Archives for Weekend Projects
Weekend project
I want you to imagine your dining room table right now. Is it covered in paperwork? Piled high with homework? Stacked with mail or dirty dishes?
If you can’t see the top of your dining room table, what do you need to do to be able to see it?
Whatever it is, do it now. Clean the clutter off of your table and make it a place where you can sit down and eat your meal tonight (and tomorrow and the next …).
If your table is clear, are there other horizontal surfaces in your home cluttered to the point that they aren’t serving their functions? If this is the case, clean the clutter off of those surfaces instead for your weekend task.
When clearing the clutter, don’t just move stacks around, actually take the time to do the job right. Do the work, then enjoy the benefits of your effort!
Pictured is my dining room. The table is by sculptor Michael Sirvet.
Make your own earbud caddy
Walking around with an earbud cord that is too long can hinder your range of motion and get in the way. People come in different shapes and sizes, but earbud wires are all one size, which is usually super long. Why not take some time and easily make yourself a little earbud caddy to neatly wrap up that extra wire?
Over at wikiHow, you can easily follow the steps and have yourself a cheap do-it-yourself solution made from material you may have around your house already. Or, if you’re not feeling handy, you can just purchase the one pictured with this article for $2.
Reader inspired charging station
Reader Geek Novice sent us the following photographs:
A detailed explanation can be found on his blog here. His blog is written in Slovene, though, so we were happy that he kindly e-mailed us a few translations. In short, he purchased two meters (about six and a half feet) of pipe insulation from his local hardware store for about a dollar. He cut the foam tubing to his desired length, inserted a second slice, piled in the cords, and called it an uncluttered day.
We love this innovative, inexpensive, charging station. Thank you, Geek Novice, for sharing it with us!
Weekend project idea: Clear clutter from your medicine chest
First, before I get into the depths of this post, I want to say that you shouldn’t be storing medicines in your bathroom. Humidity is bad for your medicines, and most in-wall cabinets don’t have locks on them and can be accessed by little ones. So, you should begin your weekend project by getting a lockable chest that you can store in a closet or another dry place in your home for your medicines. (I found that Ikea has a handful of good ones at reasonable prices, but they only sell them in their retail stores.)
Next, get rid of all drugs that have passed their expiration dates.
Third, clear out all items that are not actually medicine-related from your medicine chest and find proper homes for these items.
Fourth, evaluate your medicine chest for duplications and missing items. You should have at least one thermometer, but not four (like I just found … how in the world do I have four thermometers??).
Finally, lock up your medicine chest and enjoy the rest of your weekend knowing that you helped restore sanity in at least one aspect of your life.
DIY designer knife block
Rather than spend $125 on an unbelievably sexy Schaschlik knife block, Chris DiClerico went the DIY route and saved himself a benjamin in the process. After looking at the Flickr photos of his completed project, we can’t tell the difference.
If you’re going to try this, just make sure you buy skewers that are long enough to be suited to the task. They need to be at least the length of the blade of your longest knife.
Chris DiClerico, we salute you.
