Sunday, August 17, 2008

detox, stage one

the temperature outside has been hovering around 100 degrees the past few days here in portland. a creative combination of small air conditioner and fans is keeping me comfortable here inside. slowly, i have been recovering. fed by silence, good sleep and many hours laying on the couch. i'm reading a bit as well. a well rounded selection: some humor, some health and some spirituality. i'm preparing for a major body and spirit cleanse. i'll be writing more on that process as it unfolds.

today i felt energetic enough to start a bit of cleaning and organizing in my home office/painting studio. my hodge-podge of furniture isn't really serving the space well at all. i'm
purging the extra pieces out and looking for more stylish space savers to suit my duel purposes.

before my move west, i lived in a small town where i could afford to own a house. an adorable three bedroom house, with a sun room, full basement and 2-stall garage. you can imagine the abundance of space this afforded for just me and my little dog. we spread out. i had a different room set up as a studio for many mediums. a metals space, a painting space, for a while a fiber studio. a bit of photography in the basement. all that for the price of a studio apartment in the portland rental market today!

yet, i am so grateful for the space i have now, to be honest. it's a glorious 800 square foot apartment and i have free storage in the basement. loads of closets, really. the only problem is the furniture i had in my former house didn't need to be compact or efficient. it only needed to look cool. and fit in my truck to take it home.

so i think it is time to say goodbye to a few things. and open the door to a few new possibilities, new ways to operate and organize.

i am ready to clear the clutter, to tighten up the edges. an apartment detox, i'm calling it.

2 comments:

Catherine Chandler said...

isn't this rain wonderful? At least it's a nice break from the heat :) I completely understand about needing to clear space! Our apartment, although decent in size, is littered with random computer cases (D is a computer nerd...there were 7 at last count), boxes, and cat toys. And a few excess pieces of furniture. All seemed really cool at the time (ooooh that could make a neat cat bed!) and now have become...well, clutter. Soon, it will be good bye dollhouse, goodbye computers! good luck!

Maryam in Marrakesh said...

That is going to feel so wonderful!!! So feng shui in terms of asking yourself do you really want it, do you really need it, does it serve your purpose, do you really love it. Oh dear...my desk needs some of that!