My Minimalist Bathroom

We have been in our house for about 20 years. It is what is known as a "starter home" in our neighborhood, and yet we never considered it so. We had always intended for it to be our final home, or "forever" home as they say nowadays.

Before we moved in, we had the main bathroom redone. I don't say the "master bath" because up until about 7 years ago, it was the ONLY bath, and so belonged to all inhabitants of the house. At the time, pink was in so I did what everyone was doing, and I had the whole thing tiled in pink. I also was very into the natural wood look, so I had wainscoting put up in there as well. We were also keen to have a whirlpool tub (now known as a "spa" tub) as well. (Side note: I think I used the whirlpool aspect about 10 times in 20 years. It was a pain to clean and just wasn't worth it.)

So after basically rebuilding our house one room at a time, it was time for the bathroom to be redone. I could have lived with the wood, but I could no longer take the pink tile or the tub. My husband couldn't stand any of it. However, I felt that I should be true to my new found minimalist ways and "make do." But if we ever wanted to sell the house, we'd have to redo it anyway, so why not do it now when we can enjoy it. 

After looking at magazines and touring home improvement stores, I went back to the original sink I wanted: a trough-like sink from Ikea. It is long and narrow and has two faucets. It was the closest I would ever come to a double sink, so I was determined to get it. Below the sink isn't a standard cabinet; it's double wide drawers. I went with white because the floor tile would be gray, and I wanted to stay away from any color that would date it.  

We had the work done while we were on vacation, and I didn't know that my contractor was going to have it painted. I thought it would be primed and I would be painting it myself, and I decided on a very light grey. However, since the contractor painted it and the room now looked HUGE, I decided to leave it as is until I either get sick of it or the weather cools down enough to paint. So without further ado, here it is.

The trough sink with two faucets. The thing in the middle is the soap dispenser. I love the back splash. The medicine cabinet is mirrored inside with glass shelves. I'm not sure I need to see that much of myself on a daily basis.

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The floor, mostly

One corner of the tub. I love the shelves. My husband did not want subway tiles until he saw them in a display at the tile store. It was not hard to convince him after that.

Too shelves above the toilet. We have very little on the top shelf.

The other side of the tub/shower. We have nothing to put on the top shelf. We went with a curved shower curtain rod. I've been wanting to do that for years and I'm so glad we did. We should have done it much sooner.

The top drawer under the sink. My makeup now stays in the drawer instead of on a shelf, and my hair products lie flat behind it. The dividers are adjustable, which is a handy feature. There is plenty of reading material (sorry if TMI) and the lighter is a necessity for the candle over the toilet. Don't ask.

The bottom drawer. It is very deep. I have enough room for 10 rolls of TP! My hair stuff is in the middle drawer. I got rid of a few curling irons I was never going to use again.

The view from the hallway. The window treatment right now is a hand towel that I bought to use for company. Until I figure out what to do with the top of the window, this has been working quite well. It offers privacy but doesn't block out too much light. And the design matches the shower curtain quite well.

The bathroom is very small, but having a long, shallow sink gives us quite a bit more room to stand. The medicine cabinet has 4 shelves and we haven't filled them all, because there is nothing else that we need. However, I neglect to mention that there is a hall closet with four large shelves to hold additional toiletries. However, that is mostly additional shampoo, etc., because I can't get my husband to stop buying shampoo and body wash when it's on sale!

One last thing. My husband was dead set on getting a cast iron tub even though they are a thousand times heavier than the newer materials. I was against it because of the weight and expense (they're a little more expensive than the acrylic I wanted). But now that it's in, I am a fan. It just feels more solid and supposedly, when I take a bath, it will keep the water hotter longer. I guess I'll find out in the winter. 

The minimal look now makes the rest of the house look old and crappy. Oh well.

DVD Containers, Be Gone!

I FINALLY went through all of our DVDs and removed them from their cases and into a portable case. This is the result: 

 

 

One-and-a-half full-size recycling containers with all of the discarded cases. I sure hope they are recyclable. I looked at this mess and just couldn't believe how much plastic and paper is used for DVD packaging. I know that making these things is someone's (or probably a lot of someones) job, but I just wonder if things couldn't have been, you know, a little smaller.

 

All of that now snugly fits into this:





Yes, I know those are war-ish videos, but I live with 2-1/2 men. Don't judge.  











My lovely DVD suitcase fits nicely inside the second bookcase that I brought up from the basement. There is one for DVDs and one for CDs, but I haven't gone through those yet. I will get to them this weekend.  




It took me four hours to sort and transfer all of our DVDs into the case. We got rid of about 8 kid movies and about 10 grown-up movies. (I almost said "adult" but that just sounds kinky.)

 

As I was getting rid of all of the original cases, I had the stupid, fleeting thought, "What if we want to sell these someday? Won't they be worthless without the original case?" You know, like toys will only sell to collectors if they are in their original packaging. But then I got ahold of myself and realized that I wouldn't go through the hassle of trying to sell any of this stuff anyway, so what am I worried about.

 

I believe that I finally have my living room the way I want it, even though I didn't know I wanted it this way until I started minimalizing. Pictures of the final result will be in the next post.

 

 



3Rs: Rearranging, Reusing, Rejoicing

I'm sure you've all heard of the new 3Rs: reduce, reuse, recycle. Mine involve reusing, but what makes it fun is rearraning, which leads to rejoicing.

Behold, my fireplace wall:

Okay, so it's not completely finished, but I've made progress. The bookshelf on the left is from the basement. Down there, it held books, scrapbooks, and magazines. Now it is in my living room and holds scrapbooks and a lamp. I have actually put a basket thingy in the second shelf and moved two bulldog figurines to the first shelf. In the center of my mantle, I put a statue and two small votive candles. The cabinet to the right of the fireplace will eventually be replaced with the matching bookcase from the basement, but until I get my CD/DVD storage books, I can't do anything just yet. Hopefully this weekend.

