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Old 07-23-2016, 09:50 AM   #16
Mother of Sons
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Default Re: I think our home gives people the wrong idea about us.

In my house seating is a priority. My DD recently had a sleepover here and they built a fort in the living room using every chair but one kitchen chair. I was so uncomfortable for the whole 4 days because there was nowhere to sit except at the table. I don't have any new furniture either. I've made cushions covers and pillows and that kind of thing does help. How furniture is arranged can make a big difference too.
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Old 07-23-2016, 10:05 AM   #17
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Default Re: I think our home gives people the wrong idea about us.

I love the Moroccan idea! You could pick a nice color pallet and really make that work!

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Old 07-23-2016, 11:33 AM   #18
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Default Re: I think our home gives people the wrong idea about us.

I agree that having a style really helps pull things together I felt like my home had no sense of style until I discovered that I found out that all of the things I like are cottage style. Now I like to think of my home as my little cottage I bet with some pics when you are up to it, you'd get some great feedback on small changes you could make!
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Old 07-23-2016, 11:54 AM   #19
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Default Re: I think our home gives people the wrong idea about us.

I think you'll enjoy blending your minimalism with comfort and warmth. IME, being able to be hospitable requires seating. As Kristin mentioned, older people are often very uncomfortable on the floor, and getting up can be a trial, even a danger. People with back troubles might not be able to sit on the floor without pain. A few years ago, when we still had our very old, very low couch, I had a friend over with bad knees who fell as she tried to get up from the couch. It was then that I made a new one a priority. Seating doesn't have to be a couch, but it should be comfy.
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Old 07-23-2016, 03:24 PM   #20
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Default Re: I think our home gives people the wrong idea about us.

Yes! A college kids apartment! That's what it's like, complete with a sheet for a blackout curtain in the bedroom!

For now, discussion about guests having to sit in camp chairs or on the floor is irrelevant because we do still have the couch, and DH isn't sold on getting rid of it. But I'll certainly take those things under advisement if we think more about getting rid of the couch. Somebody mentioned lawn chairs, and I could see those molded plastic ones being a good option to keep on hand if we ever do go couch free. But for now, we have to look more normal and the couch stays. What we will need at some point in the future is more chairs for our table. I've actually had an eye out for some for a while but just haven't found any yet. (Wanting a few that go together )

Ok, so I had an idea. I have a niceish trunk that can house some of DD's toys and double as a coffee table. I kinda do have a bit of a theme. Most the stuff is dark, earthy colors. I have some wall art and pictures but struggle with knowing what to put where.

We bought and assembled a twin sized bed for DD today. She'll likely still want to sleep in our bed with us, but it's there for looks. somebody is giving us a bed frame for our room.

I do have a space for making and creating, but it tends to attract a LOT of clutter. It's my sewing desk. I think I'll move it to the basement for the time being. It stresses me out how cluttered it gets.

The whole apartment needs painting. Badly. It looks like there just primer on the walls right now. We won't be able to get to that before our important guests come.

I'll try to upload pictures tonight...

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Old 07-23-2016, 03:53 PM   #21
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Default Re: I think our home gives people the wrong idea about us.

Do you have any pictures or paintings up on the wall.

---------- Post added at 06:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:52 PM ----------

Do you have Christmas tree shops there, we have there black out curtens. They work and look pretty good and were cheaper than I could find fabric.
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Old 07-23-2016, 04:04 PM   #22
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Default Re: I think our home gives people the wrong idea about us.

In our small home here are some of the things that we did -- and I agree that having a plan and presenting yourself in the way you want to be perceived is important

I have a beautiful trunk that is our coffee table
Seating that everyone can benefit from. We have couches but we also have little stools and a circle floor chair. When we have more people than we have seating for we pull them out and people use them. Sometimes we sit in them because we want to
If you're going to have less, make it more special.

You can add warm touches within a minimalist framework. Plain couches are made more inviting by a nice quilt or lap blanket over the back.

so I guess one question I have is do you want to move towards a Middle Eastern hafla low seating space? Or are you wanting less fabric seating that holds dust and junk? Are you really minimalists? Or do you just not want a lot of junk?

