Living Life to the Maximum

People think that my decision to declutter is my way of converting into a minimalist. On the contrary, doing this have made me into a maximalist--I want to use the things I have to the maximum and exhaust its potential. I have just recently adopted this lifestyle and let me tell you, this is not an easy path to take. Here's why:

1. Dilemma: I am a first time mother. An excited one at that. That means I have the tendency to shower my daughter with material things just because I think she needs them. The moment the pregnancy test showed two lines, I was in a need-to-shop-badly mode. This was aggravated by the discovery that my first child is going to be a girl--my own little doll! Imagine the amount of baby clothes I accumulated.

Lesson learned: Babies are all different, and my child--a low-maintenance one. Out of all the gifts she received during her aqeeqah, she only plays with two toys. That's it. Two toys out of all the many. The other ones, she likes to believe they are all teethers.

My action: I have requested my family to minimize the urge to shower Laika with toys. I have also stopped buying things that is not in the "need" column. Bumper pads and teething guards? Need. Cute dresses that she will most likely not enjoy? Want. After all, at her age, what she needs are non-material things.

Who needs three chairs? No one, I tell you. Although we have been using all of them most of the time. 

2. Dilemma: I am a girl. I was pre-programmed to like all things sparkling and beautiful especially if it starts with a sh- and ends with a -oes. I. Can't. Stop. Buying.

Solution: I bought a rack that can house just a dozen pairs of shoes. When I buy one pair, I have to give another pair up. This way, shoes are kept to a minimum. And I mostly stay at home now. No use owning too many when I am usually in a shirt-pants-slippers getup.

3. I love magazines. I also can't bear the thought of throwing one (as if I need to read it again or browse through one when I need inspiration. Hello, internet!).

Solution: E-subscription. This is one of the things I love about having an iPad mini. I can still enjoy magazines and books without worrying about clutter. I am no book purist. I am for reading a book even if I cannot touch book pages physically.

4. My husband is a doctor. Every time he has a convention, you can just imagine the amount of freebies he gets! I get a headache every single time I see him with ball pens, USBs and markers he doesn't even use!

Solution: I asked him to refrain from hoarding things just because it's free. One ball pen is enough. USBs are useful but who needs a lot of them? Markers? We will just buy when he needs one. I am not a snob. I just think there is no need getting things just for the sake of having one especially if it's free.

Those are just some of the things I can think of at present. What pushed me to declutter is now, I think of any space as a real estate property. When I need to throw something, I have to think of the last time I used it. There are times when I feel like I am wasting something but I am now choosing to think of it this way: The storage space that an object occupies can very well be used for something that is more useful. I can live in a smaller space but I can't because of the amount of stuff we have. Now, we have reduced the amount of our things and I can't wait to reduce it again in the future. I also disagree with the notion that you need to have a big storage space. Big storage space means more things you accumulate. At the end of the day, these things don't even get to be used. I say no to more storage, yes to proper place for everything.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Hey ya!

This blog will be undergoing changes in a matter of weeks.

I started this blog June of last year to chronicle my pregnancy. To act as an online diary of sorts. I was six months pregnant then with a serious bout of insomnia and I needed an outlet. That was when this blog was born.

Eventually, it evolved into something else. I now write on many things and then I thought, there's not much written on design and DIY in the local setting. So, yes. I might delve on that here.

Although, of course, this being my journal, you will still read about my family life, my WAHM adventures, and my blog hopping. I need to figure things out but you will definitely still have something to read here.

What do you want to read about on my blog? Family life, saving tips, decor ideas? I need your opinions please.

Yey to plan reduction

Who wants to do a happy dance with me? In a completely permissible, halal way, of course! That means only with my girl friends with the door shut tight without any men in sight. Unless you are my husband, in that case, no other girls allowed to dance in front of him.

Just kidding!

But, seriously.

Anyway, the happy dance is for the e-mail I got last night from the telecom I am subscribed to. My cellphone bill decreased dramatically. As in, divide-last-month's-bill-by-three, that's how much! Woot, woot!

How did I do it?

Simple. I called customer service to have my plan reduced. I don't even remember to which plan I am subscribed to. I just know that I chose the lowest possible option without me having to pay for the phone that came with the subscription. Mind you, I have the simplest phone. I just didn't want to pay for it. I'm cheap like that! :P

By the way, since choosing to stay at home, I realized that I don't get to use my phone that much. Good thing there's Viber and Facebook and Twitter and Yahoo! Mail. So, yes, that's my way of saying I will most likely be able to read your messages to me through those than if you text me. 

PS: I have big plans for this blog. Stay tuned for that. 

Decluttering, anyone?

When I was pregnant, I was struck hard by the nesting syndrome. I felt the need to purge, purge, purge! 

My thinking was, if something does not have its own proper place, it does not belong to this house. I was so much struck that I was able to declutter and live with less than 15 pairs of shoes (that's modest, ask every girl you know) and four bags.

On a good day, meaning Sharon or I had to urge to clean up, our rented apartment looks like this.

The bamboo mat does not belong to the living room anymore

The master bedroom is divided into different areas as we live in a small place

However, if Monica Geller of FRIENDS has a Secret Closet, I have my Secret Room. Whenever I entertain guests in the house, the door to this room is shut very tightly.

It looks like this right now.

I KNOW!!!

Good thing when I accepted a certain thrift shop challenge, I was able to discover this beautiful place.

In time (I wonder when?), I want to be able to tackle my Secret Room and sell stuff at that Thrift Shop. I read somewhere that the philosophy when decluttering should be, if you were to move to a different place, what will you be bringing with you? And since we will really be moving before the year ends (in shaa Allah), all the more we need to do this.

