My pantry was driving me nuts! It is that place tucked away behind or in the corner of your kitchen that often becomes messy and disorderly. It’s one of those places that gets ignored in the daily cleaning routine – because ‘others’ visiting don’t really get to see it right!? So, it gets ignored and only once in a while do we give it a good scrub down and tidy up.
I am someone who thrives on order. I like everything to have a place and to stay in order… not always a positive thing – I have to force myself to relax sometimes – like when the sitting-room is converted into a play tent ha-ha. Having said that I am also sometimes lazy, and I will put off a bigger ‘spring cleaning’ project until it really becomes uncomfortable… and this does not take much.
You see, I harbour a secret desire to be a minimalist. I love the idea of living in a house that contains the bare minimum around me. I do not mean through dire circumstances of loss – I am talking about the actual minimalist movement, where one is very selective of the objects kept in a home and learns to live comfortably with less. However, this is not an option for me at this point in my life… not when you have kids and pets etc. And, I would not trade these bountiful gifts I have in my life right now for less mess either… I just romantically like the idea of being a minimalist. That is all. So, for the minute I just like to keep my busy home clean and orderly. Today, to achieve this, I had to attack my pantry.
Therefore my ‘Something Different’ for today was Project Pantry… but with a creative twist. For reasons I cannot remember, my pantry is painted a boring and impractical white. This had to change. So firstly, I sorted and cleaned all the shelving in the pantry (which left it looking rather bare), and then I removed the window blind and began to prep for the job of painting the walls a more practical colour. I chose dark grey. But… I decided to not only give the wall a new lick of paint – in order to really make it a ‘Something Different Today’ endeavour; I decided to paint a picture on one of the walls. Nothing overly fancy – just bold and fun.
After a quick inspirational search on Pinterest, I decided to paint a white stylised 2D cat onto my wall. I first sketched the outline and then began painting the first coat of grey, carefully avoiding my pencil drawing until I was ready to outline it with a thinner paint brush. It did not take too long at all. By the time I was finished paining the first coat of grey on the walls, it was dry enough to give it a second coat. Once the grey was done, I took some white paint to clean up, finish and perfect my 2D cat. Since I chose a simple design, the entire painting job from start to finish took me one afternoon. I was incredibly pleased with this because I really like to finish a project once I start it – if it is possible to do so. Just before dinner – literally 5 minutes before – I was done and happy with the result. My pantry was transformed and tidy and clean! Yay!
I have a belief that in order to maintain mental calm, it is important to keep your physical world clutter free, tidy and clean. I am particularly sensitive to this. When my home is too messy, I feel chaos in my head – it is almost like I can’t breathe. So, for me, getting something like this done is vitally important for my mental wellbeing. I also like to keep my creative spirit alight and in order to achieve this, I often turn my ‘have to do jobs’ like a big tidy up into a project with an element of creativity too. Todays ‘Something Different’ ticked all the boxes and I felt great completing it. I also love greeting my 2D cat now whenever I am doing the dishes or grabbing something from the pantry.
I hope this one inspires you to do something different with a creative twist. What was your ‘Something Different’ today? Please share it with us in the comment below. By sharing we spread inspiration!
Till next time, keep very well, inspired and happy!