Before and after: True minimalism

We used to have a dining table in our kitchen, but we sold it. The kitchen feels so big, fresh and open to new which makes me feel good. I've been sitting on the floor of the kitchen and just admiring the openness. 

But really, that is not how it's going to stay. We are not true minimalists. We are getting a table. My sister is moving together with her boyfriend and she has a very nice old table and chairs which do not fit into their apartment at the moment. So we have agreed to store the table until they do have space for it. And therefore we sold the old kitchen table which was nothing fancy and my sister's table is much nicer. The table we had sold much faster than we thought and now for a while we are going without a table. We do have a dining table in the living room, although it is bit of a hassle to transport all the food and tableware there all the time. Anyway I have found it quite nice still to have the kitchen so empty, it feels refreshing. Now we also had the opportunity clean the floor and the radiator thoroughly.

Float of toys

On our backyard is a small creek or maybe I would call it a ditch. It collects rain waters from the streets, that means the water is not very clean, and that is why a ditch sounds more appropriate. The ditch runs underground and comes on surface next to a children's playground. All sorts of toys float on the ditch once in a while. When I see toys floating on it I usually take out my rake and rescue the toys from the water. Previously I've thrown the toys to trash or taken to the playground of our apartment building. But now I'm keeping the toys for Likka. We already have a ball and a shovel for her.

(Of course there is also trash on the ditch, when I see them I pick those up too and take those to our trash bins)

White sofa

We have white slip covers on the sofa. The covers do need to washed from time to time. I had not washed them for a while (maybe for a year), it is bit of a hassle to take the covers off and put them back on. But surprisingly I do not think those have needed washing until now, maybe my standards of cleanliness or whiteness are not that high. 

Removing the covers for washing reminds me of why I made the slip covers in the first place. The sofa frame and the cushion fillings are in very good shape, but the upholstery is really worn. The pillows have holes and stains. Considering it's age, about 30 years, it's a miracle the upholstery is the only thing that is worn. The sofa is obviously well made, I love the it, the proportions are excellent and it's good to sit on. Odd to see the sofa in it's original colour.

Another knitted dish rag

I started this new dish rag on the same trip to a spa as I did finish the previous dish rag. But the travel time to the spa was too short and I did not finish the second rag. Then two evenings ago I was watching Rambo (?!) from television and finished the second rag and finished the coil of yarn too. 

I tried to knit the rag when Likka was awake too, but the yarn turned out to be a fun toy.

The phase of the boat cushions

The re upholstery of the boat cushions, which I mentioned in this post, is moving forward, slowly but surely. We have washed most of the mattresses. Washing them is like grape stomping, not that I've ever done that, but I imagine it would feel similar. I ordered new shank buttons covered with the upholstery fabric from a professional. There are kits also available so I could have covered them myself, but I trust that the professionally made ones are more long-lasting. Then I have made the cover for one (smallest) cushion. It's not my best work, but I used the smallest one to familiarize myself with the new fabric and how it behaves. Few more cushions to do still.

Brush for the pram wheels

So far we have not got much snow and all the snow we have got has melted in couple of hours. But from the experience from those few snowy hours I know the pram wheels will collect dirty snow all over them. Because we keep the pram in the entry the dirty snow will melt there and make the place discusting. We do have a good rug in the entry so it's not a huge problem but it would be better if the snow did not come inside at all. So I bought a brush that can be used for cleaning the pram wheels.

To have the brush easily accessible I hammered a nail into the wall and hung the brush there. Now there hangs a broom and the brush. Hanging the broom on the wall next to the door is an idea I originally stole from Chez Larsson long long time ago.

Schedule for cleaning

 

Before we used to clean together, it took one hour, A vacuumed all rooms and wiped the kitchen counters, I washed the toilet and bathroom and did dusting. Because I'm on maternity leave now I spend time at home all day and let's admit it, I have too much free time. Or at least more than A does. And since I am home all day I do get annoyed by the messiness in our home because I see it all the time. Now because of Likka, we might not have one full hour for the cleaning, or we might but it might not be when we want. Also because of that I had been thinking that I should divide the cleaning into different days, that way I am able to start and finish the cleaning in even very short time periods. That is why I have created a cleaning schedule to follow.

Because I also hate check lists my schedule is very undetailed. Check lists make me feel like the tasks on it are mandatory, and mandatory things are never fun. And since I'm not planning to print or write it down (any better than here on the blog) I have created a schedule that I can easily remember and it's based on the first letter of the weekdays.

 

Makuuhuone maanantai (bedroom Monday)

Changing sheets if needed, general tidying and dusting

Toiletti tiistai (toilet Tuesday)

This applies also to the bathroom, every other week is cleaning of toilet and every other the bathroom

Keittiö keskiviikko (kitchen Wednesday)

General tidying, dusting and wiping

Työhuone torstai (office Thursday)

Putting away some finished craft supplies, tidying and dusting

Perus perjantai (basic Friday)

Yeah, I'm having bit of trouble figuring a name for this, if you can think of something more suited I'm happy to hear some ideas. Anyway this day involves general tidying and dusting in the living room and in the entry.

