Mindful Living
Page21
Equal Cleaning For All: Tips For Splitting Chores With Roommates
In my last apartment, cleaning became a big issue. I lived with three other people, and it took us almost two years to actually sit down and determine how to keep our apartment clean. Here are some things I learned from that experience: 1. Truthfully define your definition of clean early on. Do you expect the house to be tidied daily, or is a thorough clean weekly, or even monthly, satisfactory? Setting expectations early on can help reduce conflicts down the road.
Mar 22, 2012
The Ultimate Guide to Making Any Rental More Energy Efficient
Think that because you don’t own, you have no control over your home’s energy use? Not true! Here’s our ultimate guide; full of links to quick, easy and yes, even inexpensive, ways to reduce your carbon footprint and lower your bills (your landlord will thank you!). Most of these changes are likely to pay for themselves in energy savings over the duration of your rental.
Mar 21, 2012
Keep Your Pets Happy Without a Yard
Whether you’re a renter or city dweller, living with a yard can come at a premium. The absence of a yard can also seemingly make life for your pet unpleasant, but after six years I can attest that not only can living without a yard be fine, but even fun! For the past six years my husband and I have lived in Chicago — a city notorious for its lack of yard space. But for each of those years, we’ve lived with a cat, and most recently added a dog to our family.
Mar 16, 2012
Saying Farewell to a Home
Today I’m saying goodbye to a house. It doesn’t know I’ll never see it again — it has no idea that this will be the last time I’ll walk within its walls. It doesn’t even recognize the sheer volume of memories it holds; how many tears and smiles and adventures it has seen. But I am here to say goodbye.
Mar 13, 2012
California’s Smallest Legal Apartment: SmartSpace
Housing developer, Patrick Kennedy, is a small space lover and is aiming to develop the smallest apartment allowed by California code. At around 160-square-feet not a single inch goes unused and everything is multi-purpose. He’s given his residential response to the Smart Car a spin — watch the video below to find out what works great, and what just cramps his style.Kennedy lived in a 78-square-foot Airstream for a period of time, and was inspired to build small homes.
Mar 5, 2012
Ode to an Old Plaid Sofa
Dear Beaten-Up, Broken-Down, Ugly Old Plaid Couch: Thank you. As long as I’ve had a couch, you have been my couch. Your ugly, unmatchable plaid-ness has been my curse and my great joy. Now that the time has finally come to replace you, I find I can barely bring myself to do it. What will my living room be without you? What will I be without you? We’ve been through so much together. When my proud parents brought me home from the hospital, you were there.
Feb 29, 2012
How To Successfully Circulate a Neighborhood Petition
There is a major development being proposed right across the street from my house. Needless to say, I’m no happy camper. After going through stages of disbelief, anger, and sadness, I decided to get busy:How do you start a petition? It’s something I really didn’t know the answer to, but after leading a petition of my own, I’ve learned a few things. Here’s what I learned before hitting the pavement over the weekend: Get help.
Feb 21, 2012
Life at Home: Ways To Enjoy a Grown-Up “Snow Day” Anytime
During the first half of my life growing up in New York, snow days meant waking up early, gripping the radio in hope that my school’s name would be called out so I would get to spend the day playing in the snow with my friends.The second half of my life has been on the West Coast where snow and winter became foreign words. Until last year that is when I moved to the Pacific Northwest and entered the world of seasons once more.
Feb 15, 2012
Get Smart: How To Avoid the Top 3 Online Shopping Scams
More and more transactions are being carried out online and over a wider array of sites — Craigslist, Etsy, Cars.com, eBay, etc. Unfortunately, when money is involved there’s someone out trying to take advantage. Click past the break for some of the top online scams, and learn what to look for so you don’t fall prey to their tricky tactics.Scams benefit from our human nature — we want that good deal to come fly in our laps, and we want to trust people.
