I have realized that there are as many definitions for "simple living" as there are for "green". So, I sat down to make a simple list of what Rick and I consider our basic simple living ideas.
This wouldn't necessarily be everyone's list, but this is ours:
1. minimal posessions
2. homecooked foods, minimal processed foods, organic when possible
3. not always needing the "latest thing" or the "latest style"
4. Buying used whenever possible
5. recycling everything we can recycle, and composting everything we can compost
6. growing as much of our own food as possible
7. being very stingy with energy
8. simple, close to home family entertainment (fishing, board games, etc.)
9. making no purchases that aren't absolutely necessary
10. Reusing as much as we can
11. Donating things things we don't use instead of storing them
12. Doing things by hand when possible
13. Using alternate transportation when possible
14. Working enough to earn what we need to live on, but not so much that we have no home life (I used to work 60-100 hours every week - I'm a work-a-holic at heart!)
15. Always looking for ways to improve on saving money, on recycling and reusing, ways to declutter, and other ways to simplify!
One website I've found that I love is Christian Simple Living I love their list of what to "stop" to "start" living a more simple life:
o Buy less of what we want, and buy only enough of what we actually need.
o Not sooth our egos by wasting the world's resources on ever-trendier, bigger, faster, or more convenient appliances, gadgets, and other possessions.
o Use environmentally, economically, and socially conscious values when buying those few things we actually do need, including large items (homes and cars), and small things (detergent and paper).
o Use energy-efficient and minimally polluting appliances and tools.
o Recycle everything, because in God's economy, there is no garbage and everything is valuable.
I can't remember where I got this picture of the living room,(if its your picture please comment here and let me know!) but it is so calm, so zen-like, so peaceful... that is the feeling I want for our whole house! (although instead of the red lamp I'd rather it be green, or blue, or even pink!)
15 comments:
Great list! I agree. The ones I have a hard time with are #11 and 13. I tend to hoard stuff, although I'm getting better at letting go. Actually I'm getting better at just not bringing more things into my house which goes a long way to having less stuff to hoard. And I never use public transit. I don't get it. At least in the summer the kids and I bike a lot rather than take the truck everywhere in town.
I love the part about God's economy. I might have to borrow that!
I love that living room picture too. It's a good feeling room. I am kind of afraid of the white slipcovered furniture though. I have a husband and two kids and a dog and a cat. I can't do white. The biggest differences for me would be plants and books and blankets. Then it would be perfect!
How do you feel about curtains and drapes, Anita? While I like the look in the photo of a bare window, I understand from personal experience that heavy or insulated drapes can help keep out cold and heat. What will you use in your new home?
I love how spare and CLEAN that living room looks .. and I remember as a kid that mom used to hang out the wash to dry .... even city people used to do that
:-Daryl
Being the age that we are and coming from "working class" people, Bill and I have lived this way most of our lives aand still do.
Now, as for this living room...for myself, I need much more softness around me...more things that remind me of my family, good times, memories! Don;t forget to add your memories!
hugs, bj
Once you start working on your house, and houses of others, get it all built, then you get move in, putting things around, building that garden and tending it, and doing all your Greensburg Greentown stuff, you won't have time for a job. That should satisfy your work-a-holic tendencies eh? ;o) Most retired/stay-at-home folks I know don't know how on earth they went to work for 8-10 hours a day away from home, they've got so much to do now. I strive for that.
I like the living room photo too, but I'm with the rest, I'd have to add some softness to it. You can have cuddly and zen too. I'd add a rug to the floor and curtains to the windows, at least in the winter. This looks good for hot summer days.
Heidi - You know, before the tornado I had a hard time with #11, too. But after losing a lot of that "extra" stuff in the storm, I've realized that I didn't need it... and I felt lighter, less tied down without it!
#13 is harder here, with no public transportation, but we can walk more once we're actually in town!
That part about God's economy came from Christian Simple Living. White slipcovers done in a washable fabric aren't as bad as you might think they will be... although I tend to agree - the pet hair would be a problem in my house!
Alice - I would love to live in the country where i didn't need anything at the windows in the summer, but of course in town that's not going to happen!
