings but it was a bit vague, so I figured getting rid of 500 things is specific enough. I have no idea how many things I actually have so my house might look empty after that, but I like the idea of starting from scratch. I love simple vignettes like the following one I put together in the spare bedroom a while ago. This is in essence what I want my home to look like:
Also, I’m still on bootcamp. I’m making amends to my body for months of bad eatings habits. I should get back to my normal self in a month or two but in the meantime, my body is making me pay for the lack of healthy habits over the past two years. I used to be able to run for an hour straight without any trouble. Now, well… let’s just say that I prefer power walking for the time being.
New friends — Because of my irregular and somewhat unpredictable work hours (I’m a freelancer and my schedule depends on my clients’ needs), my social commitments are minimal, which isn’t a bad thing really because it helps me filter time wasters. Being an introvert, I enjoy a smaller group of close friends but I nonetheless love meeting new people (which makes me an extraverted introvert, if that makes any sense).
As for doing new things, I actually promised myself a while ago that I’d try something new every day, anything as long as it’s something I’ve never done before. It’s actually a lot of fun to try and come up with ideas! I also want to learn how to reupholster furniture, knit and use a sewing machine. I want to be able to make my own stuff; I’m amazed by creative people who are good with their hands. It’s such a great gift, I’m envious. My new friend Lova, whom I met on Flickr (I found out later that she’s also from Madagascar – small world), makes amazing things in her studio near London, UK (she was featured on Apartment Therapy a while ago but I can’t find the bookmark). Check out her etsy store (Handmade with joy)!
Photo: Handmadewithjoy
Why I became minimalist
Daniel BUREN, Les deux demis font un quart, 1988 (Photo I took at the Musée d’Art moderne et contemporain in Strasbourg, France in September 2009 – This is the reason why museums are my favorite places to be)
Before I made a conscious decision to embrace minimalism as a lifestyle a few years ago, I went through cycles of thoughtless consumption (sometimes over-consumption), spending money on stuff I didn’t really care about while complaining about how I couldn’t afford that trip to (insert name of each and every country here). The “good” thing is, I also had (and still have) a tendency to purge my stuff on a regular basis, much to The Salvation Army’s pleasure but also much to my boyfriend’s dismay when we first started dating (I’m sure he thought I was crazy).
Most minimalist bloggers decided to embrace minimalism after getting deep into debt, or because they want to be free to travel on a whim or to live wherever they want whenever they want.
Personally, I don’t have any debt (except for the mortgage I share with my boyfriend) and although I’ll always be a bohemian at heart, I’ve reached a point in my life where I want some stability. Minimalism is simply my way of making sure I allow in my personal life only people and things that truly make me feel fuzzy and warm. Plus I love minimalist aesthetics.
I didn’t create this blog to lecture people on why they should become minimalist — although I realize I may come accross as preachy sometimes (sorry I can’t help it, I’m enthusiastic about minimalism :). This blog is mainly my journal where I keep track of my progress, and I have to say that without it, I probably would have gone back to my old bad spending habits. I no longer accept “I can’t afford that trip” as an excuse when I’ve just spent money on a handbag or a piece of furniture. At the end of the day, it’s a matter of priorities, and as far as I’m concerned, minimalism is an excellent way to truly focus on my priorities.
Minimalist beauty routine
A few months ago, I read a book entitled L’Art de la Simplicité (The Art of Simplicity) by French essayist Dominique Loreau who’s been living in Japan for nearly 30 years. In one chapter, she suggested ditching all the chemical-loaded beauty products, and using a multitasking oil (like camelia oil) instead. Did you know that you could also use oil as a face cleanser? I thought it was gross until I tried Shu Uemura’s cleansing oil (seriously, this product is amazing).
I have (and use) a lot less beauty products than my girl friends but I still think I have too much. I’m low maintenance and I’m always looking for something to make my beauty routine simpler so I decided to give jojoba oil a try. Great for moisturizing skin and hair, but I’m not crazy about the greasy feeling when cleaning my face so I’ll stick with Shu Uemura’s cleansing oil. After looking at the products I use, I realized that my little bottle of jojoba oil could replace one third of them so I’ll probably be ditching a few things.
Then I wanted to declutter my makeup bag, but realized I don’t have much makeup. I don’t wear a lot of makeup. Just a bit of bronzer, mascara, and lipgloss. On special occasions like a fancy party, I do smoky eyes using a black eye shadow, but that’s pretty much it.
What about you? Is your bathroom bursting with beauty products, or do you prefer less products?
(Kinda) thrifty DiY shoe storage
Last night, I solved a problem that had been bugging me for weeks. I’d been looking for an inexpensive solution to store our shoes in the (almost finished) shoe/coat closet – to no avail. Then I decided to try superposing two shelving units (Rubbermaid maybe?) that were collecting dust in the garage and in the spare bedroom’s closet (we bought them 4 years ago when we were living in our previous apartment and I didn’t want to get rid of them because they were in perfect condition; plus I remember they weren’t exactly cheap). Anyway it was so easy and quick, I don’t know why it took me so long to come up with that.
Before talking about the boring part, here’s a sneak peek at my shoe collection (yes I love black. How did you know?)
Last night, I solved a problem that had been bugging me for weeks. I’d been looking for an inexpensive solution to store our shoes in the (almost finished) shoe/coat closet – to no avail. Then I decided to try superposing two shelving units (Rubbermaid maybe?) that were collecting dust in the garage and in the spare bedroom’s closet (we bought them 4 years ago when we were living in our previous apartment and I didn’t want to get rid of them because they were in perfect condition; plus I remember they weren’t exactly cheap). Anyway it was so easy and quick, I don’t know why it took me so long to come up with that.
Before talking about the boring part, here’s a sneak peek at my shoe collection (yes I love black. How did you know?)
So… superposing both units looked like a good idea but I needed to make sure they were firmly attached to each other. I found a few loomex connectors that our electrician friend used a while ago during the reno of my studio (I know… I sound like an expert but I actually had no idea what loomex connectors were until I googled the term literaly 5 minutes ago). The diameter was perfect, and there were 4 of them, which was all I needed.
First, I removed the plastic tops.
Then I inserted the loomex connectors to all 4 extremeties of the first unit, making sure the screws were turned towards the back (for aesthetic reasons).
Then I took the second shelving unit, and removed all 4 tops. The diameter of all 4 extremeties of this unit will need to be reduced a bit so that they can be inserted in the loomex connectors that are attached to the first shelving unit. I just cut vertically into the metal using regular metal shears (I don’t know if it’s the correct word in English).
Then I reduced the diameter of the 4 extremeties of the second shelving unit like so:
Then I inserted all 4 extremeties of the second unit into the connectors I attached to the 1st shelving unit:
Tadaaaaa! Instant MacGyver status.
Much better…
Not bad for 30 mn of my time and $0 spent, eh? More picture of the finished closet soon!
(Okay my English isn’t perfect so if you have any questions about a part of the process that I didn’t explain clearly, let me know.)
DISCLAIMER: This project isn’t error-proof but suits my personal needs. Research and sound judgement are advised before attempting any DiY project. I’m assuming you’re a responsible adult, not a 5-year-old kid, so if you get injured while trying to recreate this project, don’t file a $25,000,000 lawsuit against me or send me a hate mail. :)
