I'm back - with a new challenge

Well, it's been a fairly long gap, and as you can see the Simples challenge has been temporarily suspended.

There is a reason for these two things. My boyfriend and I have spent the last few months sorting out paperwork and other items - because we have bought our first flat, and will be moving in the next month.

This is of course massively exciting and massively stressful. I have in my head a picture of the flat as I want it to be - filled with homemade and preloved items, each with their own story, and set up to facilitate more homemaking. I want to cover the little balcony with potted plants and put a reflective mosaic on the wall to make it feel lighter and more colourful. I want beautifully crafted home-made curtains hanging at all the windows, with patchwork quilts and crochet blankets on the bed, and cupboards stocked with preserves and home brew etc etc.

I want, I want... I have had to accept that with our limited budget and limited time - and limited transport options, as we have no car and the flat is several floors up - many things are beyond our reach and we have to accept stop-gap measures as a temporary fix. So the Simples challenge will be carried over to the new flat and my challenge to myself in 2013 is to make this house a home. A simple home.

Week 9: Piles of paperwork

This week, I took a deep breath and tackle one of the bigger problem zones. This consisted of a hoard of magazines, piles of unsorted papers, mail and notes, and a plastic bag stuffed with tangled electronics.

But just take a look at it now!

Week 8: The charity shop pile

The last two weeks have been a bit insane here - my mother has been in hospital and I've spent a week in the UK to be near her, which has also meant a lot of work piling up here. So in this context, I think i'ts probably okay that I have missed a week, and that this week's step in the Simples challenge is a bit of a cheat.

Week 7: The kitchen surfaces

I'm not sure how much this particular bit counts, as I wasn't so much decluttering as reorganising. There was no food that needed throwing out, but the new layout is much tidier and keeps the counter top much clearer, giving us more work space and also making it easier to wipe down the surfaces and keep it all lovely and clean.

Week 6: The handbag collection

I'm tackling another cupboard this week. The handbag collection. This is currently 'stored' (read: tossed in a careless fashion) on the floor of the cupboard used for long dresses and work shirts. I'm not one of those women with a handbag for every occasion. In fact, once I got the bags out onto the table, the vast majority of items in the pile were overnight bags and sponge bags.

Week 5: The bathroom

This week it was the turn of the bathroom cupboard. It has been slowly invading the bathroom floor. Empty containers vying for space with endless products that are no longer used. I even found two more sponge bags - why do I hoard them? I've no idea. These are all mixed in with an increasing number of ingredients for homemade toiletries - various oils and flower waters.

Week 4: The bedroom

When I normally try to have a clear out, usually what I do is gather up all the useless bits and bobs from around the house and dump them next to the bed. As my bedside table is next to the eaves of the roof, stuff shoved under said table or under the bed is pretty much out of sight, out of mind.

Not this time! And just to mix things up a bit, I'm going to start with the AFTER picture - because it's so lovely!

Week 3: The coat cupboard

I'm really enjoying the planning stage of the simplifying - identifying what can go, what needs to stay, and what I don't yet have (eg storage containers). I am finding that as I go along, I usually manage to solve the puzzle - I spot something somewhere else that is unnecessary there and can be repurposed in another room. In fact, I have already thought of some better uses for items I have already thrown out, but that's just tough.

As I have recently acquired a new coat, and with winter coming on, I made my next target the coat cupboard. Take a look at it. It's 'orrible!

The coat cupboard - BEFORE

Week 2: Decluttering my handbag

Have you ever found yourself juggling your many bags at the checkout, trying to pay with only one hand, when your phone rings and you spend ages rifling through your overcrowded bag, while people queuing get restless and you try to avoid spilling essential things?

That happened several times this week. So I thought it was about time for week 2 of the Simples challenge.

First I got together my decluttering kit. A lit candle, a meringue, a glass of water and a jazz CD. Who says that simple living can't involve a dash of glamour?

Then I emptied my bag and laid it all out on a table.

Week 1: Laying out clothes

Last Saturday I decided to make a change to my routine to make it easier, and over the week I mulled over this topic, ending up not with hot spiced wine but with a more developed challenge to myself - to make one change a week to simplify my home and my life, focusing particularly on those aspects of the simple life  philosophy which I find difficult, such as routine, organisation, decluttering and time management.

I'm calling this challenge the Simples challenge. For week one, I decided to lay out my clothes each evening for the following day. I've tried it before, but always left it too late into the evening. Now I am doing this as soon as I get home from work, when I get changed into jeans and a t-shirt (or civvies, as we used to call them at school).

My work clothes are laid out over the arm on the left, and my running kit on the seat.

Simples: a simple living challenge

Since I started this blog, I've been on a journey. The focus has shifted slightly but significantly.

When I started writing, I wanted to live an eco-friendly lifestyle. But I quickly found that as soon as any conflict arose, I abandoned by alleged green principles. Green is awesome, but I wasn't about to turn down an invitation to spend a month in Argentina with my boyfriend to meet his parents and his friends. Plus I love hot baths too much.