organization

Organizing

January 28, 2018 at 10:20 am by Claudia

Yours truly here; sore as heck and pretty darned tired after a day spent cleaning out the den closet. The closet had become a black hole where stuff was piled so high that we could barely get the door open and I couldn’t summon up the energy to tunnel down to my toolbox. For over a year, I’ve been thinking that I needed to add inexpensive shelves to one side of the closet because it was clear to me that we needed a vertical solution to the mess.

Once I get an idea in my head, coupled with the energy to take it on, I don’t stop until it’s done. I took everything out of there, sorted through old VHS tapes, CDs, and DVDs, marking some for the Salvation Army, some for our storage space, and the rest for here. I grabbed two unused bins from the shed and filled them with CDs. I folded up the heavy iron CD shelf we were using and which was taking up valuable space. That all went to storage. I saved some CDs that we were likely to want to play. We figure if we really have an itch for anything that isn’t here, we can easily grab it from storage. In other words, if I’ve made a mistake in my keep/store decisions, it can be remedied. We do still listen to CDs. I have a nice Bose CD player and I’m not a big fan of Spotify, or even Pandora, though I do use Pandora occasionally. (I have issues with the way they screw over the recording artists, who see very, very little money from those streaming apps. I like to buy the music directly so that the money goes to the artist.)

Anyway, all that was sorted, two bags were taken to the dump, shelves were purchased at Lowes. I put the shelves together and put everything away and the whole thing is very satisfying. However, that made two days in a row of heavy lifting and my back is complaining today.

The only other thing I did was switch the position of two chairs at the kitchen table. It suddenly struck me that the green Hansel and Gretel chair (that’s what I call it) would look more interesting when viewed from the living room and den. I was right.

Today? A quick visit to the grocery store and rest.

Happy Sunday.

Small House Living: Finding Room for a Desk

January 7, 2015 at 9:57 am by Claudia

When you live in a small house and have an even smaller budget, you have to be, shall we say, “creative” with your solutions. Case in point: both Don and I freelance, therefore, all of our work related materials live here. We don’t leave the house and ‘go to an office.’ In my case, I write two blogs here, have tons of reference materials (including books) for my coaching work and my book reviews, all receipts for both the blog and my work away from home are kept here, along with a lot of the other paperwork that goes along with paying household bills.

We have the guest bedroom/office/Don’s studio, where there are two file cabinets – one for me, one for Don. Mine holds dialect research and other ‘must save’ information. Don uses the desk in that room for his work. But the rest of the room is filled with a bed, a linen cabinet, a fax machine, and all of Don’s guitars and music paraphernalia. It can’t simply be an office/studio space. It also has to function as a guest room.

Then I have the ‘studio’ in the upstairs hallway – but that’s where the sewing machines live. (I sometimes fantasize about storing the machines and using that worktop as a desk. We’ll see.)

A few years back, Don came home with a freebie he found on the curb. It was an ugly computer desk. My first response was, “Take it back.” But then I accepted Don’s challenge and reimagined it with paint and vintage fabric. To read more about that, click here. For a while, it sat in the den, but I decided I wanted a separate place to go when I had to do paperwork.

Where is there any extra space in this little cottage? Well, we have a little cupboard under the stairs where we store things that we don’t need to get to very often, which means that most of the time it’s wasted space. So why not put the desk there?

SHL-desk

You can see the little closet behind the desk. When I need to access it, I move the desk away from the wall. It’s a bit of a pain, but this is the kind of thing you do when you live in a small space. You compromise.

The chair, by the way, is one of the chairs I am longing to get rid of. Soon.

Monday dawned and I knew I had to tackle this area, which had boxes stacked on top of the desk and baskets overflowing with paperwork. I sat on the floor, pulled out the baskets and sorted like a madwoman.

SHL-underneathdesk

On the shelves beneath the desk: the wire basket holds all our paid bills, the stack to the right of it holds old agendas and notebooks, the basket on the left on the lower shelf holds all my receipts and paperwork for both the blog and my coaching work, the one on the right holds chargers, cords and my beloved Blackwings. The paint brushes in the cup are used for work on the dollhouse.

2014 paid bills/receipts have been gathered together with a giant rubber band and are now sitting in the big white cupboard in the living room. Everything else has been sorted, rearranged or dumped in the trash.

The top of the desk has been cleaned off and is ready for 2015.

SHL-tins

My tins. The green one holds business cards that I want to hang on to.

SHL-coaster

The coaster was actually a rug made by someone for that mini swap. But it’s out of scale and too thick for the dollhouse, so I thought I’d repurpose it as a coaster. (My watch needs a new battery, that’s why it’s sitting there.)

SHL-lamp

My lamp find from the Country Living Fair with its temporary lampshade solution. Note to self: get on that. The little cottage with the two birds wall pocket was a gift from Judy.

SHL-notes

Instead of trying to fit some sort of pin board in here, at least until I find one that works, I tied some thick trim I had to one of the spindles. Then I used oversized clothespins (I think I found them in the $1 bin at Target) to hold notes, one of which is my upcoming book review schedule. That photo is of Don and I on the beach in San Diego.

The wind chill today is below zero. I’m thinking I’d like to be back on that beach.

