What A Slow Home Really Means...

In an effort to rid my home of clutter (and I mean even the general life kind) and chaos, I began a Slow Home Challenge for my family. Yet, after reading so many of your recent responses (thank you!!!) I think I may have placed too much emphasis on the de-cluttering aspect of this challenge. The de-cluttering is important, but it is only a small part of achieving a Slow Home. So with  that in mind before I go any further into the first week of my Slow Home Challenge, I want to try and clarify the definition of a Slow Home, as well as my intentions and goals for this challenge.


A little Background:


The Slow Home Movement began in 2006, and was founded by architects John Brown, Matthew North, and Carina van Olm, of the Slow Home Studio in response to what they saw as a growing trend of poorly designed, "fast houses." Their mission was to begin a movement that focused on designing residential properties that are "more personally satisfying, environmentally responsible, and economically reasonable." They wanted to reintroduce the into North American communities the value associated with slow homes, where a house is built with quality and true craftsmanship, and all aspects of its design are created to achieve high levels of function, efficiency, and pleasing aesthetics. In other words, they aimed to build homes that would allow entire communities to truly co-exist well together, and for families to progress through life living in a home that supported them as much as it sheltered.

The Slow Home movement is rapidly catching on, and praise for this life changing concept is beginning to emerge everywhere. The girls over at Opal Never Shouts, a blog about home design, have this to say about the Slow Home Movement, "It isn't all about the number of bedrooms, the square footage and the granite countertops, it is about how livable the home is and if it can grow and downsize with a family."


For your reference, the following is a synopsis of their 12 step Slow Home Guideline:

1. Location-a Slow home is preferably located in close proximity to work, shopping, schools etc...helping to minimize car use.
2. Size- Efficiently sized to fit the necessary needs of its inhabitants so that unnecessary energy waste and green house gas emissions are significantly reduced.
3. Orientation- The home is orientated according to the sun and prevailing winds so that it is better able to generate natural heating and cooling methods.
4. Stewardship- A Slow Home works to help conserve land and water use for future generations and is designed to promote well planned and compact residential communities.
5. Entry- The front and rear entries of a Slow Home are designed to provide a slow transition into the living area of a home.
6. Living- All living areas of a Slow Home, both indoor and out, promote the use of natural lighting and are able to serve as multi-use areas without wasting space.
7. Dining- The dining area should provide homeowners with ample space for a dining table and chairs well suited to seat the whole family.
8. Kitchen- In a Slow Home, the kitchen is located on the outskirts of the home's circulation route. Its triangular design and continuous counter space promote efficient work space, while ample storage allows for a clutter free environment.
9. Bedrooms- All bedrooms utilize natural lighting, and have ample space for an efficiently sized bed, and room to circulate.
10. Bathrooms- The bathrooms should be well organized, compact so as not to waste space, and should provide sufficient counter and storage use.
11. Utility- Slow Homes should provide homeowners with space designed specifically for parking, laundry and mechanical equipment. These areas are located on the outskirts of the living area and are designed as with a specific function in mind.
12. Organization- A Slow Home is well organized, efficient, and is laid out with rooms that flow well together. The circulation path from room to room should be clearly designed and unobstructed.

In just a bit, I'll resume this week's Kitchen challenge by addressing the work space. 

Thanks for all of your amazing support!

Week 1: The Slow Home Kitchen

I’m starting off my Slow Home Challenge with the kitchen, the heart beat of most homes. This is where families gather together to nourish not only their bellies, but their spirits as well. In a Slow Home, the kitchen is not enormous, but instead, compact and efficient. There is suitable storage, and enough counter space to provide a workable surface. A Slow Home kitchen also serves the most amount of function with the least amount of tools.

In my home, the kitchen is a room that is overwhelmed and overworked most of the time due to my demand for it to serve multiple purposes. Additionally, a lack of true organization in my kitchen usually fuels the chaos, and can therefore prevent efficient work space. Pots of herbs, (empty) ceramic jars, and the occasional pile of mail and schoolwork all take up valuable counter space. My children’s plethora of arts and crafts supplies have slowly seeped their way into the "extra" storage cabinet that stands alone near our kitchen table. On this cabinet's top resides what my husband has termed his "coffee station,” a place where random coffee and tea gadgets and ingredients sit clustered against one another. 

Nearby, a large wooden art easel fights for its share of space, while the shelf underneath has become a home to broken chalk, scraps of construction paper, and random items that I insist we'll make art from one of these days. Next to the refrigerator, a small antique desk (sans chair) only seems to attract additional piles of paperwork, magazines, mail, and more.





My kitchen is not enormous in size, but it is certainly not compact. Due to its wide open floorplan, the average person might not see the chaos that may appear hidden so well. But to me, it practically screams its existence every time I walk into this room.While I obviously am not able to retro fit the size of my kitchen , I am able to scale back...way back. 

