Konmari - Category 2 - Books

After the euphoria of going through all of my clothes, getting rid of so many, and finally knowing where everything was, in my head I thought I would move on to the next Konmari category right away.  Just like the Marie Kondo's book says, you have to really dedicate yourself to the process, and do the whole thing all at once.  I was and am dedicated.  I really want to do this!  But reality intruded in the form of a bunch of gigs and weekends away.  I didn't get to the next category - books - until about a month later, in late-February.

As with my clothes, I thought that books wouldn't be too hard.  They are so solid and finite and mostly in one room in my house, right?  Not so.  There were books in just about every room on the 1st and 2nd floors of the house.  Even gathering them all together, and lugging them up stairs to my sorting area took a lot of time and work.  But eventually, they were all there and covered so much of the available space in the room, that it was hard to find a spot for me to first divide them into "stay" and "go" piles, and then to sort them by category for re-shelving.

Books are the second category in Marie Kondo's tidying scheme because, in theory, they are relatively easy to sort and part with.  And while it's true that many books are available electronically, 1) books are wonderful, and not easy to part with, and, 2) art books, and any non-fiction books with pictures are just not the same in electronic format.  Guess what I have a lot of?  In fact - true confessions time - there was one whole category of books I didn't bother to move off of their shelves and into my sorting area because I knew that none of them were going - my tea books.

This photo shows only half of my collection, and doesn't include the additions that were in the big pile in the other room because they hadn't made it to the tea shelves yet.

But over a couple of days, I just attacked one pile of books at a time, and filled at least 10 bags to give away.  And then over a few more days, I sorted all that was left by category and re-shelved everything, discovering that I really did have more room on my shelves than before.

Here are some of my take-aways:

1. It ain't over 'til it's over.  Kondo says in her book that once you're done with clothes and move on to the other categories, you can't really be finished with the organization process until you do all of the other things.  I now get it.  I had other things on my bookshelves like video tapes, candles, etc.  When I was re-shelving the books and thinking about the space I had available, I hadn't dealt with those other non-book items yet, and so knew that I might have to move the books again once more space became available.  My next post will talk about that a little more.
2. For me, the definition of "doing everything all at once" is going to end up being one category a month.  I hate the feeling of drawing out this process indefinitely and really want to live in a saner environment right now, but my life is so busy with many weeknights and weekends taken up by travel or other activities I'm not willing to give up.  So my reality is that this process is going to take at least the rest of the year.  I hate even writing that down, but welcome to my life.
3. Giving things away is hard!  Once I decided to let a book go, it wasn't actually hard to part with it.  What was difficult was figuring out how to dispose of them.  I knew I could take the books to Goodwill, which has a very convenient drop-off near my house, but I thought to give them to the Free Library Book Corner, which could re-sell them and make some money for the Free Library, of which I'm a big fan.  Unfortunately, for what I'm sure they think are good reasons, they make it really hard to donate books to them (and had a rude, impatient person answering the phone, which was decidedly off-putting), so that was out.  Then I found an organization which has book donation boxes scattered throughout the area, but when I loaded all of the bags of books into the car and found the local box, it was stuffed so full, I couldn't add a thing to it.  Luckily, there was a Green Drop truck in the same location that was happy to take my books.
4. Going through each category will have an emotional component to it.  It's always work to stay away from the the feelings of guilt/regret/self-recrimination for amassing so much of whatever it is, but that's not helpful, and I'm dealing with it right now, so no wallowing allowed.  But the other piece is that if you're a person who likes things, the way I do, facing that crazy pile is a bit overwhelming, and letting go of objects is hard, even if you're committed to the process and know why you're doing it, how to do it, etc.  It's just a lot.  It's worth it, but I have to remember that each time I work on this project will take both physical and emotional energy.

Stay tuned for the next exciting installment:  media...

KonMari - Category 1 - Clothes

It has begun!

