Clearing and a Tiny Victorian Cottage

I am back in Ireland and slightly over my jet lag.

We have started the process of sorting through and clearing 

7 years of a life in a Home.

There is something cleansing about sorting through 

the back of dusty cupboards.

It feels good to bin, keep, charity shop, through all of the useful

and useless, meaningless and full of memories, debris that one accumulates.

While the process is cleansing it is also incredibly emotional.

Moments glimpsed in an old photo or a card made by a child.

It is difficult not to dwell on each piece of my past.

I am excited about our new adventure and showing the Kids the city and all it has to offer,

but that doesn't mean it is not with some sadness that I pack away

the detrius and say goodbye to this House that has been our home, the place 

where my children have become little men.

 As it happens This person whom I find so inspirational is also 

relocating to a different country right now.

She has some very inspiring recent posts about her process.

Having lived the last 2 months out of a suitcase I am being

ruthless and attempting to apply the 'love it or leave it' mantra to 

everything I place in the "keep" pile.

Also we will have to fit it all in to a 2 bedroom NYC apartment.

With this on my mind I received this post in my inbox just now,  from

E J Carr , the photographer responsible for this Helen James shoot 
letting me know about this article in The New York Times

A Tiny Victorian Cottage in The Catskills

From The New York Times

You don't need a lot of money or square footage to make a beautiful space

Here are some initial photo's of our little slice New York Real Estate

Very much a work in progress but it's a start

Small apartment, Brooklyn

Having only 178 sq ft of space has not stopped this 25 yr old New Yorker from thinking big in terms of design. Following on the "more is more" ethos of design he has outfitted his Brooklyn apartment on the budget of an apprentice with the panache of a connoisseur.  The key to the success of this apartment is he has treated each corner as an individual tableux. Everything is considered.

 

Rather than de-clutter he has filled every available inch with a possession, but every piece is carefully placed and arranged into "collections".

 

I particularly love the backsplash in the kitchen; planks from Home Depot stained with green wood stain and varnished with yacht varnish. Although he says he doesn't cook in the apartment as he can't live with the lingering food odours.

The red chair $10 from an upstate antique store adds a welcome pop of colour in the office area.

 

all images NY Times 

A bold cobalt blue in the bathroom.

Now while living in this limited amount of space is not preferential. This youngster shows you that with a little commitment and imagination it doesn't have to be dull, sparse or dingy.

For the full article go to the NY Times website