Some houses are as neat as a pin: nothing is out of place. They are so tidy that one is almost afraid to leave a dent in a cushion when rising from a seat. Interestingly enough many such houses are sans books. I have always felt more at home with the ‘lived in’ look: enter a home and there is a book with a bookmark; someone’s jersey drapes over the arm of a chair; cushions carry the indent of the last person who leaned into them.
Halt right there! I understand there is a fine line between looking ‘lived in’ and being downright untidy. I have indeed visited homes in which one has to move magazines, bags or even clothes off a chair before being able to sit down.
My home looks ‘lived in’ – sometimes too lived in, despite my daily efforts to keep it clean and reasonably tidy. I marvel at people who manage to maintain the ‘neat as a pin’ looks. It is not the furnishings and drapery that make the difference, however, it is the inhabitants. My husband has a tendency to colonise every empty surface in our home: books, papers and magazines vie for space on a table along with a clip board, pencils, TV remotes, coasters, rubber bands and journals. Even the small table where I like to display a vase of flowers ends up being covered with keys, spectacles, pipe fittings …
I kid you not.
Every household must have a collection of odds and ends that have to be kept somewhere. Where do all those ‘neat as a pin’ people keep their pens, screwdrivers, glass jars, string, recipe books, library books, tins, and anything else that ‘might come in handy’? Do they toss everything away on a regular basis and turn their backs on DIY? Perhaps they call in professionals to clean, to mend, to do the ironing, and to generally keep their homes looking ship-shape.
Psst … they do not hoard!
This must be part of the solution to sustainable tidiness. A friend once told me that “If I cannot find a home for something then it must go.” Ruthless. Just like that! Where are we to keep the books and treasures of our children? Where should we store the extra bedding that has accumulated over the years? How does one get rid of books that have been read, enjoyed, and which remain loved or are still useful references?
Sort. Be ruthless. Focus. Stop being emotional. Just do it.
… I am finding it a very slow and difficult task indeed.
Here is a detail on a canon in Fort Beaufort.
At this time of the year we scan the horizon for clouds that might just bring us rain.
After the rain comes the joy of seeing drops on the leaves around the garden.
Leaves on their own make attractive patterns too.
Lastly – part of a buffalo.
Something Over Tea 