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this
is all about creating simple solutions
using your own ingenuity and creativity
to gain control of your space
hi my name is erin boyle i write about
simplicity
and sustainability on my blog reading my
tea leaves
and in a book called simple matters
we'll start by identifying the things in
your life
that are making you feel uncomfortable
things that are triggering a feeling of
discomfort
really lean into that discomfort so
my philosophy is that if you can
identify it then you can
fix it once you've identified a trigger
point
let's say for example it's a chair that
becomes this kind of
mess of backpacks and coats and gloves
and
and that kind of thing why does that
happen it might be because you need a
spot to
put those things and it might be that
you need a hook or a bag or a basket
it might be that you have three coats
too many and having just one would mean
that that gets hung up
whatever it is try to identify the
actual
attainable action that you can take to
shift that trigger point for being a
point of discomfort to
something that goes away
i always suggest thinking outside of the
box rather than going to a store to try
to buy a solution
so one example i have of this is
organizing my flatware
in my 20s i moved from apartment to
apartment to apartment and in every
different place there was a different
configuration in the kitchen
sometimes there were drawers sometimes
there were no drawers sometimes there
was a cabinet sometimes there wasn't
but there was no one-size-fits-all
solution for how to wrangle
all of these loose knives and forks so
in different apartments i've found
different solutions right now
my flatware is kept in
a tin can it's kept in a low shelf that
my kids can get
access to so they can help set the table
it cost me
nothing but it really works this is the
kind of solution that i'm talking about
super inexpensive super sustainable
easy things you already have one
solution that i often
fall back on is a plain old simple
wooden crate these crates i found on the
street
i've gotten at my local wine shop i've
bought at flea markets
whatever it is a simple wooden crate can
be reused in a million different ways in
your home
that can help you to maintain a sense of
order so in my house
we have one on each side of my bed one
for me one for my husband we store our
books in there a glass of water they
kind of function as a nightstand
i have other wine crates that live under
our couch
under my children's beds i attached a
simple handle to a few of them that are
under the bunk beds my kids can pull out
their toys really easily
all of this cost me really nothing to
make and all of us provided a way to cut
down on clutter
to maintain a sense of order and to
empower everyone in the family
to participate in maintaining that sense
of calm and peace in our home
this isn't necessarily about high-tech
crafty projects something as simple as a
hammer and nail can make a world of
difference
so maybe you have an under the sink
cabinet that gets
messy all the time nailing a few things
to the side of the cabinet and hanging
them up
could totally eliminate that problem by
introducing these super
simple diy elements you can customize
your space so that it works for you and
so that you're able to maintain the
sense of order you've created
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i'm going to be showing you one of my
favorite projects to make with
a plain cotton cord this is a technique
that uses finger knitting and these
cords can be put to work in all sorts of
ways
this project is super simple you just
need some cotton clothesline
a basic kind of cotton cord anything you
can find at the hardware store
that's pliable enough will work scissors
for cutting
and then any kind of hooks or hangers
that you might have at home already or
use this project depending on the length
of your cord
can take anywhere from 10 minutes to
40 minutes but it's really really simple
technique that you'll find is kind of
meditative so you might want to continue
doing it
so i'm going to start with a length of
cord and
i'm going to use just my two fingers as
my guide and i'll stick the cord between
my pointer finger and my middle finger
and i'm just gonna wrap
two figure eights like this so i've got
two figure eights around my two fingers
and then
i'll start by lifting the bottom loop
over the top
first and one side and then on the other
and then i'm going to continue that
until a cord fur
forms this is where people get a little
nervous because they think that they're
just making a big blob
but i promise a cord
develops so again now i have two more
figure eights
i'm gonna bring the bottom loop over the
bottom loop over
i can kind of continue pulling this cord
just to keep things a little bit taut
and i'm just going to keep going until a
longer
and longer cord develops so i'll just
show you
that you can see it looks kind of like a
mess right now but the more length you
build into it
you will see this beautiful cord
starting to emerge it just creates this
kind of pretty loose weave
and i can put a hanger right through it
and then another hanger below it
and it creates kind of like a
multi-hanger thing without needing to
buy anything special
just the cotton cord and the hanger you
already have at home
it can also be a spot where you might
put a hook
so for instance these are two little
brass s-hooks that i have
and you can stick those in also i use
one of these in my closet to hang a bag
where i put
recycling i use another one
with no hooks at all i just had the cord
which
i made straps for my kids yoga mats
this is just a really simple technique
that ends up kind of creating a
beautiful object in your home
that can be used in lots of different
ways
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