Idea Shopping

"Living Room" before we bought house, March 2011

Kitchen, before we bought house, March 2011

The first picture I took of the living room during one of our viewings of the house. These are not my furniture or belongings, and I guarantee that it doesn't look anything like this now. Where their couch was is where our gigantic flat panel t.v. is, for instance. But this does show the uniqueness of the interior. That 'wall' behind the sofa starts angling in at only 5' high, and that occurs on every-other wall! The incline increases dramatically in the upstairs, where it's closer to the top of the geodesic design. You can see in the lower right corner the edge of the wood stove's pad (non-combustible), and the left you can see the chair that's pushed into the dining table. Between the two pics, you can see what a small area that is!

The second picture I took of the kitchen before we "closed" on the house and moved in. It also no longer looks that way. But it is a great example of what I talk about later in this blog-- I'm not including the photos that I took of the inside cupboards) which I took only for my purpose of knowing how much 'space' I'd have for organizing my belongings. The one thing that hasn't changed is the dish rack (built-in) above the sink. There is no automatic dishwasher, there is no room for even a portable one (you can see the corner of their dining table, which is where I have an island, next to which is our small dining table).


I love "Idea Shopping." It's actually my favorite shopping to do. My family hates it, because "Idea Shopping" doesn't mean you go into the store and come out with what you intended to purchase, be it groceries or hardware and supplies for a particular project. It means going into the store (or online, which is even better and less annoying to the family) and looking for ways to utilize things.

For instance, people who know me know my insane affection for tea (which comprises the most need for storage in my kitchen). When I first really started getting into tea, finding a way to store it was a bit of a problem. In America, there's loads of various ways to store coffee (beans, grounds, espresso, etc), from ceramic and tins and glass jars that all say "Coffee" in a variety of fonts. But tea. . . oh my beloved tea, that one was much hard to come buy. Since we've always been pretty much broke and have led a fairly simple life (which, ironically, is extremely complicated), most of my "Idea Shopping" has been done at a dollar store or that major cheap store that starts with a "W." On one particular occasion, in the "W" store, I found these great, shallow baskets in the bathroom section and my idea light bulb not only lit up, it blew out! That will hold my tea bags! I purchased three of them (so as to categorize my teas by broad categories of "black," "green," "herb." I used those baskets for years, but my tea collection (it's not just a collection, we do drink massive amounts of tea, and I've even succeeded in turning Hubby into a tea drinker! Enough of one that on his "tower days" where he works, he'll take his favorite tea with him and end up drinking from one gallon to 1.5 gallons of it!) has far outgrown those three baskets (and categories, as now there red tea--Hubby's favorite--, white tea, and all sorts of mixtures). I have drawers full-- yes, that's plural-- of teas.

Most people may not realize that I'm a "perfectionist," and secretly long for complete functional organization. Our dwellings have been in a rather constant state of disarray since having children (before that, when I was single, I had everything organized and clean, and in military days I received "Outstanding" --highest mark you can get-- on my room inspections, even though I still had more belongings than most people. I just had very creative ways of organized stashes that were kept clean and out of sight. But since having children. . . as any mother can attest, you have to completely re-adjust! I'm still trying to re-adjust.

A surprise for many of my visitors is how my dwelling is such a visual disarray, but if one looked into my pantry, cupboards, fridge, drawers, complete and very precise organization would greet their eyes. Unlike most people, I care more about what's "inside" (not just the physical, such as housekeeping, but also in regards to people and life) than what's on the "outside." I've read loads of books, I've seen the magazines, talked to lots of people, and have been lots of places. In general, those who appear to have clean and organized homes have just that-- an appearance. But when getting a glass for water, a spoon to stir your coffee, a plate to serve your dinner, a hot pad to handle a pan, or whatever, that's when you find their "messes." Silverware tossed into whatever slot, glasses and cups not organized by size or type (yes, I'm that ridiculous), a fridge that could take you several minutes to find what you're looking to get, or an accidental cut by a sharp knife in with cooking spoons. All sorts of stuff that wouldn't happen in my home. But in my home, you'll trip over the vacuum cord and boxes I haven't quite finished unpacking, and you might get attacked by the little green army dudes lined up along the bath tub and bathroom counter. On more occasions than I can count both Hubby and I have put our feet into our shoes or puts only to whimper in shock/pain at whatever has been stashed in there, which typically was a platoon of army dudes or several warriors!

