New Year's Cleaning and Reflection

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you are ready for a year filled with adventure, personal growth and achievement. I know I am. 

As I look to the new year I often spend the day cleaning up the house and getting things in order for what the year will bring. Today as I tidied up my kitchen I was pondering on sustainable decorating and cleaning. While a nice tidy house always brings a sense of satisfaction, I'm sure that none of us is deeply in love with the cleaning process that it takes to get it there. A few thoughts crossed my mind, so I thought I would share them with you today. I give you fare warning that this may ramble a bit. 

Avoid dust collectors. I've decided that it is much nicer to add warmth and character to my home with things that are also useful rather than just things that collect dust. Warm colorful afghans draped over the back of the couch and chair add a little flare and they're handy one those cool Maine evenings. Teapots and vintage pitchers on the shelves are attractive and get used often enough to keep them free of dust. A basket full of knitting adds a homey touch and provides entertainment, amusement and useful items. Keeping library books in a basket is another homey touch that also keeps them organized and helps to be sure they get back to the library on time. 

Re-gift and give mathoms. You'd be surprised at how many folks would be just as happy with something of yours that they have often admired as with something you went out and bought. Anyone can spend money, but giving of your personal items takes a bit more sacrifice sometimes. Today isn't the first day that I've given thought to this. As I was getting the house ready for the holidays I noticed some decorative plates that were hanging on the wall. My mother has often admired these plates so, while they were quite attractive,  I took the plates down from the wall and gave them to my mother for Christmas. She was very happy to receive them and I was able to 'reuse' them. So it was a win for both of us and for the environment. In addition I have saved myself the chore of dusting them. Since Mom has a glass fronted hutch for her dishes she won't need to dust them either!

These musings lead me to thinking about other ways that we can make our decorating and house work more sustainable. For me this means; friendly to the environment and to the people who live in the home as well as the ones responsible for keeping the place clean. I'll  have more on this in a later post. Stay tuned and in the meantime live lightly.