The Interior DIYer
Blogging

Proof of Life

Hello! I am still here and I am infact alive.

When I realize I haven’t published a blog post in 5 months, that makes me want to write a bunch of posts and backdate them to disguise that I’ve done nothing for nearly 6 months. Or, should I say done nothing online. The last few months have been a lot. I didn’t want to force myself to do something I couldn’t mentally manage, so one of those things was unfortunately my blog.

Robert and I have been working full time [from home] while Cora is home with us all day [our gut instinct has been to keep her home and stop sending her to daycare. She’s been at home with us since the first lockdown started on March 13th]. Cora started her first year of kindergarten this autumn [from home], which has meant adding another plate to our already circus of spinning plates.

I won’t get started with work, but it’s been a lot. November is always a very busy time for us, so I’m glad the last month is behind us.

Luckily, both Robert and I strongly agreed on going overboard with Christmas this year. Not necessarily presents, but over-the-top decorating and twinkly lights and baking and crafts and putting every ornament on display, beginning with buying two more Christmas trees [yes, we have lost it and no, we have no regerts].

Baby

Lately

Trigger warning: this blog post is about a very recent miscarriage.

Today we would have been 13 weeks pregnant. At 11 weeks and 5 days we miscarried unexpectedly. Over the past few days I’ve focused on the idea that my body knew something wasn’t right with the pregnancy and did what was best.

The past few months have been rough to begin with; morning sickness, vomiting and blase hormones meant I didn’t want to do anything. I was on the couch for weeks before this self isolation began.

The horrible truth is I feel better now. I have energy. I want to do things. I want to play with Cora. I want to cook and I want to eat things other than instant noodles. I’m trying to be kind to myself [easier said than done] by not feeling guilty about wanting to work on projects again.

I don’t think anyone will disagree when I say 2020 has fucking sucked so far. Here’s to the rest of the year looking a whole hell of a lot better 🖤

Less is more

Spring cleaning roundup + top decluttering tips

Without fail, every spring I feel like getting rid of ALL OF THE THINGS. I am once again sharing a list of the tried and tested tidying and decluttering tricks I’ve used for over five years and still use to this day, every day. These are what work for me and keep me decluttered in my brain and in real life, so you’ll find some things may or may not suit you so obviously, adapt things to suit you in whatever way you like.

THE BASICS – my original spring decluttering blog post from 2014 is the best place to start. I wrote about my top five tips for staying motivated while decluttering as it can be overwhelming.

THE BASICS 2.0 – the following year in 2015 I wrote five more tips on decluttering to give you an extra boost if you’re feeling overwhelmed as well as touching on the mental health benefits of decluttering; something that’s really important for me.

THE EARLY BIRD – since writing about it in 2014, I’ve done my 10 minute morning tidy routine every day … until I had Cora. This now works for me in the evening after Cora goes to sleep so when I wake up in the morning we’re ready and I don’t start the day overwhelmed by mess. Either way, 10 minutes of tidying will keep you on top of things and in the long run will save you time and energy.

DAY-TO-DAY – my two tips for staying organised on a day-to-day basis and it’s something I strongly think everyone should practice; using a diary [whether digital or paper] and religiously organising your inbox.

EXTRA READING – I interviewed Sarah Reynolds of Organised Chaos for Image Interiors & Living a few years ago and we got very nerdy about organizing. You can check out the full article here – Cut the Clutter: six steps to a calmer, cleaner, happier home.

DECLUTTER YOUR ONLINE LIFE – a few new tips I can contribute this year is to declutter your online life. Unsubscribe from emails that haunt your inbox, unfollow those accounts that make you feel bad and it’s actually okay to mute some people you know. The less you feel you need to catch up on, the less overwhelming you’ll hopefully feel.

Marie Kondo, eat your heart out.