Feb 2, 2012
10 Tech Tasks Everyone Should Know How To Do
某些生命里程碑信号的就职典礼adult life. Among them: filing taxes, buying a home… and of course, finally figuring out how to read your electric meter. It’s a skill you should know, along with these 9 other household tech fixes and troubleshoots.There’s no need to call an overpriced computer expert when you need to backup your computer.
Jan 17, 2012
5 Questions: Deciding to Keep or Purge
On the spectrum of keeper or purger I fall clearly in the camp of purger. There are, of course, a few exceptions to this rule. Here are five questions I ask myself to decide what to keep or purge during each clean out.We purge our home of clutter quarterly because even though we are mindful about what we bring into the apartment, stuff piles up over time. Here are five questions I ask myself to help decide what to keep and what to purge. When was the last time I actually used it?
Jan 17, 2012
You Can Do It: 100% Realistic Budgeting Tips & Resources
Budgeting is one my least favorite subjects. One, because I am one of those right brained people who avoids math and numbers at all costs and two, because I was never taught how to make a proper and realistic budget. But, whether or not it’s in our comfort zone, we inevitably hunker down and try to crunch numbers and make a plan.
Jan 13, 2012
7 Tips for Keeping the Peace (and Quiet) With Noisy Neighbors
The other night I became a total apartment-living cliché. It was 5am and my upstairs neighbor had been hitting snooze (yet again) on her siren-pitched alarm clock for close to an hour. I finally stormed out of bed, stomped to the broom closet, and gave my ceiling several vigorous whacks. Not my best moment, or morning.To keep you from meeting the same pre-dawn fate (and well, looking like a lunatic), I thought I’d research more neighborly etiquette.
Jan 12, 2012
Clever Green Solutions to Everyday Issues
Some of my favorite Re-Nest posts are the ones that share clever solutions to everyday issues (you know, the kind that make you think “huh, how did I not know about this?”). From removing pesky stains to keeping pests at bay and everything in between, here’s a roundup of our favorites from 2011!TOP ROW• 1 Use Citrus Peels To Start Your Seedlings• 2 Hot Tip: Wrinkles? Forget the Iron. Use a Spray Bottle.
Dec 23, 2011
Tips for Cleaner, Better Burning Firewood
这里的季节是讨好的爆裂声,冷杉es. For those of you who are burning wood, check out these useful tips on how to get a clean and efficient burn from your firewood. As a wise innkeeper in rural Pennsylvania once said to me, while stoking a fire like she was mad at it, “Romances should smolder – firewood should burn.” Word.I recently came across a great in-depth article in Mother Earth News on using cleaner, more efficient firewood.
Nov 23, 2011
Penelope and Nathan’s Full–Hearted Eclectic
Name: Penelope, Nathan and Bell MillerLocation: Portland, OregonYears lived in: 2 Penelope and Nathan turned a broken down house in North East Portland into a handmade palace full of personality and joy — the perfect spot to raise their 20 month old daughter, Bell, and even have leftover room for guests and grandparents. When Penelope needed a bit of peace and contemplation, they built an outdoor lounge room completely from reclaimed, tossed–aside materials.
Nov 2, 2011
5 Completely Free Ways to Make Your House a Home
We’ve talked time and time again about all the little things you can do to make a house feel like a home. You can have warm enveloping lighting, plants for fresh air and fun additions of color, collections and artwork, but that’s not what this post is about. This post is about how to make your home feel like a refuge; it doesn’t have a single thing to do with your decor or the design of your space and nothing costs a dime – it’s all totally, 100% free… 1.
Sep 13, 2011
Tips for the Slow Home: Creating Functional Spaces
Making your home, or even one room, function for the purpose you’ve identified isn’t about spending tons of money to overhaul your space; it’s more about being thoughtful about how you envision your space to function. Yes, you might need to purchase a sleeper sofa if you want your office to double as a guest room, but generally you can work with what you have.
Aug 17, 2011
A Guide To Slow Home Principles: The Entryway and Landing Strip
Entryways are one of the most used areas of a home, yet there’s rarely a dedicated space for the various functional and storage needs that our daily lives command. This guide breaks down why these spaces are so important in the slow home, their components, and how you can create your own (even if you live in an apartment!).Entryways have both practical and psychological qualities.