This weekend I began my project based on Marie Kondo's book, The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up.  My goal was to get through at least one category - amassing all of the stuff in one location in the house, going through it item-by-item, touching each thing, keeping everything that "sparked joy," discarding the rest, and finally figuring out how to organize it all, and put it all away.

This past week I worked on a project spreadsheet to keep me organized.  Each tab of my spreadsheet is a category of items containing a list of the things in that category.  My categories are specific to my belongings, but they follow Kondo's order and guidelines of clothes, then books, papers, other stuff, and sentimental items.  This weekend, the task was clothes.

My goal for this project is to follow Kondo's methods as closely as possible.  I outlined those in my previous post.  One key thing I did differently was not work on the project alone, but with my husband.  To make this even possible, before we got to work we talked about what was going to happen, why the process is about one person making decisions about his or her belongings, and what his role in would be.

1. He would not offer opinions, and I would try to not ask for his opinion, but decide for myself if something stayed or went, how to arrange the drawers and closets, etc.  
2. He was not there to make the process harder by making suggestions of how I should get rid of things, unless I asked him.  No, "oh you should try and give this to so and so."  No.  That just piles more work on me and makes me cranky.  If I give things away, though in a perfect world, I want them to go to just the right person or charity, chiefly, I want that part to be easy and I want the stuff out as fast as possible.   
3. He was there to support me by doing what I asked.  When he goes through his things, I will do the same for him.  

Except for some lapses on both of our parts, this worked pretty well.  He fetched and carried and gave me hugs and encouragement at regular intervals.

 

So, clothes.  I thought about the clothes I have, and where they were in the house, and naively assumed that going through them all would take a couple of hours, max.  Then we began pulling all of them out of closets, drawers, shelves and bins and piled them all in the front room.  Just that part of the process daunting and tiring.  I didn't want to stop working, but I was taken aback at the size of my wardrobe.  I know where it all came from.  It's the product of 20 years, with only sporadic weeding.  But seeing it all together like that was a little alarming.  Below are 4 of the 7 closets that held my clothes, and part of my shoe collection (note:  a bunch of those shoes are not mine, but you get the idea...) just to give you a taste of what we were up against.

3rd Floor Side guest room

Ball Gown closet

Office wardrobe

Craft Room closet

 

Shoes in the entryway

When we piled everything up, here's what it looked like.  It was crazy.

I hardly knew where to begin.  I needed to work on something discrete and manageable. That turned out to be shoes.  I looked at them all.  I touched them all. I didn't even realize that I had so many pairs of shoes.  I mean, I sort of knew, but not really.  In the end, I got rid of 14 pairs and kept 13, including 3 pairs of dance shoes.

Saying goodbye to my beloved bunny slippers...

Next I was ready to tackle socks and underwear.  It turned out that I had 14 pairs of brand new stripey socks in a plastic bin in my craft room!  The perfect place to forget about them!  Staying true to Kondo's method, we took the tags off of them put them in with all of the rest of the items so I can't continue putting off wearing new items just because they are new.  This was also my first opportunity to try out Kondo's folding techniques.  Sure enough, not only did all of the socks and underwear I was keeping, including the new socks, fit into one dresser drawer, so did my bathing suit and the undergarments I have for formal dresses, which were always hiding elsewhere.  Here's a before and after: 

Sock drawer - before...

...and after

Shirts were next.  I did refold all of them, and sort them partly by color and partly by use.  I will try and keep them this way.  I love the amount of space in my re-done drawer.  I breathe better every time I see it.

Before...

...after

I went on to do pants, work tops, bottoms and dresses, scarves, formal dresses, dance clothes, hats, jewelry, tights/stockings, sweaters, coats, and bags.  In the end I amassed 8 contractor bags of clothes for charity, 3 bags of clothes and accessories for my dance group to pick through, at least 3 bags of trash, some specific items for specific people, and, many thousands of the item that must grow in my house, hangers!  Because I was getting rid of so much hanging stuff, I took the opportunity to change as many of the hangers as possible to the ones I like and get rid of the rest.  My very patient husband not only helped me with this, but bundled up all of the like hangers in hopes they will be useful to some thrift store.