 Moving so often has proven challenging to me, in many ways, but particularly in the way of unpacking and putting things away. Of organizing and having an organized dwelling. My "scatterbrain" (aka, right-brain dominant) has multiple tasks started, and few completed. And then there's the aspect as just when I'm coming to the last few boxes, it's time to up and move again (I'll recite again, when we bought and moved into our 'old house' it was my 29th move made a few months prior to my 29th birthday).

I don't handle "change" very well; it's difficult for me to re-adjust, even though my entire life has been that-- constant change and having to re-adjust. In fact, that's been about the only "constant" in my life. *sigh*

How many times I've looked longingly at the magazine photos of someone who appears to have it "all together," but I know the truth-- they can't LIVE that way. There are a few exceptions to this, and I do know personally of one. It's not a criticism of those folks-- I suppose what I really mean to say is that there's no way on this planet that Hubby and I could ever live like those pictures!

We're both extremely creative people with a wide variety of interests, and the same goes for both of our children. We're not a t.v. family, though we have a massive movie collection (it's taken years to accumulate, and $5 bins!), as it's one of the things we do enjoy doing on the more-often-than-not overcast/rainy days. Even then, though, each of us might be multi-tasking. Hubby will work on some PP presentation or a list or whatever, I'm usually crocheting one of several projects, and Girl will be sewing, drawing, or looking at art books. Then there's all of us being "Readers" as well, so we have an extensive book collection. Both movie and book collections have every genre, because of our varied tastes.

Now factor in our various ways of creativity, from the yarns and cloths to woodburning and building to drawing and painting. . . not to mention all the other "artsy-fartsy" stuff we like at any given time.

What does all this have to do with my subject "Idea Shopping?" Well, living in this geodesic house is wonderful. It suits our unique taste and style. BUT, it also presents an amazing storage and display and decorating challenge! Almost all traditional/modern storage stuff is made for "normal" houses, created by "left brained" people (who are usually logical, step-by-step thinkers). There's hardly any allowance for the round, octagon, geodesic, triangular, and whatever other shapes that may be out there, when it comes to storing and display one's belongings.

So, I've been online "Idea Shopping," and visiting my hardware store and other stores-- looking for something that will suit my needs, for each room that is a challenge. I'm trying to take care of that which drives me bonkers the most, which is currently the mudroom/main entry and the 'living room' (there's no divisions in geodesic living, other than bathroom and bedrooms). I'm filled with some ideas, and rip-roaring ready to go on really homemaking so we can "move in" (see previous entry about the difference of "moving out" and "moving in"), but I'm forced to constantly re-analyze what is "important and urgent." I am very limited on energy currently, and a fibromyalgia flare had me in bed most of yesterday (and that was the 5th day in a row of a migraine, to boot). I'm so behind that I feel like I'll never "catch up," as I've had to spread myself like melted better on several slices of toast!

Maybe it's not such a bad thing, having the fibro-flare and migraine, as that does force me to slow down and really ponder what is worth my energy. It forces me to consider the little things, the "nagging" things that I don't take care of when I've got the motivation for larger projects (like the sheetrocking and remodeling we've been doing for. . . months!). The little things like "dust bunnies" (also known as, I could make a wig from all the shedding of our little grey cat) that seem to have a life of there own a mere two days after cleaning up the last batch of the little fur-balls.

Perhaps that's a benefit of disability. You see life in a whole different way, a way that people without disability will never be able to grasp. How sometimes the little things are very, very important. How the little achievements can mean so much, and be more valuable that a "Superwoman" achievement. I'm always trying to be "Superwoman," or as I've been told-- over-achieving. Being knocked down and abilities stripped away certainly has changed my perspective-- humbly and closer to the ground. Hmmm. . . vertical storage is definitely the way to go, because I need a whole lot more ground space since I'm going to be spending so much time down here! :-)

Take time to "Idea Shop," which also includes "thinking outside the box." Give yourself a challenge, doing a little something for yourself or for a loved one. There are some good feelings to be had when you meet that challenge.

~Cedeham~