What Do Children Need?

by Katy on February 10, 2013 · 40 comments

An interesting thread recently started up on The Non-Consumer Advocate Facebook Group. It was prompted by from reader, Shameka:

I was speaking with a friend recently about the costs of having a child. We live in an area that has high paying jobs but also a high cost of living. Her family income is high by average US standards but said she could never afford to raise a child and began talking about all of the expensive items a new baby “needs.” The conversation made me think:

What are the items you wish you had NOT purchased/been gifted for your babies?

This is a very interesting question, as we all know that with gifts and hand me downs it is near to impossible to keep the baby clutter under control. I know that when I had my second child, (another boy, and only two and a half years after his brother was born) that I had a hard time coming up with anything that I needed. This annoyed everyone to no end, and although I realized that I needed another chest of drawers, I pretty much drew a blank. (A co-worker had an extra one in her garage that she just gave to me.)

It’s a clutter issue, but it’s also a money issue. I look back on all the millions of toys (Bionicles, stuffed animals, etc.) that I bought for my sons and wish I’d cut the number in at least in half and put the money into a savings account. Because it’s not just a baby issue, as buying and receiving too much doesn’t end at babyhood.

Now your turn:

What do you wish you have not purchased/been gifted for your children?

Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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Teeny Tiny Treehugger Apartment Wins My “Most Clever” Award — Just Don’t Make Me Live There

by Katy on February 8, 2013 · 19 comments

Like to watch videos of teeny-tiny clever apartment and tiny houses? Well then, I have a treat for you!

Just click this photo:

Treehugger apartment

Pretty cool, huh?

Just don’t make me live there. The flip down seat over the toilet in order to have a private phone conversation pretty much nixed the deal.

Even so, there was some serious brain power that went into the design of this New York City apartment.

And although I may not want to live there, I do want to play there for an afternoon.

Wheeee!

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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Non-Consumer Photo Essay — Banks, Breads and Buffets

by Katy on February 6, 2013 · 28 comments

Targeted Savings, Ceramic Style

Collage of banks

Yes, gimmicky savings banks are a thing. And yes, people donate them to Goodwill faster than Usain Bolt being chased by a swarm of bees.

And by the way, I took all of these pictures myself. Not one is from an image search. I swear they mate during Goodwill off hours.

Wonky Bread

bread

Handmade is almost always yummier, but sometimes it’s, well . . .  less attractive. Like when I completely misjudge the length of my pan. Luckily, it’s no big deal to curve the end of a loaf, even though it makes the bread look phallic like those huge underground worms from the movie Tremors. (Remember it? I had Reba McIntyre and Kevin Bacon!)

Still delicious though.

Built-in Beauty

Remember my Before, No After built-in buffet? Here’s a reminder:

Built-in before

Well here’s how the built-in/hutch/breakfront looks today:

Built-in during

We still need to put a finish on the wood, but the hard work is done. And we are sooooo happy with the result. And before you get any kind of impressed with our DIY project, you need to know that my brother-in-law Jason built it.

We just wrote the check.

I could get used to this whole paying others to fix up my house thing. Must be how the rest of America feels.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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Today I Am . . .

by Katy on February 5, 2013 · 13 comments

Today I am:

Lying in bed reading other people’s blogs, specifically:

 

  • Thinking that after yesterday’s high falutin’ words about decluttering, I should maybe get off my tuchus and go through some of my own crap.
  • Still in love with my new Goodwill lamps, which now live in my living room and bedroom. (And for those who may be wondering what their names are, I have dubbed them “Adler” and “Berkus.”)