At the end of the day on Saturday, when I was finished going through all of the clothes, but not some of the other stuff, I didn't have a great sense of calm or relief.  I felt mixed - pleased that I had done so much, unsure if I had gotten rid of enough, and really unsure that I had truly used the "spark joy" methodology in keeping what I did.  Also, although the dresser drawers were in place, the rest of the clothes were all jumbled up in the wrong closets.  All of this was unsettling.

On Sunday the first thing I did was reorganize all of the closets - re-hanger everything, and take another look at all of it.  I am now only occupying 4 closets!  I only have to remember where things ended up!  Here are two closet "after" shots.

By mid-afternoon on Sunday, I had gone through everything in the clothes category, and I felt great about it.  Nothing is hiding in a bag on a closet shelf where I forget about it.  All of my jewelry is in one place that makes sense to me.  My closet choices take into account where the cat likes to hide and shed all over my long dresses.  Everything has a place!  I'm excited!  My mixed feelings from Saturday were gone, which was a relief.

I didn't do everything the KonMari way.  Two things in particular:  I didn't arrange the items in a given closet by color, but instead grouped things by type.  Almost everything is black, purple, or red to begin with, so arranging from light to dark is kind of a non-starter for me.  Also, I didn't automatically assume that "maybe" means it has to go.  There are things that I really do like, and wanted to keep and commit to wearing that I forgot I had.  If I wear them and decide I don't like how they look any more, I'll get rid of them then.

I feel like I now have a better sense of my wardrobe and finite choices about what to wear.  This really just makes my like easier.  And I love that feeling of not discovering a pair of earrings in a drawer that I love and have forgotten about, or dislike, but yet trip over every time I'm looking for something else and find them taking up drawer space.  The key will be to see if I can keep up this organization system, and keep things tidy, not add things unless I'm filling a particular gap, and commit to using new things right away.  Overall, I feel more mindful about my clothes, and not over-burdened by that pile I had at the beginning.  As soon as I can get to the thrift shop and get rid of all of the discards, it will be even better.

I am eager to move on to the next category:  books.  I have part of next weekend to do this, but after that, weekends are a bit scarce, so I envision my tidy-everything-in-the-whole-house-all-at-once will easily expand to fill at least the next 6 months!

Tea party readiness...

Okay, this post has very little to do with tea...

A couple of weekends ago, I hosted my first tea party of the year.  It wasn't really an on-purpose tea party, but a get-together in the guise of a meeting that just happened to occur at teatime.  I needed no more of an excuse to make tea sandwiches and cinnamon chip scones for three.

I love having people over and tea parties and hosting parties in general, and, in fact, any excuse to use all of my tea and entertaining things, of which I seem to have quite a bit.  But other than not having enough time to do it, which is always true, there are a couple of things that make having people over more of a challenge for me:

1)  My house is not in good enough shape.  I know, I know, most people, and friends in particular don't care what your house looks like (except for the ones that do).  But I care.  In my dreams, my house would be neat and clutter-free, which makes cleaning easier in the first place, so that when someone is coming over, it would only require a quick going over to be my standard of ready.  Instead, I either depend on my friends not noticing  (or not saying anything, or not being visibly uncomfortable) or go through a cleaning frenzy which is effective, but exhausting, before I even get to the fun part of making food or setting the table.

2)  I have so many serving pieces, tea pots, sets of china, napkin rings, and on, and on, carefully stored away that I don't remember what I have, where it is, and so don't remember to use it.  Or, I have things I consider to be "good" that go untouched, just as my mother and my grandmother before me never used them ever.