For winter I love this idea: Windown Quilts I have held onto that link for several years now, because I love the site, and I love the look of the quilts at the windows!
In the summer I like gauzy, puddled sheers, with old fashioned pull blinds. :)
Darly - I remember seeing pictures of clotheslines strung between buildings... guess you could get your clothes stolen doing that now, eh? folding drying racks are really nice for drying inside, though... :) I love this room for the same reasons...
BJ - I wish more people of my generation would listen to your generation! My grandma was a generation or two older than you (born 1910) and she was my best friend... So much of who I am came directly from her!
Luckily, my memories are all still in my head... since the tornado, I don't have too many "things" that remind me of the past... and since the storm, I'm trying not to collect too many physical things as keepsakes...
Jules - thats very true... I will be working again once the motel is done, but I am planning on going back to my part-time, three days a week schedule!
The more that's in the room, the more that has to be taken care of... and while i used to love spending several hours a day dusting, and vacuming, sweeping and mopping, I'd just as soon not do that now... I guess I'm just not a "soft" kind of person... as long as I have a comfortable chair, and my books and laptop, I'm good!
When I want to relax, what I really like is less 'visual stimulation".
You know, since we have no money for any furniture, it's probably a good thing we like the sparse look...lol A church gave us two hollywood frames, and full sized mattress sets... and we have my hoosier, my china hutch, and hopefully the top of our old kitchen table isn't warped... but we have no living room furniture, no dressers, no nightstands... so our house will be REALLY sparse!
(we do have an old sectional that was given to us, but it will go in the basement family room with the television!)
I love the list as I do have to live by most of it since I live in an RV.
However, I do like some softness around but if and when I get a home, it will be as sparse as yours as I do not have any furniture either. Hang in there as things will come to you when you least expect it!
Most of this list is just how I was raised... things I've done since I can remember...
Living in an RV must be interesting... With my pack-rat hubby I don't know if we could do it or not! lol...
With everything we've had happen since the storm, I have no doubt that things will come to us from sources we never considered... :)
Hey Anita, Would you like an old piano? It's not in the best of shape, out of tune, but the woodwork on it is beautiful. I need to find a home for it so I can get my mother's player piano. The player belonged to my great-grandmother.
About the guilt window covers... In the early '70s when I went to California as a young bride I made friends with a lady that handmade many things. One thing she was working on was window dressing. She was making yo-yo circles to sew together to allow some light in but give a bit of privacy.
http://www.reddawn.net/quilt/yoyo.htm
You don't even know how tempting that piano is... but I have to pass, because I have my grandma's piano... it was bought new in the 70s, so its not as "my style" as yours would be, but it's about the only thing of her's I have...
I absolutely love yo-yos, and once I get started making them I can't seem to quit! lol.. I have seen yo-you window treatments, and they would work well in the summer... I don't know why I'm worrying about keeping the cold out of the windows in the winter - it's a brand new house with extremely efficient windows...lol I'm so used to having old houses...lol
Anita, I love this living room, and would love to have it as well. The flooring is gorgeous.
My mother hung our wash out to dry on the clothesline. I would love to do that once more, and maybe will someday.
xoxox
I like that the simplicity emphasizes the fabulous floor... we're going to have bamboo floors, so they won't be able to be this dark, but I think they will look good, too!
On washday, I used to hang the first load out when the sky was light but the sun wasn't even up yet... there is something so meditative to me about hanging clothes, and taking them down, and folding them... I just hate putting them away!!! :)
I find hanging clothes on the line a very meditative thing also. That is the first thing I had DH do when we moved into our house. There is a country song he likes to sing to me, something about this guy who says to this lady that he's pay to watch her hang laundry. He's so sweet. He'll even take it down for me at lunch if he thinks it is going to rain in the afternoon. Which it seems to do every day here, now that it is summer.
That IS sweet!! :)
We seem to be getting tons of rain here, too... which wouldn't be bad if it didn't come with large hail and damaging winds, too! lol...
We're not allowed to have clotheslines in FEMAville - I really miss it...
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