Today I am taking a leaf out of an old-fashioned book I have, called ‘A book for every woman’ from 1926! It has so many helpful tips and ideas for home-making that are related to simple living that I just had to share:) I have taken some paragraphs from the Chapter titled ‘Do you make Work for Yourself?’ Enjoy!
If you feel that you are overworked look around your house and see how you can make things easier for yourself. Without sacrificing the essentials of wholesome living which are, of course, cleanliness and nutritious food.
It may be, however, that you are doing a lot of unnecessary work every day because your house is over-furnished. Is the mantel loaded with ornaments, the top of the bureau filled with fripperies and the walls over loaded with pictures? Try putting away some of these things and notice how more restful your home looks and how much work this saves.
I shall never forget the length of time it used to take me to dust my bedroom every day or so. One morning when I was specially hurried I suddenly woke up to the fact that I was doing a lot of unnecessary work. First I went at my bureau which looked like a fancy table at a fair. I rubbed my eyes with astonishment before th mass of things which my little duster had patiently passed over and around so conscientiously day after day. My room was a great deal prettier without them. The things I did care for and want to have about me showed up as they could not when closely elbowed by things I did not care especially about, and there was an atmosphere of restfulness and calm in my room that it had never had. I clapped my hands when I calculated the few minutes it would take me to set it to rights in the mornings.
Then I turned my attention to the sitting-room and dining-room and even the kitchen came in for its share of this weeding out process. I found I had a cupboard full of kitchen and other household utensils that we never used because they were too big or too little, or too something or other, that made them unserviceable. For instance, there was an ice-chest that was too big for our family and a preserving kettle that was not satisfactory, etc. The things were all good in themselves so I had kept them. I sold the contents of this cupboard.
In short, in this cleaning up process, I laid a firm hand upon everything, no matter how tiny, that I was saving with a view to its being of possible use some day and asked myself if it would really probably be of use and if it would pay for its storing. It was simply extraordinary how many of these things I decided would do more good given away to people who could put them into use at once.
Try this weeding out process in your own home and see if it does not save work.
So you see that woman of the past were decluttering their homes long before we were