This jumble of thoughts coincided with a book coming to the top of my Hold list at the library that I'd been eager to read for some time:  the best selling book by Japanese author and de-cluttering expert Marie Kondo, The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up.  

If you look on the internet you'll find that people have feelings about this book.  Some have found it transformational, some think it's nonsense, and every opinion in-between.  On a first read, I think it provides a good framework for a task I've been wanting to do anyway.  Here are some of the key points (with some of my opinions sprinkled in):

-Be committed to tidying.  Have a reason why you want to have a tidy house and keep it that way, whether you more time in your life to do other things other than de-cluttering all the time, or you need the mental energy for something else.  Whatever it is, know what it is and why you are doing this.
-Tidy the whole house all at once, not piecemeal, not for an hour at a time, but as an on-going, marathon project until you are done.
-De-clutter by category, not by room - you don't know where duplicates are hiding until you see them all together, and if you tidy by room, chances are you are mainly moving things around, instead of truly sorting through them, and then finding a permanent home for the things you are keeping
-Discard first, and then find storage for everything.  Most likely you already have more than enough bookcases, plastic bins, etc.

-Tidy in the right order:  clothes, books, miscellany, and sentimental items.  You can create sub-categories for each of these broad categories, but follow this order which takes you from the easiest to the hardest things to deal with.
-Keep the things that "spark joy."  That phrase is a bit much for me, but my take on it is a non-judgmental one:  Keep the things you love.  Get rid of the rest.  Don't fall prey to the idea that you'll use it or wear it someday.  Likely you won't.  If you need to have multiples of things, fine, but be purposeful about it, not random.  Kondo wants you to actually pile up all of the things in one category in one place, and pick up each item to help you decide whether or not to keep it.
-It's not only beautiful things that can spark joy.  You may choose to keep things that make your life easier, have a high degree of functionality, or are useful everyday.  Be reasonable - household cleaning products are not going to spark joy, but you still need them.
-Tidying and cleaning are different things.  Tidying has to do with objects; cleaning has to do with dirt. 
-Don't keep things because someone else wants you to, because they had sentimental value at one kind, or out of obligation because someone gave it to you.  Instead, appreciate the moment of acquisition, or the sentiment behind the gift, or the generosity of the giver, and let the item go.
-Tidying is an opportunity to assess your current preferences and tastes.  Focus not on getting rid of things, but instead on keeping only things that you love, use, and want near you.
-Don't tidy/discard things that are not yours - that's rude.  Don't let others sway you to keep things you can let go of because they might want them, or for other sentimental reasons.

So, the project begins this weekend - perfect for the predicted snow accumulation.  As Kondo demands, I'll start with my clothes, including my shoes, which I have scattered in closets, bins, and drawers all over the house (I just remembered that I have two pairs of shoes at the office.  Home they come).

I'll use this space to document my progress.  I expect it to take the better part of the year.  But when it's all done, I hope to have more time and more head space to work on crafts, write tea book reviews, and have you all over for a party...

Lightening the load, Part 2...

So, my solution to the notebook/calendar issue is in no way revolutionary.  And of course, it was all due to an impulse buy...

The day I went into Staples to buy my 2014 calendar pages for the Day Runner, I was heading to the check-out when I felt the lure of the Martha Stewart office supplies.  Staples, and office supply stores in general are dangerous for me in the way the Container Store is.  Somehow the prospect of paper clips and post-it notes and just the right size container for anything are the promise of an organized, de-cluttered, chaos-free life.  I can just run into the store for something simple - a new ink cartridge, let's say, and easily spend an extra ten or fifteen minutes gazing at gel pens or D-ring binders, imagining the papers already corralled, sorted, and filed, and the top of my office bookcase clean and clear.  It's almost heady.  Add Martha Stewart and her robin's egg blue and neutral-colored office products to the mix and clearly the beautiful life is at hand.  Here's what grabbed me:

Yes, it's a notebook.  Isn't it beautiful???

