Smallest Space Lived in Happily

[Gardnr]

Curious as to why she said that. Was it because life was simpler or with fewer expectations?

She always said, you and your little sister have all these machines to do the work. I spent less time doing the work by hand than you do. We had less stuff. We had enough clothes for 2 changes a week. Each day of the week I did one thing: sewing, knitting, clean house, baking, wash clothes (by hand)/hang dry.

Mom always missed her job as an accountant. But in the 40s in Europe, if your new husband said "quit", you did. She was 25 and still living with her parents as were all her siblings, given the current horror state of the Netherlands immediately post WW2.

Her perspective is interesting. My sister and I agree that we don't understand it because we see her way as harder.

[iris lilies]

I can sorta see your mom’s point of view. She had fewer things to take care of. The machines that do work for us require cleaning and maintenance. These small kitchen gadgets often take as much time to clean as it would to do the job by hand.

[razz]

Thanks, Gardnr. There was an order or routine that the family followed which would simplify life a lot.

I have mentioned at other times of a grandmother telling me of her experience staying with teen-aged grandchildren while their parents were away for 2 weeks. Each morning, the teens threw their nightclothes into the laundry, wore school clothes then tossed in the laundry when teens changed iolume nto afternoon clothes which might be changed for going out with friends clothes, into the laundry and lastly fresh nightwear. The washing machine and dryer were constantly going. New clothes were coming into the house as the teens went shopping. This grandmother and her friend who watched all this going on were stunned at this behaviour but kept quiet as it was not their role to question it.

Today's clothing is often so poorly manufactured that it simply fails in stitching, fabric or stretching due to poor cutting. Back to the OP about living in small spaces but the volume of stuff of all kinds does impact the small spaces significantly. Yay to simple living!!!

[happystuff]

Loving all the pictures and descriptions. Wondering how my kitchen cabinets would look if I removed the doors, but too afraid to try the doors currently hid "clutter". LOL.

[Alan]

Loving all the pictures and descriptions. Wondering how my kitchen cabinets would look if I removed the doors, but too afraid to try the doors currently hid "clutter". LOL.

I removed the door from one cabinet and used a few short 1"x2"s and dowels to organize the clutter. This is the result a dozen years later.

[Teacher Terry]

Alan, that’s a cute cabinet. During the depression my mom had 2 dresses. She wore one to school and came home and hand washed it for the next day and put on her home dress. Only one was good enough for school. In the states companies fired women as soon as they got married. When I worked at Inland Steel I remember all the women talking about it and they got rehired when things changed years later.

[razz]

Alan, how did you stabilize the dowels? Use a router and then glue? I am trying to puzzle how the dowels stayed in place over this period of time. Very clever and looks good.

I can hear a friend asking me, "Why do you have to analyze everything?" as she does fairly often.

[iris lilies]

Alan that looks GREAT! I have been thinking about having plate racks in Herman. They are very popular right now.

But then I think about the endless greasy grime that floats around our kitchen. I do most of my cooking on top of the stove and do very little oven cooking.

[Alan]

Alan, how did you stabilize the dowels? Use a router and then glue?

I carefully measured for proper spacing and then drilled 1/4" deep holes in the 1x2's using a drill bit the same diameter of the dowels, the dowels were then glued and inserted into the depressions and everything was painted to match the existing cabinet color. A pretty simple project actually!

[frugal-one]

I removed the door from one cabinet and used a few short 1"x2"s and dowels to organize the clutter. This is the result a dozen years later.

no picture showed for me??