And do you have a personal style? Like in how you dress and present yourself to the world?
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Old 07-23-2016, 04:19 PM   #23
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Default Re: I think our home gives people the wrong idea about us.

Quote:
Originally Posted by WaitPatientlyOnTheLord View Post
Yes! A college kids apartment! That's what it's like, complete with a sheet for a blackout curtain in the bedroom!

For now, discussion about guests having to sit in camp chairs or on the floor is irrelevant because we do still have the couch, and DH isn't sold on getting rid of it. But I'll certainly take those things under advisement if we think more about getting rid of the couch. Somebody mentioned lawn chairs, and I could see those molded plastic ones being a good option to keep on hand if we ever do go couch free. But for now, we have to look more normal and the couch stays. What we will need at some point in the future is more chairs for our table. I've actually had an eye out for some for a while but just haven't found any yet. (Wanting a few that go together )

Ok, so I had an idea. I have a niceish trunk that can house some of DD's toys and double as a coffee table. I kinda do have a bit of a theme. Most the stuff is dark, earthy colors. I have some wall art and pictures but struggle with knowing what to put where.

We bought and assembled a twin sized bed for DD today. She'll likely still want to sleep in our bed with us, but it's there for looks. somebody is giving us a bed frame for our room.

I do have a space for making and creating, but it tends to attract a LOT of clutter. It's my sewing desk. I think I'll move it to the basement for the time being. It stresses me out how cluttered it gets.

The whole apartment needs painting. Badly. It looks like there just primer on the walls right now. We won't be able to get to that before our important guests come.

I'll try to upload pictures tonight...
So when thinking about layout, you want to work with what people do in your home. People usually group themselves so that they're facing each other - so if you can have a semi-circle of seating that works better than just one couch.

Here are some pieces of advice for how to arrange art/pictures on your walls (and this works with any style - it's about balance of shape/space): http://www.bhg.com/decorating/home-a...to-arrange-art
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Old 07-23-2016, 04:32 PM   #24
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Default Re: I think our home gives people the wrong idea about us.

I was thinking about this thread today when I woke up. (Aussie time!). In becoming minimalist with a large homeschooling family in a small not that workable house, we have had the goal of making room for the things and life that is important to us. Having family values and getting rid of what detracts or blocks them, and making room for ourselves.

So think about your minimalism. What are your family goals, and have you made room for them, or have you simply decided you want to live in more of an empty place? Maybe you need to put more things into that space so that you have a purpose to it, rather than more of a lost space?

I agree mattresses on the floor isn't healthy long term - we slept on the floor most of last year. I noticed more dust affecting us at that level but also know about the need for air to circulate. There are minimalist bed frames around, I also looked at those but in the end we got a normal wooden frame. Our reason was financial but also yes, the kids all loved it because we were more accessible on the floor and I did notice it was great for our family relationships, more visits from the kids in the morning including the older ones who had stopped that mostly.

So how does it look at child level? You mentioned your daughter ruining the lounge chair. Do you have enough child level 'stuff' - toys, a space to play etc? Even minimalist she will still have needs that don't have to be excessively catered for. Another thing we have noticed is that our house now works for all of the family, and everyone including the children is happy when the house is presented well, feels calm and organised.


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Old 07-23-2016, 05:02 PM   #25
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Default Re: I think our home gives people the wrong idea about us.

OK, so I'm not a minimalist. Minimal-ish aspirations, perhaps. I do think my living room/dining room would qualify as minimalist, though. But I find a lot of inspiration from minimalist blogs. Have you looked at nourishingminimalism.com? Aside from her being my doula with my twins and being a super-cool person she has a lot of really fun ideas and a neat little house. I think there's a lot to be said for choosing quality pieces to add to your home and make the simplicity into something truly beautiful and welcoming.