But it's just another spiral notebook, I hear you cry.  Martha has eaten your brain, Joanna, it is clear.

Well, yes.  Sort of.  It's a discbound notebook, also known as roll-a-bind, or Circa, as per Levenger.  It's a binder and a spiral-bound book merged into one, complete with removable pages, but without the heavy weight of a metal loose-leaf binder.  The size is the same as my usual notebook, but to this I can add and remove pages, including calendar pages.  I bought dividers to go with it so I can have sections for calendar, notes, to-do lists, address pages, etc.

And if I want to add pages I've created or printed myself, no problem.  Someone has already thought of this.  Behold, a special hole punch!

Now there's only one problem with my shiny new notebook/calendar that already has its lovely 2014 calendar pages ready to go:  where do I put my pen?   But Levenger has thought of this too...

Guess what's next on the shopping list...

Hmmmm....  Last post, early April.  Almost as if someone had a large event, or even a series of events going on that spanned from April through the end of June.  Right.  Moving on...

One of the items on my never-ending to-do list is to reduce the load I carry to and from work.  Over a year ago - probably closer to two - I started getting huge pains in my shoulder.  These seemingly came out of nowhere, and especially when I was calling dances.  Stress-related, almost certainly.  But more than stress, it's become increasingly clear that the amount that I carry is partially, and even mostly to blame.

I'm left-handed, and so I always carry bags on my left shoulder.  My right feels weak by comparison.  I carry a lot to and from work, but I only feel that weight for small amounts of time on the walk between home and the train station, and then from the train station to my office, and not at all during the day.  But when I'm teaching at a weekend or at camp, I carry this big bag with at least one full binder, one notebook, dance shoes, (full) water bottle, and whatever else between buildings, to every meal, and all the time.  That's when my shoulder starts talking to me, and saying things like, "I hate you."
After thinking about this for a while, I decided that the solution to all of my problems was an I-Pad.  In theory, this would replace the library books, calender/date book, CDSS directory, dance database printouts, endless lists of everything, etc. I carry everyday and consider essential to my life.  At gigs, this would have all of my dance programs, instructions, etc., and with tools that are no doubt available somewhere, I could mark up PDFs electronically to prepare for teaching, and then erase those marks so I could repeat the procedure as often as needed.  The I-Pad would also replace my now really slow (really, really, really slow) laptop.  Perfect, no?

But then, there's reality.  Financial reality.  First there was house repair.  Then there was the wedding.  And the honeymoon.  And the wedding dance.  Oh, and the new car, complete with doubled insurance and monthly payments.  And a new roof in the offing.  And let's not forget the astronomical heating bills coming soon.  And the need to replenish savings after all of the above.  Read, no room for new technology.

But I'm still tired of my shoulder aching, so it's clearly time for a new solution.  My first goal is to reduce the daily load on my shoulder.  I have some ideas for that which I'm starting to implement.  Stay tuned...

Five minutes a day...

Every January the design blogs I read are full of hope and resolutions and solutions to help you freshen and reclaim your living space.  They take advantage of the new year as a time of beginnings to help motivate people to do what they should be doing all of the time.  This is not new.  And, I pretty much buy into this philosophy, at least in intention.

The creator of ApartmentTherapy wrote a book around the idea of a home cure, saying that you could take control of your living space and transform it into what you want it to be, or at least begin the process, over the course of a month.  They've created steps, and daily tasks toward this goal to make it be manageable, and possible, and encourage folks to join the Cure through their website to create a support network for participants, and induce some accountability.

