This week

Listening to an audiobook of 'The Night Circus' by Erin Morgenstern pretty much from start to finish for the whole eleven or so hours whilst stripping my kitchen walls. It was magical, romantic and immersive and although it was the kind of thing I usually find cheesy (a victorian circus entirely in black and white, a bit young adult in storyline with numerous romances) I was hooked from start to finish. I enjoyed the slightly Ray Bradbury edge and it was light with beautiful descriptions.

Visiting my sister and her boyfriend in Exeter with my mum, dad and husband. We walked down Victorian gingerbread bricked terraces in the sunshine to the waterside to have an ice cream, and had homemade scones, clotted cream and jam in a church. Mum made my day when she pointed out an acacia tree and when I asked her "who lives at 29 Acacia Road?" she correctly answered "Bananaman - or more correctly- Eric, who turns int Bananaman".

Playing Minecraft with Jon.

De cluttering after listening to Marie Kondo's currently in vogue book "The life changing magic of tidying up". She says you should only keep the objects which 'spark joy' in your home and get rid of the rest, and that instead of tidying bit by bit, to do the whole house in one go. This way you will enjoy the feeling of a clear house only filled with the things you love so much that you wont rebound to clutter again.

She strongly suggests a particular order for going through your belongings and states that you need to purge by category not area. So do all the clothes, then all the books- not 'the bedroom, the lounge, etc. etc.' Her order to tackle things goes; clothes, then books, papers, miscellany and lastly mementos. I have done the clothes part ( my cupboard now looks amazing and is filled with only the clothes I love and enjoy to wear) and am ninety percent done with books.

Eating things Jon has grown in the garden.

Link storm - Vintage from across the eras + design inspiration

Here are some sites I have been enjoying lately:

12th and white which is a rustic feminine interiors blog and grain edit which is full of modern vintage style graphic design and illustration - everything on this site is gorgeous. Also in the mid-centuary modern style is the beautiful site modernfindings.com.

I also came across the great discontent filled with inspiring interviews with well known creatives, and have been filling up on 60's, 70's and 80's style logos via Draplin design co.

Via modernfindings.com

The Heart Index via grain edit

Mental spring clean - your relationship with your space

I recently read a really interesting article in the NY Times about clutter and our relationship with our stuff and our space. Not only did the article have some thought provoking points, but the people in the comments all had genuinely poignant things to add to the topic which were just as interesting to read as the main article.

The author addresses that it is very common for people to feel mentally bogged down by clutter, and that we feel if we reach perfect order in our homes, we will somehow reach perfect order in our lives. We want not just a simple, beautiful, logical house with a sense of flow, but also a simple, beautiful, logical life with a sense of flow. We believe if we are organised, our minds will be clear, we will be reaching our potential without being held back, we won't procrastinate, we will be able to focus.

And the thing is clutter does genuinely slow us down. After moving house almost a year ago I am still trying to find places for some of my belongings, and it gets annoying not knowing where things are and going through uncategorised drawers of mess. Losing things, forgetting things, tripping over things and being unable to move because of things are ways that clutter affect our productivity and flow.

But achieving order is somewhat like the pot of gold under the rainbow -  an almost unattainable goal.  The nature of the world is chaos, and things constantly come in to our physical and mental spaces that we have to deal with. Paperwork, half finished projects, dirty dishes and laundry to name a few. A lot of these things are also inconveniently difficult to sort. Effectively our whole houses (and to a degree our lives) are a drawer labelled 'misc' and we have to try and categorise and sort like with like.

But as almost unobtainable as order is, it is still necessary to try and get some form of it. For me, a messy house is like putting my brain in a blender, and I do feel much more peaceful when things are tidy. When there are piles of objects and unfinished jobs shouting -"do me!" and laundry lying on the floor looking not just unsightly, but also feeling like a reproach, my mind feels scattered. I find when things are put away, my thoughts also get tided away and quietened, and I feel more mental order and can think in logical lines instead of getting distracted.

One reason for mess is obviously an excess of belongings, and having a simple chuck out can be amazing for clearing our space and minds. Being a little ruthless with our things and only keeping what we need and love helps keep a purposefulness to our homes and makes sure the things we do keep are out treasures not our junk.

But you cant simply chuck everything out, as our houses are, in a way, external hard drives for our brains, full of memories in the shape of photos and objects, and chunks of our life in the shape of mementos, like insects preserved in amber.

Creating a wunderkammer (or cabinet of curiosities) to put your treasures in, and having a scrap book for birthday cards and ticket stubs etc. can help. Digitising things also can be a good way to keep things - I ripped a lot of my old CDs to my itunes and sold the physical discs on Music Magpie, keeping only the most meaningful ones to me.

I have recently found the site organisemyhouse.com which I am finding useful in attempting to find some mental and physical order in my home - it is still to be seen if I will reach enlightenment or not but at least I wont be tripping over things. 4 vital elements for staying organised is a list of tips on how to maintain the order once you reach it.