My PLAN of action for this week will be to tackle the following in an effort to minimize and create efficiency within my kitchen space:
1. Storage
2. Work Space (counter tops):
3. Tools:
4. Eating area:
5. Food
I'll begin with Storage, and will move on to Work Space tomorrow.
1. Storage: I'll admit it, occasionally I've complained about a lack of storage in my kitchen. Realistically however, the amount of storage space is not necessarily the issue, but rather the true problem lies in our having too much stuff to store. This week I will be giving my kitchen cabinets, and other kitchen storage spaces, a total re-haul.

Here are my objectives:

-empty out each cabinet and place all items on a flat surface so that I can take inventory.
-set aside any duplicate items (all of which will either be donated or sold).
-consider getting rid of items that are rarely used.
-consider alternative storage space (garage or attic?) for items that may be larger or infrequently used, but still serve a purpose in the Slow Home.

Check back regularly this week as I'll be posting before and after photos and detailing the soon to be progress! I hope you'll join the Slow Home Challenge as well, and share with us your results!

Kate

The Plan: Creating A Slow Home

According to the folks over at Re-nest  a Slow Home Is...

1. A thoughtfully-designed place that feels good to be in and makes life easier.

2. Sized appropriately for its residents.

3. Reduces unnecessary or wasteful energy or water usage. 

4. Reduces greenhouse gas and unhealthy household chemical emissions.

5. Benefits the planet without sacrificing quality of life.

6. Supports life in a community.

7. Has a strong connection to the outdoors.

8. Makes every effort to support daylighting and natural heating and cooling methods.

9. Establishes a functional entry space, or landing strip.

10. Focuses on efficient furniture layout that is multi-functional and breathable.

11. Emphasizes sufficient, well-organized storage in all rooms.

12. Accessorized personally, thoughtfully, and with an eye towards healthy, lasting design.


As I embark on this Slow Home challenge, I am learning that my specific circumstances won't enable me to fully embrace the slow home movement in its entirety. But, heck! That's not going to stop me! I may not be able to move into more compact living quarters tomorrow, but I can still make plenty of necessary changes. After reading THIS, I realized that I'll need to reconnect with my house before I can truly begin the efforts to create the most efficient and clutter-free home possible.

While you're here you'll probably get to know a lot about me. You'll learn that I live in a big house...a really big house. In fact, being the Eco-minded individual that I try to be, I'm sometimes ashamed to admit it, and often find myself making excuses...

"We got a fantastic deal on it!"

"It's my husband's dream house, I had to agree to it..."

"Although it's size isn't all that environmentally friendly, I promise I make up for it in other ways!"

Don't get me wrong, I am truly appreciative of what we have, but truth be told, all of the above are correct. This house and I have maintained a bit of a love-hate relationship. But along with this transformation needs to come acceptance.

Dear big brick house,

I accept you for all that you are, all of your awesome potential, and I don't hold you personally accountable for my inability to make the best of you. Despite your grandness, from this point on I promise to put as much effort as I can into transforming you into a beautiful, yet simple Slow Home.

Yours truly,
Kate

The Plan:

Week 1: The Kitchen- the heart of our home
Week 2: The Garden/Backyard-dogs, kids, weeds, they all want a stake
Week 3: The Laundry Room/Pantry/Shoe storage/Dog Food area- yup, nuff said
Week 4: The Master Bedroom-No tranquil resting space here!
Week 5: The Living Room-let's talk, no seriously, let's talk!
Week 6: The Bathrooms- all (mumble) five of them...sigh
Week 7: The Kid's Rooms-not even sure where to begin
Week 8: The Playroom/Office/Creative zone-really, which is it?!
Week 9: Closets/Clothing
Week 10: Attic/Storage
Week 11: Foyer
Week 12: The Garage

Each week, I also plan to take some time to decrease the chaos and clutter in my personal life, so that I can find more peace, and begin to enjoy more of life.

I'm excited and ready to start this challenge! Who'll join me?!

Kate

The Slow Home Challenge

I’m not a slob, nor am I a pack rat. I typically have a yard sale once a year, and every other month I make a trip to the local thrift store and donate a bag or two of things we've outgrown or no longer use. Yet, the endless stuff still seems to keep finding its way into my home, and each week as I tirelessly try to manage and decrease it, countless hours are stolen from my valuable allotment of time. In addition, my inability to create efficient and truly functional spaces throughout my house to help manage this stuff, has caused my home to become chaotic and somewhat void of tranquility and comfort. My name is Kate, and I suffer from an inability to slow down. I need help.

I'll admit it, I’ve always suffered a bit from a lack of organization, but after becoming a mother, moving in and out of three different homes, within three years time, and having the poor sense to overextend myself in every way possible, things only proceeded to get worse. Over the past year as the chaos continued to stretch across all aspects of my life, I felt my spirit sadden, my enthusiasm wilt, and my creativity become nearly void. I stood feeling somewhat helpless as cherished friendships faded away, my children begged for more mommy time, and a never ending to do list nearly brought me to tears each night. I began to feel somewhat crazed, and seldom enjoyed the gift of any true accomplishment. Then, in the midst of it all, my marriage suffered a huge blow, and all the chaos that surrounded me made it nearly impossible to mend those circumstances. My life as an individual, wife, mother, and also as a professional, had spiraled out of control. I was miserable. I also knew that if the chaos didn’t decrease, or better yet stop all together, I might never have the opportunity in this life to realize my true potential.