Like so:

Lamp love

And so:

Lamp love 2

  • Enjoying the memory of going to Ikea with my 14-year-old son last night. (We were waiting to pick my mother up from the airport.) I bought him a 50¢ hot dog and we each slurped down a cup of their free Ikea Family coffee. Cheap date, but totally fun.
  • Embarrassed that I really like the new Carrie Diaries TV show. I highly doubt that I’m in their target demographic, but I’m loving it anyway.
  • Am on a super tight budget. The cost for labor and materials to build the trim surround for our built-in buffet was $1000, so we’re in crazy cheap mode for a paycheck or two.
  • Looking forward to seeing my friend Chelsea tomorrow. I sometimes forget to schedule adult play dates, but I’m always really happy when I do. (She suggested we meet at a tea shop, but my crazy cheap budgetary restraints have us meeting at my house.)

Now you. What are you doing today?

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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Your Awesome Stuff? It’s Just Stuff — Musings on Decluttering

by Katy on February 4, 2013 · 53 comments

Decluttering. Overwhelming, yet boring. Anxiety producing yet cathartic. Simple yet multi-tiered.

Why, oh why is it so much harder to get rid of stuff, than it is to acquire it in the first place?!

I’ll tell you why. Because once you bring something into your home it imprints on you. It becomes your responsibility, and that sense of responsibility takes over.

“Can’t just throw this advertising ball-point pen away, I have to make sure it goes to someone who can use it.”

or

“This enormous platter probably has some value. I should open an eBay account and sell it.”

or

“My great aunt Ethel gave me this set of cheese forks as a wedding gifts. I love her, therefore I should love the cheese forks, even though I’ve never used them in twenty years of marriage.”

or

“I should keep this huge pile of scrappy towels, as I might need to clean up something messy some day.”

Multiply this by a thousand, and you’ve got an insane number of decisions to make. And if it takes you an hour to get rid of each and every unused and cluttery item in your house, you will never get to the point of a decluttered home.

How do I know this? Because I have gone through this, and continue to go this this mindset. I see potential in less than perfect items. Those thin magnets that come attached to the phone books? They would look cute Mod-Podged with old maps. And that wobbly dresser I plucked from a curb? It would be super easy to re-glue and turn it into something spectacular.

The creative mindset that sees potential in everything is the same mindset that creates a home overfilled with stuff.

The answer for me lies in being hard on myself. This may sound borderline masochistic, but being my own taskmaster is the only method that works. I’ve even noticed that being in a bad mood actually aids the process, as it cuts the sentimentality in half. (Not that I’m ever in a bad mood, as puppy dogs, butterflies and baby unicorns usually float through my clutter-free home. Oh, who am I kidding?)

And once I get an area decluttered with a system for order in place, I want to keep it that way. My bedroom closet, with its matching Goodwill wooden hangers is a pleasure to behold. Everything is easy to find, and easy to keep clean. And that drawer organizer that I made for my desk? It’s as tidy as the day I first placed the sharpies into their own special cubby.

Hello, lover . . .

Do I have an answer or specific advice for wannabe declutterers?

Yes.

Recognize that the stuff in your home is just that. Stuff. Some of it useful, some of it beautiful and some of it with potential. But it’s still just stuff.

And what would happen if you did get rid of something that you later needed, would the world come to an end? Or would it be possible to borrow that infrequently used item from a friend, neighbor or family member.

This is all coming from me, the woman who salivates over the perfect lamp, the perfectly textured cloth napkin and studies the weather forecast for possible spray paint friendly days. (FYI: between 50° and 90°.) I love my stuff, but I know it’s just stuff.

And after countless donated loads of stuff to my local Goodwill, I have zero regrets.

Because once it’s out of my house, it’s no longer my responsibility.

Ahhh . . .

Do you have a hard time getting rid of stuff once it enters your house? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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The Inoffensive Decorator Strikes Again!

by Katy on February 3, 2013 · 9 comments

Living in a house for an extended period often means that your decor efforts are less the spectacular before-an-afters and are more simply maintaining the projects you did awhile back.

Example? The paint in our master bedroom.

