Archive for May, 2009

Is that a fridge or an art gallery?

Friday, May 29th, 2009

Judging by the TV real estate shows, a fridge or stove just isn’t worth having unless it’s stainless steel. So if you have stainless steel appliances, flaunt them — don’t hide them under clutter!

Yes, I’m talking about that big thing called a refrigerator that, in most kitchens, is disguised as a) a children’s art gallery   b) a family portrait gallery   c) a magnet message board   d) all of the above.

“You can’t even tell the colour of my fridge,” says “smile,” a blogger on Yahoo Answers. “It’s nothing but artwork and school reminders. lol”

If this sounds familiar, then start decluttering.

When house hunters come calling, they want to see what they’re getting — dents and all — so you might as well strip the fridge of its clutter and show it in all its glory from the get-go.

Decluttering does have its benefits. Let’s face it, there is nothing pretty about our big North American fridges, even if they are stainless steel! That’s why in today’s modern high-end kitchens, refrigerators are disguised as cabinets.

By keeping the front free of photos, notes and artwork, you are actually taking the focus away from the fridge and giving yourself the opportunity to direct viewers’ eyes to your kitchen’s best selling points — like that new backsplash or fancy faucet.

Now that’s smart!

So what’s coming off your fridge when you declutter?

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Posted in Kitchens | 1 Comment »

A Welcome Wagon full of flies

Saturday, May 23rd, 2009

When I woke up and the gazillions of Sturgeon Creek flies (those brain-challenged flies that look like mosquitoes on steroids) that had been clinging to the road side of my new house for three days were almost gone, I thought maybe the neighbours were exaggerating about this two-week fly horror.

Well, they were right.  It was when I opened the curtains to the sliding doors on the lakeside of my little rancher that I realized — they’re baaaaaack!!  There were so many of them that I could barely see out the windows. Even the deck and the picnic table on it were covered in flies!

Welcome to lakeside living, said my new hairdresser, Brad, the owner of Salon 22 in Kingsville. From my description, though, it seems there are more flies at my house in Leamington than down the road in Kingsville. Of course, everyone in the salon was only too eager to regale this newcomer to Lake Erie living with tales of worse to come. They said gigantic fish flies (some call them June bugs) will arrive any time now — and could blanket my house for up to 4 weeks!  Bonus: they stink like dead fish!

For someone who likes a clean house, lakeside living is becoming an eye-opener.  I thought the spiders and their web-building games were a nuisance.  But at least I could sweep the webs away with a scoping broom (I have since been informed I should call Butch to spray for spiders twice a year). With the Sturgeon Creek flies, I have determined that a power washer is the only thing to get their dead carcasses — and green poop — off my light blue siding and white window sills.

I might need extra tools in my cleaning arsenal, but I figure it’s all worth it to live by the lake.  After all, that’s why I moved to Leamington.  So bring on the fish flies — I’m armed and ready!

If anyone knows any tricks to keep all those flies away, please let me know.

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Posted in pests | 4 Comments »

Caution: Sentimentality can lead to clutteritis

Tuesday, May 19th, 2009

The Merriam-Webster dictionary people describe “sentimental” this way:
1. a: marked or governed by feeling, sensibility, or emotional idealism b: resulting from feeling rather than reason or thought — i.e. a sentimental attachment.

Sentimental attachment is the leading cause of clutteritis — the word I use to describe the habit of gathering things and then hanging on to them for life.

While men are not immune from clutteritis (we all know men who can’t stop collecting tools, for example), experience has shown that women have clutteritis down to an art.  The majority of women are afflicted with clutteritis when the first child arrives. That’s when the sentimentality gene really kicks in.

The result? You might find it in your own home:  report cards for every child for every year they went to school; the children’s first drawings; crafts the kids made in school or at summer camp. Most mothers have boxes and boxes of this stuff stored somewhere in the house. The most sentimental have some of this stuff on display for all to see, even though little Billy might not be so little anymore.

For example, my mother-in-law places a wooden log with a hole scooped out for a candle and plastic holly glued to the bottom in a place of honour on the living room coffee table each Christmas. The centrepiece was crafted by my husband, Gary, now in his late 50s, when he was in grade school!

I am certain my mother-in-law has seen many other centrepieces over the years that she would prefer to grace her table. But sentimentality prevents her from throwing away the pitiful log and its original (now bent and dusty) red candle. No doubt my mother-in-law finds me an odd duck because I don’t think the log is adorable — but hey, I never had children, so it’s not my fault I’m not sentimental!

My policy on gifts is to enjoy them for as long as they bring pleasure — which for me usually means they are useful, or are beautiful to look at and/or are in style — then discard them. That means throwing out, or giving away, a crocheted orange and brown shag rug from the 1970s, not keeping it in a box in the basement (or, heaven forbid, on the floor at the front door) just because someone I like made it for me more than 30 years ago.  I might pull out a fond memory of that old shag rug from my fuzzy brain now and then, but it doesn’t mean I have to look at the rug itself for life.

How do you decide which gifts stay for life and which don’t?

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Posted in people | 2 Comments »