K.In the Bay

dishes

- wash at least one dish every day. could be a single fork. just do one. at absolute worst this means you're regularly running clean hot soapy water through the heap of backed up dishes in the sink.

- any time you have to wash a plate or utensil because you're out of clean ones, wash two of them. need a knife? wash two knives. need your only baking sheet? wash a cup too.

clutter

- overwhelmed by clutter? take out the bins and do laundry. it's very difficult to organise a space when it's full, and trash and dirty clothes take up a lot of space both physically and mentally. emptying bins makes room for the whole cycle to move.

- those little boxes and containers advertised for ADHD really do work, even if you don't have ADHD. they let you move surface clutter around even if you don't have time to sort and clear it. you can quickly box up the craft project that's been taking up your desk for two weeks, clean the surface, and put everything back.

- on that note @3liza clued me in to the power of a simple wicker basket a decade ago and it changed my life. this isn't a desk tidy, this is a medium to large box or basket without a lid that you can comfortably carry in two hands (doesn't have to be wicker). personally I like a collapsible one so I'm not tempted to fill it with stuff when it's not in use. the point of it is collecting and carrying.

- instead of taking on individual sidequests for every item in an overcluttered room, walk through with your simple wicker basket and collect everything that has to go in the kitchen. take it to the kitchen, put it away. then collect everything for the bedroom. take it to the bedroom, put it away. it's your sifter, your filter, your best friend. this is but one use of the simple wicker basket.

trash

- differentiate in your head between dry trash and wet trash. dry trash is paper, plastic wrappers, packing foam, scrap fabric, dried up pens. 'shelf stable' trash, if you like. nothing likely to leak or rot. this can be collected in small lined wastepaper size bins around the house – one in every room honestly isn't overkill. you only have to empty these when they reach the top of the container.

- wet trash is food waste, soiled or greasy food wrappers, empty bottles, sanitary products, used medication ampoules, anything contaminated by mould or pest damage, etc. the yucky stuff. this goes in a single, large, lined bin with a lid, in a central part of the house (probably the kitchen). Empty this every 3-4 days or as soon as it reaches the top of the container. it won't fill up as fast without dry trash bulking it up, and disposing of it in small amounts regularly keeps the place feeling fresh. importantly it also means the gross stuff is contained in one place, not wearing on your peripheral attention day after day making you feel bad.

generally

- everything I said about clutter and surfaces above also works for floors. you can take stuff off the floor, vacuum, and then dump that shit right back where it was. you don't have to wait for one glorious day when you have the energy to do everything.

- the longer something goes untouched, the worse it gets psychologically. if a particular area of mess is especially upsetting or daunting to you, agitate it. pick up just one thing. dust around it. divide it in two. do anything you can bear that gets you to engage with it and handle it. it's manageable. you'll get there.

-making a todo list is great BUT. make sure that you start out with a few things so you don't end up having a list of shit you didn't do and feeling bad about it. you can start by doing only up to a certain point of the day. I usually make my todo lists just what i can get done before lunch.

-you can put "picking up that one sock i left in the kitchen and didnt move for a week" on your todo list. yes it's picking up one sock but once you Actually make it a task the spell is broken and you can lift it off the floor. putting small things is totally valid

-Lee already touched on it but once you get into the mindspace of "the longer i let this bother me, the more Negative Feelings i get over time. if i handle it now then i won't accumulate all those Negative Feelings over a week to a month"

-Make a mental check list that you then put to paper of everything that annoys you passively. the mark on the wall, the dust in that one corner, the water stain on the desk, etc. now you have stuff to add to your todo list

-Do Not. drop stuff where they shouldn't be. you know that tshirt doesnt belong on the floor. either put it in the hamper or fold it and put it away. IF that's too much of a hassle, then ask yourself why. is the hamper too far away? is the shelf sticky and a pain to open? something that helps me is i have a clothing hook on my bedroom door that i hang clothes i know im wearing tomorrow, or wear around the house normally (pj shorts, tank tops, etc)

-there's no shame in having a mental illness that makes the above things difficult. i know, i live it. but you can't just Give Up and say "well i'm too fucked for it" because it's just not true. it's harder for you then some others, and that sucks, but it's still possible to clean your house consistently and not feel even worse.

-this one's a doozy If you use something often, have that be the most available and easy thing to do. For example, i use salt and garlic powder in a lot of my cooking, so those seasonings get to stay out on the counter while my jar of [hyper specific spice mix] is in the cabinet, alll the way in the back. My writing pad and pen is always on my desk because i need them to do my work. the clothes i tend to wear, i keep on a hook on my door. the cleaning supplies i use the most often are the easiest to get out. etc. you should put away shit you don't use, and be honest with yourself, were you really going to use those paint markers any time soon?

"There's this village I read about in my guidebook, where the sun sets right between the mountains. So the whole countryside lights up like it's on fire."

TV Appreciation Week 2024  : Day 7 : Free choice → Favourite show nobody watched (Galavant)

I had like one, maybe two friends who were all like FUCK YEAH YOU PAINT IT WHATEVER COLOR YOU WANT, PURPLE BEDROOMS ARE AWESOME.

But when they actualy saw the finished bedroom, every single one of them was like, “Oh yeah, that’s really pretty.” (Well, the ones who supported me from the beginning were more like WOOHOO.)

MEAN YOU HAVE TO ABANDON

WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY.

When I bought my house, the kitchen was multiple shades of dingy white. It was dismal, but it was now mine! So went to the hardware store for paint (well, several trips, painted swatches on panel, etc — I’m very picky. But this was the final, ‘real’ trip). It was a busy day in the paint section. There were at least five people behind me in line.

Now, remember, latex paint is slightly lighter and brighter when wet than it is when dry. And I’d decided to paint my kitchen candy-apple red. The hardware store employee took my gallon off the Paint Jiggler and cracked it open to put a dab on the top, revealing the most incredibly deep pink, and behind me I hear the entire line of people say,

“Oh my god.”

…in perfect chorus.

This is the door to my garage. It used to be white. Live your best life.

Mischief the cat says “Who goes there?”

Every visiting friend says “This is so cool.”

my garage. It used to be

white. Live your best life.

not decorating trends; those have always existed. but the idea that color and decoration is inherently childish

this is the dining room at the Eustis Estate in Milton, Massachusetts, from 1878 (where I used to work, briefly). the walls are TEXTURED MICA SHIMMER on a green background. Adult Space For Adults!

A jewelry shop in Paris c. 1901. kids can’t buy jewelry!

who can forget the classic 1950s colorful bathroom? I’m not a huge fan, but still! adult space! bright colors; decorative designs!

So here’s two examples of traditional Norwegian farmhouse interiors. You know. The kinds of places peasants live in.

This type of painting is called “rosemaling” and today you usually find it on, like, carved wooden bowls and such that are only used for decoration. But back two centuries ago, it was very common to find the interiors of homes covered in it, in projects that were painted little by little over the decades. Because it’s beautiful to look at, paint is the cheapest way of decorating your house, and what else are you going to do on the long winter nights when it’s too dark and cold to work outdoors?

But mostly, they did it because it made them happy, and it was beautiful.

WONDERFUL NEWS!!

Author/illustrator Trung Le Nguyen has been live posting reading Pride and Prejudice for the first time on bluesky and just hit the first proposal. The replies are basically the sickos meme