Although I think the Cure is a great idea, I haven't been ready to commit to the online deal.  Still, I'm following with interest, and even trying to play along a bit.  I forget exactly what day they're on, but the major steps so far seem to have been:

1. Go through your living space and make a list of all of the projects that need doing.  It needn't be exhaustive.  Stick to 3-5 projects per room.
2. Create an Outbox, or a place for the things you're considering donating or trashing to live.  Consider your outbox as a waiting room.  You are not committing to get rid of anything in there, but simply creating an area where things will live while you're considering their fate.
3. Buy flowers for yourself and your house.  Do this every Friday so you can enjoy them all weekend.  You and your house deserve it.
4. Sweep and mop your floors.  Do a thorough job.  Move the furniture.  Vacuum the rugs.  You will feel better.
5. From your list, pick ONE project you will work on this month.  
6. Frame a piece of artwork you've been wanting to hang for a while.  You could do this yourself, or have it professionally done.  Don't put it off any more.

My progress...

1. List made.  Man, it's long.  And not do-able in one year, most likely.  Long.
2. I love my outbox!!!  I've had one for a while.  It's not in the right place in my house, but the instant I get the notion that something can go, I try and put it in that area right away.  Chances are, I will never miss whatever that item is.
3. I didn't buy flowers last Friday because I knew I was going away for the weekend.  This weekend I will for sure.  Flowers are something I love, but a treat I rarely afford myself because it seems far too extravagant.  But Produce Junction will sell me something lovely for less than $5.
4. Okay, I haven't done this step at all.  But I agree that it's a good idea.
5. I picked my one item!  Ack!
6. This one just appeared today.  I did trim and frame my January calendar page, but I don't think that counts.  This is a good idea though.  I will have to consider...

In my next post I'll share with you my LONG house project list along with my project of choice and the scary "before" pictures.

Let me know if you want to play too.  I'd be delighted be a part of a not-necessarily-published-on-the-internet support system!

Ring in the new...

I am generally not a believer in new year’s resolutions.  While January does feel like a time of new beginnings, if the desired change is real, you can start at any time.  What I am a believer in is lists, calendars, and schedules.  I use these devices to get me where I need to go, and more importantly, help me take care of the things I need to.

About a year ago, I divided my to-do list into long-term projects and short-term projects.  I typed up the long-term list, printed it, put it in a pocket in my notebook, and avoided looking at it.  Looking back at it now is difficult because most of the items remain:  I still need to repair the roof and fix the water damaged ceilings, organize my office, de-clutter the craft room, compile a garden plant and care list, and on and on and on…

More successful is my short-term list, which is edited and added to almost daily.  Some items should stay on there for life:  do laundry, fold laundry, go to the library, write x dance program, but they don’t.  The act of writing, crossing off, and re-writing is to me a sign of progress, of life humming along, and things, if slowly, getting done

Making an annual resolution makes no sense to me, and the notion that I will get through everything on my short-term to-do list is not in any way based in the reality of my life.  Instead I would love to be able to point to something meaty that I accomplished once a month, something that’s been lingering on one of these interminable lists for far too long.  I hope to use this space to report on my results at the end of each month.  I actually didn’t wait for New Year’s, but started in December…

December 2012:  Eat gluten-free

It feels odd to say this out loud because eating gluten-free, while a health necessity for many seems to be trendy for the rest, and the last thing I am is trendy.  But I was curious to find out if cutting out wheat, i.e., bread, cookies, cake, and anything made with wheat flour or wheat-based anything, made a difference to my weight, skin, outlook, and general well-being. 

After a month, the jury is still out.  I’ve avoided wheat (except for those latkes at Chanukah, which have some flour in them), but not all products made in factories and on machinery where wheat is handled.  Yes, I have lost some of the weight I had lost and then regained.  I think I feel better, but it’s unclear if avoiding wheat is the cause of either of these results. 

Eating gluten-free is annoying and hard.  I miss not thinking about my food.  But that’s part of the point.  I like knowing that I can do this.  I can be mindful of what I eat, and make conscious choices and small changes, and more importantly stick to it.  It’s a(nother) start down a road I want to travel, and only a start.  I’ll keep this up for several months to truly evaluate whether it makes a difference to my overall well-being, or not, and what, if anything needs to change next.  Wish me luck.  And don’t mock me if I end up shopping at the Co-op sometimes.