We had used up every last drip of paint when we last painted our bedroom. Unfortunately, a number of dings and spots had presented where the paint has come off. Not to mention a large white in-your-face spackled area next to the light switch. Oh, you know. . . for the last three years or so. I had tried looking through our paint fan decks to see if I could remember the name of the paint color, but it was to no avail. But I recently got the idea to just buy one of the 3500 in-stock $3.99 paint samples from the Benjamin Moore store. After all, I only needed a very small amount of paint.

I carefully chose what looked to be a matching color and brought it home and painted over all the white spots. At first it looked perfect, and I prematurely celebrated my DIY genius. Unfortunately it dried much darker than the surrounding color, which gave my bedroom walls an insane polka dot look.

Worse than ever. See?

Too dark

My plan was to admit defeat and and buy another $3.99 paint sample in a lighter shade, but then I decided to try mixing my own color. Luckily, I already owned a can of cream colored paint, (our trim color) so I carefully mixed it into the original pot and got to work.

It took two tries to match a light enough color, but the end result is 99.99% perfect! You would never notice the difference unless it was pointed out, and even then it’s only due to a slight difference in sheen. See?

Better

So many of my household DIY projects are not of the “Wow, look at that!” variety, but rather are based on making formerly ugly elements invisible. You know, making things inoffensive. (Remember my idea for a blog called The Inoffensive Decorator?)

So now I can turn on my bedroom light without getting annoyed again. Hooray!

The Inoffensive Decorator strikes again!

Have you discovered any clever DIY solutions recently? Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section below.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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Macklemore Isn’t The Only One Who Can Rock Footed Jammies

by Katy on February 1, 2013 · 19 comments

Young House Love put up a Macklemore inspired thrift shop challenge, where they asked readers to photograph themselves finding various Macklemore Thrift Shop items in their local thrift shops.

Of course I was in.

Like so:

She got the velcros!

 And also:

Macklemore jammies

And for those of you who want to watch a cleaned up version of the song, I present to you a very special video you’ll want to watch with the whole family. (Or not, as you can still figure out all the delicious swearing.)

Yes. I am a geek and I swear a lot. I’m surprised you didn’t already know this.

And for those who want to know what I did buy, click HERE to read all about it!

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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Piano Bench — A Before & After Makeover

by Katy on January 31, 2013 · 24 comments

Remember the $5 Goodwill piano bench that I bought in December? Here’s a reminder:

Piano-Bench-Before-1

I’d been keeping an eye out for upholstery fabric and finally found some yesterday. I’d been rummaging through thrift shops, but I ended up just buying an as-is zippered cushion cover at Ikea for $3.50.

And since the pillow cover was sewn from a single piece of fabric rather than two squares, creating a large usable rectangle was as simple as taking a seam ripper and picking out the stitches. However, my iron is still kind of ruined from my Union Jack table, (oops) so I simply put the wrinkly fabric into the dryer with a load of laundry.

The first step was to remove the hinged top and figure out how I wanted the pattern to lie. And then I turned it the top over and used my staple gun to secure the fabric on all four sides and got to work.

Ka-chunk! ka-chunk! ka-chunk! So satisfying!

See? Not necessarily pretty, but no one will ever know. (Except you. You now know.)

Underside

Here’s s closeup, including how I did the corner.

Mitered corner

I then wiped down the wood and brushed a coat of primer onto it. (This bucket o’ paint has lived in our basement so long that it now has squatter’s rights.) Ignore how streaky the paint looks, primer is thin and not meant to be a final coat.

I then brushed on two coats of cream colored paint from the paint shop of horrors in our basement. This part was undocumented as painting is both dull and straightforward, so I’ll just let you use your imagination here. (Clue . . . I watched DVR’d HGTV shows while I worked.)

Then all I had to do was to wait for the paint to dry and screw the top back in place. I would not be exaggerating to say that I sang a happy song and then just sat on the bench for awhile.

Looky!

completed piano bench

The main reason that this piano bench came home with me was the leg detail. (Also, it was insanely sturdy. I will not put time and effort into wobbly furniture.) I knew the detail would stand out once painted. (Betty Grable’s little sister?)

