bohemiangirlpdx's Profile

I usually clean my shower in the nude or in undies. No point in getting my clothes wet. In fact, I usually stand barefoot in the shower while I clean and use the shower nozzle to spray down the walls. (I use eco-friendly products so I'm not worried about getting chemicals on my skin.) I like to wear a full skirt with pockets while cleaning so that I can move freely & have a place to put stuff that I find but I don't dress up.

I just invested in a collapsible panier for my bike rack and LOVE it. ($17 on sale at Bike Gallery in Portland.) Normally I also have used a milk crate, which is somewhat handy, and have packed groceries in a backpack or a messenger bag. Be careful how much heavy stuff you stuff in those. My messenger bag ripped from too many heavy cans from my trip to the Asian grocery. I've also strapped folded-over canvas grocery bags to my rack with bungees.

My favorite grocery-by-bike trip involved stringing rolls of TP on a bungee and hanging them off my bike rack because I ran out of room in my backpack and milk crate.

The biggest challenge in my bathroom is dealing with my hair appliances (what do you call those, anyway?): blow dryer, flat iron, curling iron, hot rollers, etc. I have a small chest of drawers where I keep them when not in use (i.e., when company is coming) but it's more practical to have them out. Without a bathroom counter, however, and with just the small top of the chest, it gets really cluttered and I'm always knocking them on the floor.

Might I also suggest, instead of a notepad to make your grocery list, save envelopes or even the tear-off portion of your Netflix DVD mailers. Both are great to reuse as scrap paper for grocery lists.

Also, as you noted "packaging can pose a problem," but try to reduce and reuse rather than just recycle. Look for bulk options when you shop. (Trust me, I'm nowhere near perfect on this one but I'm working on it.)

We added a zigzag of fairy lights in a dark hallway, which completely transformed it. The hallway is lined with bookshelves, and now I can see the titles without a flashlight!

An hour and a half? He would be soooo dead! Our living room also doubles as a project room, so quick clean-up isn't always an option.

If absolutely pressed, I would start with a quick wipe-down of the bathroom, scoop the kitty litter, and hang a fresh towel.

I would cruise through the living room with a large wicker laundry basket to pick up anything that didn't belong there and stash it in the bedroom, then quickly sweep.

Usually we keep something on hand for quick dinners though the cupboard has been a bit bare of late, since my partner was laid off in March, and we haven't been doing the big grocery-stockups. I'd probably whip up some hummus so that people had something to nosh on while I cooked dinner. I usually have a can of garbanzos, tahini, lemon and garlic on hand, and I can pick herbs from my garden. I'd probably go with marinara and pasta and serve a garden salad.

And he would still be in BIG trouble.

When I moved to a more urban neighborhood in NE Portland (ie a greater mix of apartments, single-family homes and light commercial), I discovered that my neighborhood also was more aggressively frequented by "the shopping cart people." I discovered this at about 4 a.m. on the first really hot day of the year, when I had gone to bed with my window open and awoke to the noise of someone digging through the recycle bin directly under my window. Rational thought doesn't immediately kick in when you are awakened by what also can sound like someone breaking into your bedroom, and I was terrified! (In my old neighborhood, can and bottle collectors dug through the bins once they were put by the curb on garbage/recycling day, but they didn't go in the back yard to scavenge.)

Since then, I've learned to keep my recycling bins away from my bedroom window, and if I have returnables, I separate these into a separate bin/bag to make it easier for the collectors to find without making a mess, making lots of noise or cutting themselves on can lids.

Now that I know how to avoid getting startled while I sleep, I'm fine with people helping themselves to my returnables. In fact, after a party, I find it handy to be able to put them out early, knowing that someone will take them and free up space in my recycle bins. (We have enough pedestrian traffic in my neighborhood and apartment buildings on different recycling schedules that someone seems to come by every day.)

I love this design! It would be great in a shared kids' room too.

I'm all for reducing the chemicals I use in my home, but unless you live in California or Florida, the carbon footprint for the citrus fruit doesn't seem to make this idea all that ecofriendly. Plus, lemons and limes are expensive! On those rare occasions when I do buy citrus, I want to eat it (or squeeze it into a margarita), not polish with it!

Before I started renting my garage, I kept my bike in the furnace room of my triplex's shared laundry room. And when I was riding it a lot last summer, before renting the garage, I sometimes was parking it in my living room. That's one change that I made when I was doing the Apartment Therapy challenge.