What are your new year’s projects?

Two empty boxes on the calendar...

So rare, the completely free weekend... And I can't wait.

Tonight starts with some First Friday revelry at Elfreth's Alley, then off to the Lambertville dance in Trenton.

For the rest of the weekend, as usual, I have lists of things to do:

-Mow the front lawn (such as it is)
-Regain control of the backyard (thanks to Paul, in advance, for his help)
-Show the old car to Ronnie's Craig who may buy it from me
-Try on the milkshake slipcovers, and then maybe exchange them for others (for the last time?? what color will she choose??)
-Clean the bathrooms, mop the floors, vacuum the carpets (pick one?)
-De-clutter the livingroom window seat and the kitchen
-Ponder additional kitchen storage options at Ikea (I know, how I suffer...)
-Catch up on magazine reading at Borders
-Make a quilt square
-Grocery shopping
-Hang up some stuff in the house. I have nothing on the walls. That's not right.
-Crafts! I have to make at least one thing this weekend. The rubber stamps are calling me...

New project idea!

This past year, the fitted sheet from my first set of queen-size sheets ripped. This past month, the duvet cover from the coordinating comforter cover ripped on one side. Concept: replace the ripped side of the comforter with the remaining flat sheet. Sometimes I am so smart! We'll see if this is a Joanna project, or a project I pay someone to tackle. Either way, I am delighted to think of a way to use the remaining pieces of my beloved green flannel.

Anyone want to come over and play designer on Saturday or Sunday evening? I'll feed you...

Getting into the groove

I knew that there was no possible way I would get anything done staying in this hothouse tonight. So being resourceful, I took myself off to the library, and when I found they were closed due to lack of power, thence to nearby Borders for a few hours of coffee and concentration.

I sorely needed to get to work on planning my summer dance camp classes, which are coming up sooner than is quite comfortable, especially when you need to get in Scottish tune lists ahead of time. And once again, home is too distracting to really work on them. But sitting in a climate controlled space, even with the lures of books all around, gives me a set period of time to get work done. So I did.

As with all projects for me, getting started is the hardest part. Even for things like setting up that craft room, I needed that push of Jennifer coming over to help me set up that table. Now suddenly I find myself in there, just stowing things on the shelves. Yesterday, without meaning to, I arranged all of the stamp boxes on the counter. It's a beautiful thing.

It's the same thing with dance programs - I just need that push. So I sat in the cool with binders of dance instructions and spreadsheets and Pillings and got started. And now I am truly aware of the ton of work I have ahead of me. But at least I know where to go from here...

If they asked me, I could write a book...

I have to check in the AIA bookstore to be sure, but from what I can tell there are no books on Philadelphia rowhouses/twins and nothing at all published about the style which is not Victorian/Edwardian, but not Bungalow/Prarie style either, i.e., the style of my new house.

Based on almost no research, I think this style of house is a bridge between the two eras, but based in an uban setting, which gives it a spin of its own. It owes more to Victorian styling and sensabilities, but as the Edwardian designs started to do, became plainer, more basic, more focused on white and light than on heavy and dark.

I started looking into this because I wanted some ideas about how to arange the furniture in the new house. I wanted to know what was on the walls and floors. I wanted to know if the woodwork was painted white back then, or if it was natural. I haven't been able to find anything!

I would love to collect photographs of row house interior and exteriors, starting from the turn of the 20th century onward. Philly History has some exterior shots, but not enough by a long shot. And the handful of books that I've looked through focus on those architectural eras as they played out in suburban and single family homes. I bet the Penn Fine Arts Library would have stuff, and even the Bryn Mawr A&A. I'll keep looking.

This would be a fine project, wouldn't it? Would this potential book have an audience? Should it focus on images, or should I attempt to place this type of house in a genre or period? Who are the experts? Jeff Cohen would know... Hmmmmm... So many possibilities....