I'm still leaving the vacuuming for A, because I hate vacuuming. It's so noisy and just annoying because of all the furniture on the floor. Then of course I do laundry and wash dishes and that sort of things, but those I can do when ever needed.

I've now followed this schedule for couple of weeks and it's working ok. Places do look better than before and at least once a week each room looks quite good. Do you have a cleaning schedule of some sort and how is it working?

The season of cleaning the fridge

This most likely does not apply to all latitudes, but now is the best season to clean the fridge. The temperature outside is about the same as it is in a fridge, which means it's so easy to empty the frigde and just take everything outside and then you are in no hurry with the cleaning. Like for instance you might run into delays like lets say you have a baby and in the middle of your cleaning project she desides it's not the time now to put all the things back to the frigde but in two hours it is. When a delay like that happens you are really glad you put all the food outside.

The season of cleaning the freezer comes bit later.

Beautiful fall

It's been a nice few days. I've tried to spend as much time outdoors as possible. Some cleaning at the terrace, washing the windows from outside, raking and picture taking. And nothing really to blog about.

Dustpan and a brush

For years I have been thinking of getting some sort of solution for the crum removal in the kitchen. I did want to get a hand held vacuum there but I've not heard good reviews on their batteries. Also their price is quite high, especially if their battery wont stay in shape more than a year. I did also consider swivel sweeper, but because that also works with a battery I guess it also has the same problem as the vacuum. So a more traditional dustpan and a brush was the only solution I could come up with. Why I did not want to get a dustpan and a brush in the first place is because I think it's difficult to pour the crums and dirt into the bin from the dustpan. Especially from a dustpan with a long handle. Also the dustpan is usually so wide that the crums do not pour in a contained manner. I find this most difficult when the trash bin is already quite full, which it often is. Does anyone else have similar issues? Or am I the only one?

Well anyway I desided to get a dustpan and a brush. Then I had to find a set that would not cost a fortune and that would still be nice looking. Most are just made of plastic and are truly ugly and I want to have the dustpan and the brush on sight all the time, because if I hide it in a cabinet I will forget to use it.

Finally I found a set from Granit that wasn't too expensive and it looks good. The brushes are the only thing that are from plastic, but I can live with that. And no this is not a paid add. Just needed a dustpan and a brush and bought one.

And yes our kitchen floor is that patchy. And has dirt spots, mopping once a year clearly isn't enough.

Carpet washing

I have written a post about this before, but I thought I'd repeat it, since I know this is so exotic to those outside of Finland.

Most cities in Finland have free places where people can wash their carpets. Those have metallic tubs with a wooden counter. Cold water comes from hoses and the used water runs to the citys sewer system. There is also huge amount of wooden racks where the carpets can be left to drip dry.

This time I went to the rug washing place together with A. The living room carpets is so heavy when wet, I could have never handled it alone. We also washed the rag rugs from the conservatory, finally. There were lots of people at the washing place, and I did not want to bother them by taking that many photos, but check my old post about rug washing, it's from the exact same place.

Conservatory reorganizing

The layout of the conservatory used to be like it was on the picture above. That picture was taken after the fall clean. It was an ok layout and we had had that for quite some time. But it made the conservatory seem really long and narrow and when I tried to get something from the back or take something there it seemed like I had more obstacles on my way than I would have liked to have. Also I wanted to have more room in front of the sliding glass doors so I would have more space for my tomatoes this year. So I did a bit of a switcheroo in the conservatory. 

I changed the angle of the shelf and moved the wooden sofa to the back wall. I think already that change made the conservatory seem bigger and wider. While I was moving stuff I cleaned everything. I took all the cardening tools from the wooden sofa where they are held and cleaned the inside of the sofa. I wiped all the shelves and the stuff on the shelf. I also vacuumed the floor. 

I also flipped the chest table around to give more space in front of the glass doors. I will go wash the carpets later, so I haven't put them back yet. I like that there is now big open space in the front and a bit shady space in the back where to lay and read books. It might not seem so from the pictures but it's now lot more easy to access the shelf. Before I had to cram myself behind the chairs and the wooden sofa, but now there is a bigger pathway to the shelf. And now I can also place the boxes and things on the sofa for a short while since it's right there. Previously I had to turn around to work between the sofa and the shelf. So far I'm really happy about this new layout.

Regaining the fluffyness to the sheephide

After a few months of sitting on top of a sheephide makes it a bit sad looking. The fur is all flat and ugly and the feel is not very fresh anymore. Like in the picture below.

To make the sheephide fluffy and fresh again, it can be washed. I know it sounds weird to wash leather, but it works. I have always hand washed the sheephide, but I read from somewhere that it could be even washed in the washing machine, I guess with wool cycle. 

I've washed this particular sheephide a few times and after the wash the sheephide looks amazing, like it's brand new. I have a quite cheap Ikea sheephide so for me trying this washing on the first place was not a big step. I'm afraid I have no picture of the finished product since I only washed it late last evening and the hide is still dripping wet. But I assure you it works, although I do not dare to suggest you to try this on your expensive cowhide rug. 