Paint for sure will go a long ways. I really dislike my kitchen, but a coat of paint did wonders even in my desire to go in it and make meals for my family. My living room has one wall with canvas pieces that my kids decorated. They made patterns on the canvas using painter's tape, painted over it, and pulled the tape off when it was dry. Cute, cheap, cheerful, nothing overwhelming on my walls. I won't plaster my walls with artwork because it's overwhelming, but I think some basic, cheery pieces transform a place. Same with a rug.

Keeping guests as a focal point in changes to the house, I would probably consider comfortable seating a priority in making people feel welcomed.
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Old 07-23-2016, 06:42 PM   #26
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Default Re: I think our home gives people the wrong idea about us.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ArmsOfLove View Post

You can add warm touches within a minimalist framework.
I think this is probably a key -- being miminalist, but still having enough warmth to feel comfortable. And to be comfortable. Since my last pregnancy, I can no longer sit on hard surfaces without hurting a nerve that radiates down my legs and lasts for days.

I don't decorate, but I'd love to follow and see a "before and after" based on suggestions you get from this thread.
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Old 07-23-2016, 06:48 PM   #27
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Default Re: I think our home gives people the wrong idea about us.

Since furniture toxins are a concern to you, get a wool futon on a wood frame.

I agree with the others that mattresses are supposed to be on frames for air to circulate.

What size is your house?

---------- Post added at 06:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:44 PM ----------

Quote:
Originally Posted by WaitPatientlyOnTheLord View Post
The whole apartment needs painting. Badly. It looks like there just primer on the walls right now. We won't be able to get to that before our important guests come.

I'll try to upload pictures tonight...
Definitely remove the sheet off the window before the important people come. I like the trunk/coffee table idea.

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Old 07-23-2016, 07:04 PM   #28
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Default Re: I think our home gives people the wrong idea about us.

Trunk as table = extra seating if it's sturdy! Win/win!!

If you are at all crafty, mis-matched chairs can be super cute at a table. A friend of mine found mis-matched, yet not dissimilar chairs, and painted them all different colours. It's pretty adorable, especially against their dark grey walls, and wood coloured table. All her chairs are similar, in that they are older, wooden, and have tall backs.
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Old 07-24-2016, 02:04 PM   #29
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Default Re: I think our home gives people the wrong idea about us.

You haven't come back to share thoughts about style yet, but I wanted to suggest that it's really easy to do mismatched either shabby or even Moroccan/Middle Eastern style. With either you can do benches for seating -- and some benches offer storage which we love.

I definitely think your reasons for being minimalist and your personal style will play into what you will want to do and how comfortable you will feel in it.

My brother and his wife are minimalist but they also lived in a tiny house at the beach so the decorations were very different from what I would have done but the colors and style was totally them.

Also, what is the flooring?

WRT the black out sheet on the window . . . even if you're not very crafty you can do what I did for my window in one of my first apartments. Get the iron on affixing tape and cut two pieces of the sheet that are a little larger than the window in all directions -- a little more at the top. Put them with the good side of the sheet together and iron that tape between them around 3 of the edges -- leaving the top open. For the top you can get shower curtain hoops -- they have some that come with clips and then you can just clip the top of the curtain, but if you get the ones that go through holes you can just cut small holes and hoop them through. No one even noticed because I tucked any ends inside and they looked clean.

If you want to get a little fancy you can get another sheet, or a piece of fabric, and put some design on the side that will hang inside the house.
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Old 07-24-2016, 04:49 PM   #30
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Default Re: I think our home gives people the wrong idea about us.

Ok, I got the picture. First let me start off by emphatically stating that or house **not** normally this disastrous. You know how when you're doing a major overhaul things get "worse before they get better?" That's the place we're in right now. DH and I spent six hours yesterday on an organizing binge. Pulling everything out from places it doesn't belong, etc. Some of the "regular" household cleaning had been overlooked in these last few days as a result, so that makes it even worse.

Also we've brought some more shelfy/storagey things in. They were in the basement in a "donate" pile, so no money spent on that stuff yet, except on DD's (thrifted) bed.

So here's the place. Bedroom first:

Looking in from the door:




Looking towards the door:




Now the livingroom/kitchen
toward the outdated kitchen. The door in this picture I'd the primary entrance.