Aug 9, 2011
Seal the Deal: How To Save Space With A Vacuum
随着冬天远远落后于美国大部分地区,这是ce again time to stow away all those bulky blankets. Here is a dead simple tip on how to save loads of space with nothing but a vacuum, a garbage bag, and a rubber band!Bulky blankets, pillows, linens, clothing, you name it!Vacuum with a hoseGarbage bagRubber band 1.Fold the blanket, winter coat or whathaveyou. Stack several on top of each other if desired.2.Place the folded material into the garbage bag.3.
Apr 27, 2011
5 Reasons You Should Rearrange Your Furniture Seasonally
I know, I know, moving your furniture around in a space a few times a year sounds like an enormous amount of work but it’s worth it. After the jump find 5 reasons that moving your furniture can help you live more simply and efficiently.1. Save your flooring. By moving your furniture around periodically it saves your flooring from wear and traffic patterns therefore extending its life.2. Take advantage of changing light conditions.
Apr 12, 2011
15 Creative Clothes Drying Racks
image:a1b9dbac900965d6029baa712df3edb5cf15ddf4 w:540 s:"fit" class_name:"mt-image-center" show_pin_button:"true" show_image_credits:"true" There’s no need for a dryer with these creative and space-saving drying racks! Hang them inside or outside, over the tub or over the backyard, lower them from the ceiling or mount them on the wall. There are options sure to fit any space.
Mar 24, 2011
How To Make Vegetable Dye
I found a page from an old book all about creating vegetable dyes! The author and source are unknown, but the dyes are absolutely gorgeous! These are not just beet juice dyes, they are made to last and come from plants you might find in your own backyard or out on a nature walk. Let’s start with dyeing wool, since according to this vegetable dye elder, that is the easiest material to work with, before graduating to silk, linens, and cottons.
Feb 24, 2011
Transit Score: A New Tool to Find Public Transit Paradise
For over a year Walk Score has been a super internet tool useful for finding out how walkable your current or prospective neighborhood is. Knowing that walking isn’t the only eco-friendly form of transportation, the website has added a new calculator, Transit Score, to determine how well a location is served by public transportation.After you type in your address to get your Walk Score, the website also gives you your Transit Score, which is measured on a scale from 0 to 100.
Sep 2, 2010
Revisiting Buckwheat Hull Pillows: Make Your Own!
Back in January Emily wrote a great post on buckwheat hull pillows which inspired me to make my own. It has been true love ever since. I’ve enjoyed the many benefits of buckwheat hull pillows including excellent support for the neck and head, good air circulation to keep the pillow cool while also absorbing moisture and sweat, and I was able to make my pillow for about $25.After reading on several occasions that buckwheat pillows were recommended to help prevent migraines.
Aug 11, 2010
25 Easy Tips, Strategies, and Ideas for Small Space Living
As we close out our Small Spaces & Simple Living month here on Re-Nest, we’re rounding up a list of tips and ideas provided by YOU via this post. Everyone has a bit of a different take on coping with small spaces: it’s all about purging your stuff. No, it’s all about organizing your stuff. Wait, it’s all about storing your stuff!
Apr 29, 2010
How To Buy Only What You Love (and Need)
How many times have you been shopping, seen something beautiful, or cool or cute or on sale, snatched it up, and then later realized you didn’t really love or need it? Learning to shop conscientiously, or not at all, is liberating, better for the environment, and essential if you live in a small space. Here are some of the things we’ve learned on our own journey. Shop with a goal.
Apr 13, 2010
20 Ways To Love Your Home
虽然天气会有点冷(只有80户田拓夫y!) our thoughts turn to the Fall. We’re looking forward to more time spent indoors hosting and hanging out. BUt there are some things we’d like to get to to make our home feel that much more comfortable. Jump below for 20 ways to love your home (so it loves you back):1. Choose 10 things. And donate them, throw them away or repurpose them.
Sep 14, 2009