Window washing

The best weather of the whole winter inspired me to clean all the windows. It was too cold to clean them from outside, but I washed all of the windows I could wash from the inside. 

And it was about time, look at the rag, yack!

Pulling sheets

Does anyone else except Finns pull sheets? Do you even know what I'm talking about? I think originally pulling the sheets was used to fold them to a nice size so they fit well into the mangle. Many people still do pull their sheets even though they do not own a mangle, also many don't. My parents have a mangle, although my mother or father do not very actively use it. Also A's parents have one and A's mom uses it quite often. Ever since I was a kid I have learned that sheets need to be pulled before those are placed into the sheet closet. I have never questioned this method. Even if the sheets are not mangled they do straighten quite well just in the pulling and are easy to fold. Only thing is that the pulling requires two people, or one person and a tight door.

Flat sheets both single and double size and single duvet covers are folded in different ways. I think this is because of the standard width of the household mangle. But it appears that this folding method also makes the sheets handy size for the standard Finnish closet.

So what happens with the sheets is that two people take a hold of the sheet from the ends. The sheet is first folded in half lengthwise, then again half in lengthwise. The other flap is dropped down and it's retrieved to the other side. This way the sheet forms a W shape. Then the sheets ends are grabbed firmly and the sheet is pulled. I think it's fascinating how some sheets stretch a lot and some very little while pulling. After few firm pulls the sheet is folded like an accordion and now this could be easily mangled, but since again I don't have the mangle I just place the sheets into the cabinet.

The folding method for the single duvet cover is slightly different, at least we do it slightly differently. We fold it so that it form sort of a N-shape or a mirrored N-shape. And then we pull.

I'm pretty sure you think we are loonies to do this so pedantically. But this way the sheets make such a nice piles to the linen cabinet and the fact that it usually helps to have two people doing the folding makes it a much more pleasant chore. Even though I usually do need to remind A of this chore and he is not too eager to start it, it's still kind of nice that there is this one thing I cannot be single-handedly responsible of.

Removing sticker residue

I showed long time ago a tip how to remove labels from jars, but I have another tip. This tip works well if you need to remove stickers from furniture or from tile.

First try to scrape the surface of the sticker away if you can. Then spray the sticker with a lubricant, with something that you would use for hinges or for car parts. You can either scrape the most of the sticker out with a knife or with your finger nail. Or if there is very little of the sticker residue like I had just wiping firmly with a cloth will do the trick. Somehow the lubricant makes the sticker more brittle and also it allows you to get under the sticky surface easily.

Once you've got the sticky stuff out you can wipe the whole area with a regular cleaning product.

This lubricant removal trick works really well for those foamy double sided tapes that are sometimes used for attaching things on the walls. I very succesfully removed huge amounts of those from our kitchen tiles few years back.

Airing day

Sorry to have been this quiet lately, I have no particular reason except that I have not done anything blog worthy, which actually is quite rare. Also next week I most likely will not post much. But then I have a good reason. I will tell you later, although it's most likely not that exciting.

On the weekend I took the bedroom blankets and pillows out to air and also some blankets from the living room. The living room carpets I threw on top of the snow to freshen them up.

I always put the blankets and pillows out with their dirty sheets, that way I don't have to mind if the laundry lines need wiping or if a bird poops on the pillows. When I bring them in and change the sheets. There aren't many better things than fresh smelling bedding and linen. Should air the textiles more often.

Hair brush cleaning guide from a pro

My grandmother was a hair dresser, now she has been a pensioner for a long time but still she is the one who cuts my hair. I've never been to any other hair dresser in my life. Ever since I remember every time we visit our grandparents my grandmom has had a clean hair brush for us to use after the sauna and we visit there often, especially we did when we were kids. She seems to still have pride in her old profession which I highly appreciate.

My grandmother always used natural brushes and so do everyone else in my family. I have never learned to like the plastic or metal brushes, they hurt my scalp and tangle on the hair. I don't clean my hair brushes very often, at least not as often as my grandmom, but when I do clean them I clean them just as my grandmom does.

All hair is removed from the brushes using a thick comb. Then the brushes are washed, to do that I run luke warm water in a sink and add to the water some shampoo, soap or other mild cleaning product. I let the brushes sit in the soapy water for a minute, not longer because the wood might expand from too much soaking. Then, since I have two hair brushes, I brush them against each other to open the space between the bristles and get the gunk out. If you only have one hair brush, use a comb or hand to do that. Then I just rinse the hair brushes clean and let then air dry.

Also my grandmother always says that hundred strokes (or is it sweeps?) a day with a hair brush keeps hair looking healthy and clean. Oh and that everyone should eat chaulk, that according to her keeps hair looking good. I obviously don't do the hundred strokes a day, I only brush my hair before and after I wash it. I brush before with the red hair brush so my hair won't clog the drain and after with the wood toned one so the hair does not end up all shaggy when it's dry. And I don't eat chaulk either. But don't tell my grandmom.