I began to take stock in what mattered most to me. I knew that nothing would ever change until I initiated a change of pace and started making time for a very necessary self evaluation.

What I came to realize:

Chaos sucks, and I was done letting it control of my life. (duh).

So what next? On the heels of this incredibly intelligent revelation, I spent months devouring books that focused on getting back to basics, simplifying life, and learning how to make the most of personal and family life. I learned a great deal from some amazing resources, yet at the same time, the books provided too many variations of methods, ideas, and suggested practices. Soon I felt exhausted from information overload, and sadly, more overwhelmed than ever.

Then, a few weeks ago I came across this article in the NY Times. It discussed an up and coming movement called Slow Home. Similar to the slow food concept, the slow home movement encourages taking the time to celebrate quality, and to appreciate the good in life. Slow homes focus on simplicity, depend upon well made products, and promote efficient architectural design made to enhance a home's overall functionality. In other words, the slow home movement inspires the increasingly popular notion that more isn’t necessarily better. A slow home helps us to avoid the clutter and the chaos, and through the absence of such things, we’re better able to achieve more of life’s positive experiences.

That, is exactly what I want to accomplish. Armed with more motivation and more at stake than ever before, I am committing myself to a 12 week challenge toward creating a variation of a slow home.

Over the next couple of days I’ll lay out the framework for this plan and outline my weekly goals. Beginning Monday, September 19th, my Slow Home Challenge will begin. Each week I’ll target a specific room in the house, working to improve the overall efficiency and functionality of each space. I will also dedicate a week (or two!) to de-cluttering my personal life.

I hope you’ll follow along...and maybe my experience will inspire you to begin transforming your own house into a slow home as well!

Thanks for reading,
Kate

The Beauty of A Woman...

 

 

"The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman is seen in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides. True beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It's the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows & the beauty of a woman only grows with passing years."

 

-- Audrey Hepburn

 

Today I'm thankful for being a woman...

The Evolution of Me

I recall a time at the start of my parenting years when I felt so consumed by the transition of myself as an individual to the morphing of a mom, that I could hardly recall my previous identity. I was lost and terrified. Finally, after many failed attempts to reconnect with myself, I discovered the art of blogging.

Three and a half years ago I sat down at a cramped desk in my kitchen (three homes ago) and created this space. Like many other blogs, Kate's Musings originally began as a place for me to share my family's daily events with far away friends and relatives. But it wasn't long before I saw it as an opportunity to enhance my spirit as well. The mere presence of it was enough to fill me with renewed enthusiasm and a sense of excitement about rediscovering my lost voice and creativity. Over time it has transitioned into a life journal of sorts, and it has always been my goal to have it continue evolving just as I do.

I am an ever evolving soul. And as I grow older and maneuver my way through life's ups and downs, I am finding that sometimes this isn't such a good thing. I am often unsettled, and want to accomplish more than I am capable. This usually results in me having ten different projects going on simultaneously, or sometimes when life's events becomes overwhelming, I'll tend to lose interest all together...hence the occasional gaps in time found strewn throughout this blog. Don't get me wrong, I truly do have the best of intentions, but as the saying goes, "The smallest deed is better than the grandest of intention" (Roger Nash Baldwin). Now, more then ever, I am realizing that the many grand intentions I posses are actually working against my potential and my ability to accomplish a greater number of deeds--both small and great. 

This blog is an example of that, yet, while I find that I want to beat myself up over not meeting my original expectations, I'm forcing myself to see the many wonderful and smaller portions of good, and even great things that have come from it.  

Just like me, Kate's Musings has always revolved around great intentions, but also just like me, it has a tendency to be a bit scattered in direction, and therefore impact. This past year was a really tough one for me. With family circumstances that forced me to come face to face with true emotional turmoil, I couldn't help but sink deeply within myself for a while. But time does heal, and in many ways I am thankful for having had to endure this past year's struggles...they have made me into a stronger, more deliberate person. I am prioritizing, and giving more consideration than ever before to how I want to live this life, what I want to gain, and exactly what I am capable of contributing.

Hopefully, I can summon up the strength and courage to begin having this blog truly reflect these realizations. In the meanwhile, I just want to continue sharing my ever evolving story, and hopefully make some kind of a difference, some kind of an impact that will leave people a little bit better off, or even just smiling a little more. 

Simple Ways to Conserve Water

Looking for a few simple and easy ways to cut back on your family's every day water usage? Check out my latest Mother's Shade of Green at Birmingham Mommy:

A Mother’s Shade of Green: Simple Ways to Conserve Water

While you're there, take a minute to add any additional ideas in the comment section!