Staying Sane February

For those of you who have been following us for awhile, you might remember our "Staying Sane" posts that we've taken a bit of a hiatus from recently. Well, they're back! We like to share what we did to keep us happy at the end of each month. It's is all about the little things, right?



Kristen - I'm always looking for ways to create more free time for myself. Aside from enjoying an aesthetically pleasing space, it's one of the main reasons for my minimalist lifestyle. Less stuff = less maintenance. Earlier this month when we started having Spring-like weather, I decided I should clean my windows. I noticed the blinds that came with the apartment were a little dirty and attempted to clean them as well without much success (years of caked on grime isn't easy to remove). They looked better, but I still thought they were pretty unappealing. I remembered a conversation I'd had a few weeks earlier with Sally over at Metro Modern. She and her husband, David, don't have any window coverings in their Fan row house. I thought to myself, "Do I really need window treatments?" I decided to leave the blinds down for a few days and see how it felt. I LOVE it! The view is so much better and the rooms are even brighter. The outline of the windows without any blinds creates a very clean look AND I don't have to dust or wipe down another blind as long as I live there (time savings = 4 to 6 hrs/yr) . I did purchase some inexpensive curtains from IKEA for my bedroom. (A little) modesty can be a good thing.


Before and after. Granted, the before was taken at night, but it still illustrates the undesirable-ness of the blinds.

Christie - With the recent launch of Fibre Craft's website, I've been sewing and making like a mad woman. My stock pile of material had begun to get a bit out of control and was making it really hard to be efficient in my "studio" (read: large desk in the corner of my room). I decided to make some more space to store materials and supplies under my bed by going through some old boxes and clearing out nearly four trash bags full of stuff to give away.



I was able to fit one large wine crate box and two vintage suitcases full of material under my bed in place of the things I gave away. I also finally added tags to my smaller boxes so it's easier to find notions and scraps when I need them. Lastly, it freed up a ton of space under my desk making the room feel a lot less cluttered. It's really helped keep the inspiration flowing in the one place of my apartment that I need it the most.