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Wednesday, July 6, 2005 | ||
Bad Links? | Learning to live in a 'stuffaholic' worldBy PAMELA SHERROD Its not so much about stuff. Its about subtracting it when you have a minimalist take on life. And guess what? Those who live lean think about stuff as much as stuffaholics do. Only they also think a lot about the what and the why of the things they have purposefully chosen. In examining what its like to live lean, its important to put preconceived notions of the minimalist home away. Impossible to do with children. Minimalist style is naked and cold. One-channel thinking, obsessed with neatness. Put this thinking in a drawer or closet. Its not true. You can live this way and have a home that has soul, space and tranquility even with a toddler with calypso music wriggling in her body from head to toe. It may not be for everyone, but its something to think about. When we stepped into the Prairie-style home of Glenn and Venna OBrien of Chicago, we wanted to see what lean living looked like especially for them. They have a 2-1/2-year-old daughter. Remember: Impossible with children. Their daughter, Natalie, was eager to lead a tour of the house. The first stop, naturally, was her playroom. (Come) with me, Pamwa, she said walking on bare tippy-toes and looking over her shoulder to make sure the adults were in line. Natalie had come from an afternoon concert of calypso music. The music was still moving in her, especially her feet. She skipped, twirled and left a trail of giggles to follow her into the room. The OBriens are blessed with space. They live in a 4,200-square-foot home. But they have chosen to leave much of it open and free. Its perfect for Natalie as she twirls and skips across the hardwood floors of the family room and kitchen into the carpeted playroom. Her toys and games are stored on shelves in the closet in this room. She goes in and out of the closet, chatting in her on-the-verge-of-talking way about her toys and games. When she loses interest in the adults and a Winnie the Pooh video playing on the television, she concentrates on a wooden toy house. We dont feel the need to fill every inch of the house. This is what we really wanted, says Glenn, 46, who is a sales and marketing consultant. We wanted space. The OBriens have been married four years. As single professionals they led busy lives and had their own condos. When they got married and merged their lives, they wanted and needed help in getting control of their home and new life together. So they called in a professional organizing service Chicago-based White Space. I wasnt raised like this, says Venna OBrien, founder and owner of Venna Johnson Specialties, a snack and candy brokerage company. I was a little bit more about keeping treasures that might be something that my child might want some day. So I saved a lot of things. Glenn wasnt as much about that. Half of the things that I thought were treasures really werent. There were things that I needed to let go. We downsized, donated and gave away a lot. It was hard to go through that process. But now I cannot remember what we gave away. I thought I would miss it. And Im surprised I dont. The couple agrees the organization process took them through not only a physical process but also a mental process where all of a sudden you become mentally organized at home and how you proceed about your day. They worked with us in the beginning and set things up, says Venna, 42. But it hasnt been about someone still coming in and doing it all for us. There are organizing systems in place and we follow them because it makes our lives so much easier, Glenn adds. I tweaked my closet system to fit the way I do things, but it all works for us. The couple says they are motivated to keep their home on the lean side because it gives them the mental and physical space to enjoy each other and their family. For me, its been cleansing. I feel it is cleansing in a liberating way, Venna says. We dont get caught up in all the stuff. Similarly, its impossible to get caught up in stuff at the Chicago home of Ken Des Jardins and Travis Hunerdosse. Here, there is peace and there is quiet. For Des Jardins, 39, and Hunerdosse, 30, living lean in their small Victorian home is an extension of who they are. Although Hunerdosse claims he has to work at keeping the piles down, we wouldnt have noticed the small pile of magazines and catalogs on the floor next to the desk in their study if he hadnt pointed it out. In a second-floor bedroom, Hunerdosse settles into a chair next to a bay window to read a book. The neighboring houses sit back a bit from the street, so his view from this perch is of lush treetops. Around him, youll find furniture pieces that you would expect in most bedrooms. But in Hunerdosse and Des Jardins home, all the surfaces are clear, save for a few sentimental favorites such as the small statue of Buddha that sits under the shade of a wooden lamp on a nightstand (a simple reminder of peace and tranquility, they say). There are also two small pictures on the nightstand one a framed black-and-white image of the steps leading to the gardens at the Palace of Versailles and the other an image of a watercolor painting of the inside of a cathedral (Des Jardins found the image on a trip to France). It all says peace to us, Des Jardins says. Their cat Cleo lends her feline grace to the corner of the bed. She rests on her haunches as still as the little Buddha on the nightstand. Her green gemstone eyes gaze through the doorway into the hall. Its nice when we come home from work. Its peaceful here, Des Jardins says. Peace or at least a reprieve from the hectic pace of work life and commitments is what a lot of Lean-and-Meaners seek in their homes. Cynthia Vranas and Keith Olsen of Olsen Vranas Architect, a firm that does residential and commercial projects, are examples of this. The presence of Vranas and her husband is felt throughout their 1,800-square-foot home, which they share with their Maltese dog, Phoebe. The couple is expecting a baby in October, so the home has the feeling of movement and beginnings. Plans are being made to paint the babys room, but even with things moved around there is order about this home. I tend to think that physical minimalism that tends to do with design or environment could be different than a lifestyle or a metaphysical process, Olsen says. I think you can have a very elaborate or encumbered life in the sense of the things that you do or the kinds of involvement you have socially, intellectually, and still be in an environment that provides a relief from that kind of elaboration. | |
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