What The Home Edit Didn’t Teach You – Surrounding Yourself With Delight

Now that you are hopefully at home more, staying safe, you might have realized that this additional time spent in your house resulted in an awareness that there are items you touch daily that do not give you joy. Slowing down and identifying your sources of frustration, a few quick switches, and your home life can be more calm, relaxing, and pleasing.

Awareness of Low-Grade Irritants

Right now, times are stressful and you are likely to become irritated by even the tiniest things. The key is identifying those daily objects that slow you down or are downright displeasing.

For me, one cause was this shower curtain. For years, I had endured shower curtain hooks that jumped off the rod. Every. Single. Time. Not only did at least one fall off every time I opened the curtain; at least one or more also got tangled and dropped each time I closed it.

Why did I let this irritant go on for so long? I got used to it. Trying to be careful with my finances and raised in a thrifty household; I couldn’t imagine replacing “perfectly good shower curtain rings.” Well, they weren’t perfectly good – except at aggravating me. For under $6, “Amazer” stainless rings perfectly suited the very casual look of our second shower. The former set is headed to the consignment shop this week. Tax-free income.

This morning, I heard those steel balls run back and forth across that rod when my husband showered after our workout. I even heard him say something out loud about what a difference they made. Aha! Next?

Bathroom Daily Contact Items

For some reason, bathroom items were on my radar this week. Maybe this is because we spend time in the bathroom daily. Or, perhaps it’s due to the proximity to our bodies; but, I began a quest to upgrade anything I have to see or touch daily.

You know that feeling when you stay in some hotels and everything is uncluttered, modern, quiet, unobtrusive… Suddenly, I realized that I was never going to wash the plastic shower curtain liner ever again.

Truthfully, I despise the plastic shower curtain liner. It’s ugly. Plus, it’s plastic. On top of that; even with frequent machine washing; (yes, you can!) it always looks spotty. That might be because I favor the clear style, allowing more light into the shower in our rather dark bathroom.

In a lightbulb moment; I realized I didn’t have to purchase a replacement clear plastic shower curtain – a cloth one would be so much nicer! Although to actually be water repellent, a fabric liner must be designed from a material other than a100% cotton, but at least it would not look and feel plastic. I chose the one above from Maytex; it came in different colors and fabrics, and at under $8, the cost per use will be low and the feel of the bathroom elevated. It’s already pleasing me so much more than before!

Upgrade Anything You Touch Daily

Take a look at the items you touch daily – how many of them are plastic? Plastic doesn’t make you feel luxurious. Neither does plastic make you feel spoiled, elegant, smart, or healthy.

Vitamins come in big plastic jars. I realized I wasn’t getting any joy from taking my daily biotin, C, and D because it involved touching multiple jumbo-sized plastic bottles. While I like the sound of dice in a Yahtzee shaker; I do not enjoy the rattle of pills in bottles. It irritates me. Additionally, it makes me feel like I’m sick, or in a hospital.

Decant your pills. Put them into something beautiful; something you will be eager to touch daily. I simply looked around for a few pretty containers. We are big fans of “Use What You Have” decorating. Thus, this Japanese trinket box and what’s possibly an antique hair receiver were pressed into service and are far more attractive.

While I did not feel I could leave my enormous vitamin C economy bottle of tablets out on display; these items are far more attractive.

Yes, I’ve seen the funny remarks about people taking their cereal out of cardboard boxes to put into clear containers, beans coming out of a bag to be placed into a glass jar. The original idea was to shop bulk, bring your own bags, then fill your own jars. I don’t care; make fun of me.

Looking at things that please me and surrounding myself with items I do not hesitate to touch brings some small joy to my world. Life’s stressful enough! Surround yourself with beauty!

Elevate Your Everyday Experiences

Daily, you reach for clothes. It might as well be a happy, rewarding experience. Treat yourself to a “drawer makeover.” You have no idea how much delight your favorite pieces will bring to you when they are beautifully organized.

For jewelry, I carefully measured and chose the Diommell velvet jewelry tray organizers – four for the price some are individually. This was a big move for me from a freestanding jewelry armoire. However, I seldom buy “fast fashion” pieces any longer, preferring to save my money and invest in a few quality pieces that will last my lifetime and be endlessly in style. instead.

Next I really took a leap. While I’ve always organized my shirts in my drawers like file folders so I can see them all, I’ve also always relied on “freebie” shoe boxes to do the separating. While economical and readily available, somehow, I arrived at the conclusion that it was time to treat myself to items designed for clothes – not shoes – to hold my clothes.

A solid week of research led me to the Tenabort foldable drawer organizers. They are constructed of canvas and linen, and come in a set of 12. This set ran around $26, but gave me nearly double the organizers for the same price as other sellers.

The difference this made in my drawers was far more than I expected. My foundation garments fit perfectly in organizers designed exactly for that, and make folding laundry more of a delight than a chore now. My thin, slippery shirts now reside in another divided organizer; saving me time and trouble finding them.

Use What You Have Decorating

This is a constant phrase in our household. It began with a book I found and devoured. Actions like using duffle bags for off-season clothes since we moved to rolling bags years ago are an example.

Recently I treated myself to a Withings watch in rose gold and one in silver when they had an insane sale. I wanted something inexpensive to wear daily to track my steps, yet a timepiece that looked like a watch. And I wanted the ability to wear different bands with it to suit my mood or outfit.

Additionally, I needed a way to keep all that organized and handy without looking like a tangled mess. An old cigar humidor suited my needs perfectly. And it checked all the boxes – free, already own, right size, attractive, and able to close. Into the bottom I added felt to give my watches a soft landing.

The humidor puck I left in place – I like to think it keeps my watches at the same humidity as when I wear them outdoors in Florida. It’s very pleasing to be able to upcycle something no longer used into something very useful.

I hope you are now inspired to look around, find your low-grade irritants, and solve them! Treat yourself nicely.

We Don’t Go Anywhere Without:

• Stream2Sea Reef Safe SPF 20 or 30 mineral, regular or tinted sunscreen, mask defog, shampoo, conditioner, rash guards and more reef-safe supplies. Use my code “DeepWH” for 10% off. The packages are biodegradeable – not just recycled and recyclable.
• Cycle Booty Citrus Cleanser and Post Ride Cream.
• Crisis Medicine Tactical Casualty Care Course knowledge so we can help ourselves. With code “DeepWH” you save 20% on the TC2 course
• MyMedic Individual Bleeding Control Kits, this link and my code “DeepWH15” will save you 15% on your purchase. We take ours everywhere.
• North American Rescue CAT tourniquets. Use code “MAY25” for 20% off through midnight on 5/31/20. This is a huge savings!
• Airbnb, “Kimberly gave you up to $55 off your first trip.”
• Airbnb says, “Deep gave you up to $415 off your first adventure.
• Uber gives you $2 off your first three rides.
• Travelex is our trip insurer – click for a free quote.
• Girls That Scuba – members discount card for all things diving.
• REI Co-op for great sports equipment and travel clothes.
• Sailo for $100 off your next boat rental! Discount Code: “KimWa1”
• PierShare to rent your dock out or rent a dock.
• BoatUS for your boat towing insurance! Code: “HEWAF88”
• RoadId for $5 off your cycling/running/kayaking/travel id.
• Dazer Ii Ultrasonic Aggressive Dog Deterrent Repeller Dazzer – keeping dogs at bay while we cycle.
• Guardline Security Wireless Driveway Alarm – alerts us when someone approaches. Less expensive directly from the company.
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• Thanks Bill for being the Best Dive Partner Ever!