Toward the disastrous living room




(DH is taking a well deserved break)



This one to show more of our art work/photo options. These two were not all radically close like this until yesterday. I was just rearranging the art and photos with screwed that are paint encrusted into the walls from our landlords paint job. Not sure how to remove them without treating up the paint. :/ Anyways, it's even obvious to me that these need to be rearranged.


I think this is mostly what you see when you first walk in... again, not normally this messy... the little she'd is what we keep DD's toys on. The sewing desk is going to the basement, it attracts to much clutter.

We have a second bedroom. It's currently an empty room we keep the dog in while we try to rehome him. (Sad, long story) and there's the hall and bathroom. But DD just woke up from a nap so I'm about to NAK. I'll post so I don't lose it then come back to fix stock errors and answer the questions above.

---------- Post added at 07:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:19 PM ----------

Irt how minimalist we are... we're still new on this journey. We own way way more than either of us want to. But we're both to the point where we recognize that owning more things rons us of our time, energy and resources. The current disaster caused by rearranging our junk is an excellent example of this. So I'd say we're minimalist minded but not fully there yet with our possessions.... one of the things we want with minimising is more open space to play and create. We also want less upkeep. We'd rather spend more of our time enjoying life than writing about our trading care of our possessions. We don't want possessions that are not worth the upkeep. We only want things that add value to our lives.

>I have blackout curtains. I just need to hem them and put them up. That window also probably need blinds up.

---------- Post added at 07:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:24 PM ----------

Quote:
Originally Posted by Katigre View Post
So when thinking about layout, you want to work with what people do in your home. People usually group themselves so that they're facing each other - so if you can have a semi-circle of seating that works better than just one couch.

Here are some pieces of advice for how to arrange art/pictures on your walls (and this works with any style - it's about balance of shape/space): http://www.bhg.com/decorating/home-a...to-arrange-art
So are you suggesting we need MORE seating than just a couch and rocking chair I don't think we have room...

---------- Post added at 07:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:30 PM ----------

Quote:
Originally Posted by ArmsOfLove View Post

so I guess one question I have is do you want to move towards a Middle Eastern hafla low seating space? Or are you wanting less fabric seating that holds dust and junk? Are you really minimalists? Or do you just not want a lot of junk?

And do you have a personal style? Like in how you dress and present yourself to the world?
I want to but don't think I have the skill to pull it off yet. And maybe this space isn't conducive to it either, with the Windows being high and the table nearby. I think we really are minimalist in our mindset but slowly getting there with our possessions. We have to keep the couch so what I want right now isn't super relevant. But the primary thing I want is a seating area that encourages our family (not guests) to be getting up and down off the floor often (for health) I *want* the house to be filled only with things made of real, natural materials, organic where possible. Because we don't have the budget to do that right now. Honestly I'd rather just get rid of ALL. the stuff. but I can't do that, both because of my DH's very reasonable feelings about it and because it conflicts with our current goals. I'm ok with keeping a typical set up for now add I grow my decorating skills and save for more expensive, organic furniture.

I feel like my personal style is kinda in the same state as the house. Unfortunately. pretty casual, never any make up. But also never any clothes that could be mistaken for jammies.

---------- Post added at 07:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:42 PM ----------

Quote:
Originally Posted by SalH View Post

So how does it look at child level? You mentioned your daughter ruining the lounge chair. Do you have enough child level 'stuff' - toys, a space to play etc? Even minimalist she will still have needs that don't have to be excessively catered for. Another thing we have noticed is that our house now works for all of the family, and everyone including the children is happy when the house is presented well, feels calm and organised.
So the couch cover needs washing often because of crumbs/food (we try to keep food in the kitchen, doesn't seem to happen.) Or it gets peed on, snotted on, etc. DH also hold done of the responsibility for the couch cover problems because he tends to flop around on the couch, messing up the cover and then not returning it. We try to have plenty of things on hand for her to play with. Until recently she's shown zero interest in toys. We definitely keep her in mind as we arrange things.


IF I MISSED A QUESTION YOU NEED ANSWERED, FEEL FREE TO REPEAT IT.

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