Leg detail

And here’s one last photo for all you Pinterest fans out there!

Piano Bench Makeover

I really enjoyed this project, as it was both cheap ($8.50 total!) and super easy. Also, it brought a unloved and underappreciated piece of furniture back to life. And for the price of an inexpensive lunch, I now own an awesome and useful piece of furniture that will last me forever.

What’s not to love about that?!

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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Non-Consumer Mish-Mash — Letter Writing, Removing Goodwill Stank & Cartoon Dog Issues

by Katy on January 29, 2013 · 31 comments

It’s time again for Non-Consumer Mish-mash, where I write a little bit about this and a little bit about that.

2013 Letter Writing Challenge

2011 was the year of the 52 Weeks 52 Letters Challenge and although I think I only wrote twenty-some letters in all, it was still 99% more than I would have written without the challenge. I considered re-upping the challenge for 2013, but I really didn’t want to pressure myself into a weekly letter again. (After all, I am a delicate flower.)

However, I am going to start writing some letters again. I like how a written letter can’t be rushed and I like picturing the recipient opening their mailbox to find an actual letter.

Not quite a challenge, but also not letting myself off the hook.

The perfect amount of pressure.

Are you in?

An Important Issue For Cartoon Dogs

In the way that a picture says a thousand words, I’ll let this photo of my husband speak for itself. Because to explain it would make it boring.

Cartoon dog

 Time for a “New” Duvet Cover and a New Smell

I’ve been keeping an eye out for a new to me/thrifted store duvet cover for at least a couple of years. There was no time constraint, so I was able to be picky. But a $7.99 Goodwill goody finally caught my eye last week. Not only would the colors tie in well with my bedroom, but it looked brand new and the modern floral pattern was cute and cheerful. And more importantly, it was not flannel and could be used year round.

However, the Goodwill disinfectant smell was overwhelming. (Don’t get me wrong. I want, no need for Goodwill goodies to be all kinds of disinfected, but the sickly sweet smell can be overwhelming and surprisingly difficult to remove.) So I hung the duvet cover on the outside laundry line for a couple of days to A) air out and B) get rained in. (I do live in Oregon!) I then laundered the duvet cover in a detergent/bleach/washing soda/Oxyclean solution, giving the mixture a couple of hours to soak.

And when the duvet cover finally came out of the dryer . . . it still had that Goodwill smell!

So I rehung the duvet cover on the clothesline and liberally spritzed it with a 50/50 vinegar/water solution and let it air out for another day or so. I then re-washed it in a detergent/washing soda/Oxyclean slurry and . . .  finally got the Goodwill smell out!

Before:

After:

After - duvet

I love the new look, and it’s nice and warm without being overwhelmingly hot.

And most importantly, it has no discernible Goodwill stank!

Yippee!

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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Unapologetically Cheap

by Katy on January 28, 2013 · 24 comments

I know people like the word frugal better than cheap, and I usually try to avoid the “C” word in my writing. But there’s no escaping that I am one cheap chica.

What makes this Frugal vs. Cheap dichotomy come to mind?

Canned vs. cooked beans.

Last week was pretty busy at our house, and our dinners ended up as pretty simple affairs. However, this did not result in take-out meals, nor did it mean that I relaxed my spending. I did try though.

I had decided to make burritos for dinner, and since I was out and about, I stopped into New Season’s Market to pick up a can of refried beans. But the beans were priced at $2.79! Yes, they were organic and most likely harvested by well treated PhD candidates, but I just couldn’t pull the trigger. It was too late in the day to cook pinto beans in the slow cooker, (my preferred method) so I went home and cooked smaller (and already purchased) black beans on the stovetop and whattayaknow, they were fully cooked by dinnertime.

And I loved the burritos all the better for their cheap-ness.

I’m here, I’m cheap, get used to it!

Update: I had enough black beans leftover for burritos on Saturday and a big pot of black bean chili for tonight! (With the addition of a 1/3 pound of nice bulk sausage.)

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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