The doorstop was an auction find.

SHL-bag

And my new tote bag lives on the chair.

No, the desk isn’t elegant. It’s sort of funky. It was free. Total cost? $0. The paint I had on hand, the vintage fabric was in my stash. I’d say you can’t beat the price.

I’ve taken a rarely used space and made it into a work area for a girl with several irons in the fire.

That would be me.

Happy Wednesday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Fervently, Even Fanatically, Filofax

September 8, 2013 at 9:47 am by Claudia

It’s no secret that I’m a Mac/Apple girl. Every computer I’ve ever owned has been a Mac. (And by the way, because of that I’ve never had a virus…knock on wood.) I have an iPhone. My laptop is a MacBook Pro. Don’s is a Macbook (which used to be mine.) I love everything about them.

The one thing, though, I’ve never been able to use for any length of time is the calendar, the appointments, the reminders, etc., that are part of the OS operating system. I’ve tried. It’s not that I can’t figure them out, I can. The truth is that I really like to write things down. If I have an appointment, I want to write it in a book. If I need to note a birthday or anything in my daily calendar, including reminders for book reviews, I have to write it down. Somehow it doesn’t seem real if I record it in a virtual medium. I remain old-fashioned that way.

sunfilophone

Enter my beloved Filofax. Now, you have to understand that I haven’t always been true to my Filofax. I strayed a bit. I tried other agendas/calendars. I even tried a Palm Pilot (remember them?) Boy, with the advent of the smart phone, Palm Pilots disappeared pretty quickly!

Anyway, I had tried another agenda quite recently. I admit it, the aqua cover called to me. But when I was in Manhattan in June, working with the director of Much Ado About Nothing, I noticed her well-loved, slightly battered Filofax sitting on the table, stuffed with reminders and receipts and all the things one puts in an agenda. We spoke about how we love to write things down and how much we love Filofaxes. And I thought, “Claudia, what were you thinking?? Return to what you love. Return to the best!!”

And I did.

sunfilo

This particular Filofax is about 12 years old. It’s the Kensington model, which is no longer being made.

sunfilocorner

The leather is incredibly supple and the edges are worn. I like that. It’s been broken in. Truth be told, if I had to buy a Filofax today, I would go with something that is non-leather. But I bought this 12 years ago, when my beliefs and convictions about animal rights were still evolving. So I experience a guilty pleasure with this cover. I’ve also heard the older models were the best quality and mine sure is.

I first got a Filofax in about 1989 or 1990. I was teaching at Boston University and a woman who worked with me had one. She carried it everywhere; it was stuffed with all sorts of interesting things, I couldn’t take my eyes off it and I became obsessed. I wanted one. Since I was grossly underpaid at that institution, I had to go with a cheaper version of the cover. But I used the Filofax inserts. Eventually, I was able to upgrade to the one I have now.

sunfilobuscards

Let’s open it up. The inside cover has slots for credit cards. I don’t carry my credit cards in the Filofax, so I stick my business cards there. Easy to get to. There’s a compartment underneath where I stash all sorts of notes, photos, you name it. On the right is the pencil-protector-type thing that comes with the Filofax. I store Post It notes and flags there, along with a photo of my late brother and me.

sunfilodave

You know me, I always have a story. This particular photo is very precious to me. Years ago, again at Boston University, my wallet was stolen. I had mistakenly left my office door open for a moment as I ran down the hall to another office. When I returned, the wallet was missing. I panicked, not because of all my cards and ID, but because this photo was in the wallet and my brother had just died and I thought I would never see it again. Eventually, a guy working maintenance found the wallet with the cash missing but everything else intact. I keep it here now. It seems safer, somehow.

sunfilosched

I jot down all sorts of stuff. In this case, coaching appointments and a reminder to post a book review on the blog. Excuse scrawly handwriting. Too many years of writing actor notes at a very fast pace, sometimes in the dark.

I also have a section where I jot down the titles of books that I want to read. If I rely on my already over-stuffed brain to remember a title, I inevitably forget it.

sunfilomanhattan

You can add all sorts of fun things to a Filofax. Here’s a fold out map of Manhattan. I use it all the time.

sunfilomanhattan2

See?

Or how about a map of London?

sunfilolondon

Yep. I used that constantly when I was there. I keep it in the Filofax because I want to take Don to London someday.

sunfiloworld

And a map of the world is always a good thing to have on hand.

sunfilopockets

In the back, there are see-through pockets for business cards, another flap to store things in and a gusseted zippered compartment. I often stash my receipts there, especially when I’m on the road.

And of course, there is the loop for a pen.

Interestingly, I was about to write this post when I encountered another post on the same subject, on Tales of Ted and Agnes. She gave her Filofax a makeover using barkcloth! And if one googles Filofax, goodness! There are all sorts of sites devoted to a passion for Filofaxes. I don’t mind saying that I lost a few hours reading them, especially this one: Philofaxy. Such fun!

What form of reminder/calendar/agenda do you use? Are you all-digital? Do you write on a wall calendar? (I do that, too.) Do you have a favorite form of desk planner? Do tell!

Happy Sunday.

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Organizing

Small House Living: Finding Room for a Desk

Fervently, Even Fanatically, Filofax

claudiahillsparks

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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