Repeat after me: No more clutter. No more clutter. No more clutter.

House Hunting

I promised that I will be walking you through our future house adventures. I also mentioned there that we had to consider many things when we were deciding if we are to buy a unit. After all, we didn't want to end up without a home if and when the husband's residency training is over.

The question lies on whether we will be renting, buying a house (if only...) or buying a condominium unit.

Renting is a big possibility. We have already decided on where we will be settling down but we did not have a house on that place that time. We did not want to live in our parents' place. It just not one of our choices.

Buying a property is also good. Whether it is going to be a house or a townhouse or a condominium unit, that, we don't know.

Luckily, an opportunity presented itself. We were just minding our own business, strolling along the mall to take a look at the showroom of our friend's company, and that's it, we saw that buying a unit can be done.

This is to be our first big purchase so we had to consider a lot of things.

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I told you that we already had a location in mind. I am a South kid through and through. Even if I live in the northern part of Manila now, I know I will always go back. Husband is on board as long as he is assured of good medical practice, good internet connection, and good air conditioning unit (don't ask me!). Good thing there are two projects on that place. Are we lucky or what?

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Having kids in the future is definitely part of the plan that time and I am getting worried that kids nowadays don't get to play outside like we did when we were young. So, yes, I need a big running space for our kids if and when we purchase a place.

What made us say yes to this place? The many, many amenities! I can practically work for DMCI as I have always been singing praises to all their projects. I love that they never took the amenities for granted. Good thing they have a Landscape Architecture Department (plugging!) which means every space is well thought of!

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There is this one company that has it all for you, but unfortunately, when I took a look at the properties they are selling, it was very expensive! That or I simply cannot afford them. I'm thinking it's more of the latter. Haha... Anyway, this unit we are buying has really friendly payment terms.

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When I researched (yes, I stalked them!) the company, I learned that they have a good track record. They are also continually improving their projects which means, they learn from their past mistakes.  I trust this company so much that I am thinking of investing on their stocks in the future (another "if only'').

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Do not, and I mean it, do not be lured by a good showroom. I am quite saddened whenever I know that somebody purchased a unit without even taking a look at the blank floor plan, or even imagining what the unit will look like if there are no furniture and appliances in the room.

I also learned this one trick from years of house-hunting and showroom-looking: showrooms should not be trusted. More often than not, they add a couple of inches here and there. What my agent did was she toured us to a finished unit about to be turned over to the owner, made sure that it was a blank room, and had us take a feel of the place. I also took advantage of this opportunity to look at the natural lighting that the room gets and the amount of ventilation it receives.

And that's, it. We were pretty much sold to the idea. That afternoon, we signed the papers. Now, we are just waiting for the building to be done and we will be moving in! :)  

Playtime with the baby

When I first started working from home, I only did sideline writing and designing jobs. I was still pregnant then with a full-time day job. It was difficult but, with the help of my husband, I was able to do it. Nights were stretched and I did work even during the weekends.

And then, I had to stop working online when Laika was born. By December 2012, I resigned from my job with the plans of working again on January. I was very eager to work that I eventually forgot my reason for adopting this lifestyle--the work-at-home mommy lifestyle.

One day, I saw Laika smiling more when she is with her Ate Sharon (the nanny). Being a happy baby that she is, of course, she still adores me but when I saw how she looks at her Ate, I had to reassess. This is what I have been avoiding and which led me to resign from my work before. Mommy is jealous and she has to do something about it.  

Right then, I had to stop getting projects from people. Quality over quantity this time. I wanted to still be able to play with my daughter in the morning and be there for the husband when he needs me.

I devised a way for this to be possible. Sharon was reassigned to do household chores in the morning while mommy and Laika play in the room. By afternoon, when it is Laika's nap time, I get to face my jobs and be more productive. I also do work when Laika sleeps at night.

Now, Laika has a playschool time with mommy as the teacher.

What do you do to make working at home possible?

Revisiting our future home's model unit

Who here is tired of hearing me say that I am a frustrated interior designer? Show of hands? None? Good.

Let's get it on with this post then :)

We will be transferring to our future house late this year and I can't wait to design our unit. Yawning now? No? Cool!

I want to walk you through my design process and the first order of business is to let you in the model unit by showing pictures.

But a side story first. How did we decide on getting this condominium unit? It was August 19, 2011, the Quezon City day (think of me as Ted Mosby ala-How-I-Met-Your-Mother), both the husband and I did not have work as it was a holiday. I had to process my visa for China that morning and he accompanied me. We did not have anything to do that afternoon and then I remembered my very good friend April's constant reminder to please, please visit their showroom in Megamall as she was one of the people to design the room. We decided to go there from Makati.

When we got there, we were amazed by the showroom. It was tastefully done and, our agent, convinced that we were buying, entertained all our questions. I want to clarify that we did not have any intention of getting a unit that day. It's just one of our hobbies as a couple to dream and look at model units, hoping that one day, we will have the ability to afford one.

That night, I was not able to sleep. I really, badly, wanted to buy a unit just because I loved the location, the price, and the design (please note that I am not carried away by showrooms. I know how to block out the furniture as I know when the unit is turned over, it will be as blank as a coupon bond).

A week later, the agent we talked to told us that the project we were considering to buy had a promo that month. We can pay for a measly 10% for 23 months. That's it! Now we can afford to buy one.

Still, we had to consider many things. And in the end, we bought one.

Phew! That's too long a story, isn't it? On with the rooms now!

 

 

Can you tell I'm super excited? Anything you're looking forward to this year? Are you just like us who will move from one side of the region to the other?