One of the things I need to get used to as I declutter are the empty flat surfaces. In the past, I was excited when I had a flat surface because then I could clutter it up with figurines, pictures and candles. But having gotten rid of quite a few books, I now have more surface area, especially in the bookshelves, and I don't have much to put there. I am not one for putting photos up all over the place; I'd rather scrapbook them instead. So that leaves knickknacks and candles. I am thinking that it's entirely possible that I may whittle down our possessions to the point where I can actually get rid of a bookcase or two. Perhaps in a few years.  

I'm thinking a matching lamp would look nice when I put the bookcase on the other side, but then that would mean actually buying a matching lamp. I don't know that I have a need for that at the moment; I am undecided as to whether we have enough light in the living room as it is. However, I like symmetry, so I may just spend the $20 to get another lamp.

On the bottom shelf are vacation scrapbooks. They are probably the most important things to me and I have put countless hours into them, so why not have them in easy reach when I want to walk down memory lane?

Scrapbooking...that's one area I really need to work on.

I can't  wait to get the other shelf up this weekend. I'll post pics of the final reveal. I'll also post pictures of the other side of the living room, which basically contains the ginormous couch. It's a comfy couch though, so it will stay for now.

Thanks for reading!

Project Basement

I like to read, but I haven't read a book cover to cover in a few years. I got away from it after I discovered blogs, because they were just easier...short snippets about whatever I was interested in, with pretty pictures to boot.

But I always had great aspirations to read and would take books from the giveaway shelves at work. I never read them though. Now I've got about four bookcases at least partially filled with books that I've never read, and it's time to get rid of them. I could use the space on these shelves for other things, like my precious scrapbooks. 

Behold, my Ikea bookshelves that I haven't touched in years.

 

To the left of the clunky computer is a larger bookshelf that holds some of my scrapbooks but also hardbound volumes of classics like Ibsen, Poe, etc. We bought them at a yard sale right after we moved into our house almost 20 years ago. Why, I don't even know. Perhaps because I was an English major in college and I felt that I should have these classics in my home. Aside from moving them from shelf to shelf and room to room, I have never opened them.

On the far right is a bookshelf that held a bunch of scrapbooking magazines that I have since tossed, and several paperback books "borrowed" from the work library. There are one or two books from my favorite author that I am keeping, but the rest will go.

I've got great plans for at least one of those bookcases. I'll post a picture when it's in its new home, which should be this weekend.

As for the computer, I kept it because my sons had some games on it, but I'm thinking I need to accept the fact that they haven't turned it on in over a year. It will go the way of the scrap yard during the next electronic recycling event in my town.

I've got so many ideas for my basement...I can't wait to get started! Check back regularly for updates.

Things Are Getting Awkward

I have a stay-at-home mom friend whose husband has a very good job. She has devoted herself to raising her two children while her husband works a demanding job that requires long hours on site. 

Their older child started college in the fall on a full scholarship, and their other child goes to private school. They just bought a larger home in an upscale area. They travel frequently and take what appear to be very nice vacations. They have relatives who live at the beach and visit them often in the summer months. It seems like a pretty good life. And by her own admission, it is.

Some of the things we used to enjoy talking about were shopping, home decor, and the latest in fashion. We only shopped together once or twice, but would still exchange stories of our latest purchases. It was fun, but it often felt one-sided. With working full time, I never had the luxury of going from store to store to find that perfect purse or side table or dress. She has filled many hours looking for just the right thing. Now that they live in a new, bigger home, her mission is to fill up the new rooms. 

We talked briefly about my interest in minimalism the last time we got together, but I'm still uncomfortable with sharing too many details. Regardless, I got the impression that she didn't take me seriously and would never be interested in minimalism anyway.

I had to work most days last week and am working every day this week except for New Year's Day. I was just hired permanently at my job (I was a contract worker for 1-1/2 years) and took a reduction in pay, although I do now get benefits. I am a little frustrated at having spent a little more money than I wanted to over the holiday and am preparing for a lean January. I am planning to start Project 333 in a few days (more on that later). I have been religiously unsubscribing myself from all of the email lists of my favorite clothing stores.
Anyway, my friend emailed me a link today from one of her favorite stores, which is having a big sale. She said she wanted so badly to buy something from there but she was feeling "poor."

??????????

I initially wanted to rail at her and tell her how lucky she is not to have to work or pay college tuition, to have the freedom to decorate her house with whatever she wants and to go out to eat whenever she wants, but I didn't. Instead, I replied that I wasn't going to enable her by saying "Go ahead, treat yourself. You deserve it." I told her she probably had more clothes in her closet than she could possibly wear. I sent her a link to Project 333 and told her I was doing that.

I'm guessing that's not what she wanted to hear. I haven't heard back from her; I am curious to see her reply.

I'm not sure how this whole thing will play out with my current group of friends who are still fully in the throes of consumerism. I am not judging them, but I am starting to see that they shop to fill a void. Many of them don't work, and their kids are getting older (middle school and beyond), and perhaps they have too much time on their hands and are bored, or their kids need them less and they are feeling vulnerable. I get that. But finding just the right blouse or piece of jewelry no longer matters to me. I have everything I need, and that is turning into all I want.

That's why this is getting awkward. I don't want my friends to think I'm judging them when I decline a shopping excursion to the latest craft fair. I'm not. Although I do think that my poor-feeling friend should take a good look at her life and count her blessings.

I'm sure I'll be writing more about this in the future.

If you are in the same awkward phase as me, how are you handling it?