Susan, It sounds like you're saying that clutter is born of inconsistency and lack of unity. "...edging with fieldstone over here, treated wood there, and a dug trench around here" causes too many visual disruptions and no flow. It's like interior decoration -- designers will advise clients to use the same color flooring or wall paint in rooms that run into each other so the eye will have visual continuity from one room to the next. It makes the area seem larger than it is. Lots of bric-a-brac also disrupts the visual flow, so it's recommended that "tschotchkes" go together in one display case or on one table as a "collection." The principles apply in garden design as well. Using one type of edging - or very similar (for instance, rust-finished wrought iron edgers can be a fleur-de-lis in one area, and pinecone-topped in another, but if they are the same size and color and basic shape, it will work - will give the eye a continuous flowing scene that isn't broken up by unrelated elements. Plantings follow this pattern too. Daylilies and strappy ornamental grasses or irises can appear in different parts of the garden, providing repetition, while a gravel path that meanders throughout the garden offers the "same color carpet" effect that works indoors. And the garden "effects" -- the outdoor tschotchkes -- can work nicely if they are treated the same way that indoor collections are, or nestled naturally among lush plantings so they are not glaringly exposed in the open, but instead serve as little "double take" details. It helps if they serve a function, too. I wouldn't even mind setting a porcelain "commode" in an informal or rustic garden if said container were overflowing with lush water plants and creeping jenny. And, I'm happy to know that my childhood sled is "history" instead of clutter. But I probably can't get away with hanging my old bicycles on the side of the house with it... Unless I train clematis up them. Hm. lol

I definitely agree that you should make the kitchen desk thing into a dedicated kitchen area. While it might seem counterintuitive to your home schooling/work, it would make a big difference in keeping your clutter down. I found that if I had an open space, DH filled it. So once I filled it with something else, it forced him to move to where I wanted stuff. This is what I'd do to get you organized. Empty EVERYTHING. I mean everything. Clear off every surface, drawer, shelf. Now, do you have any power outlets where the bookcases are currently located? I'd move one of the drawered bookcases over to the spot you mentioned. You'll dedicate this to your 'office'. Get a good powerstrip and you'll probably need to drill a hole in the back of the bookcase to run the cord thru. You can also get cord covers or use cable staples to attach the cord down to the baseboards. Attach the power cord to the inside of the bookcase lower shelf area. Now you can plug in all your little electronic gadgets and keep in one place. Rearrange the other 3 bookcases in a cohesive manner. If you've got power cords there, get a small light, even under counter lights, for illumination on the bookcases. That really makes a big difference. Lay your large books horizontally, and stack them. If you can categorize them, great, otherwise try to stick to sizes. On the bookcase you put near the kitchen, get some larger baskets (or use the ones you have on top) to use for storage of pens, mail, paper, etc. When DH brings in the mail, he can pop it in the basket. It also helps to have a wastebasket or shredder near here, that way mail can be dealt with immediately. This is the file holder thing folks spoke of... It sits inside your file drawer. If you don't use the files often, have you considered boxing them up and storing them elsewhere? I found that to be a wonderful idea for me. Cardboard bankers boxes, labled to content, stored my files I seldom used. I store them in the hall closet. Baskets, plastic boxes, all can be your organizing friend. You can use the file holder system for your homeschooling stuff. If your daughter likes to play school or office, this is a good opportunity for her to play and help you at the same time! She can file the papers and organize the books.

I just read a brief on research for cooking rice using 22 different methods and measured the energy input required for each method. Ironically, the winner was the electric rice cooker, for those of us who have and use one and want to justify using it. To go along with that electric rice cooker so it's not a "one trick horse" - The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook : 250 No-Fail Recipes for Pilafs, Risottos, Polenta, Chilis, Soups, Porridges, Puddings and More, from Start to Finish in Your Rice Cooker by Beth Hensperger and Julie Kaufmann. Another tip from the research paper for cooking rice faster is to soak it in cool water for 30-minutes first. This will reduce the cooking time by 7- to 18-percent - which ever method for cooking you choose. Sprouting brown rice first (which also increases the nutrition and is tastier to people who don't like brown rice) will keep the cooking time using a stove-top method to around 10-minutes. -Grainlady

I usually hang out in Kitchens but just popped in here to find this. Interesting discussion. Personally, I think the author is a selfish witch to want to burden her children with all this. I'm on year 5 of attempting to curate the possessions my parents left me, determine what has sentimental value and actual value, which things to keep forever to pass down to my children (with their input of what they would want), and sell or donate the rest. My house is not my own due to all the boxes. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy. It is taking me forever because it's emotionally overwhelming and the sheer huge number of items takes time. And all this is after two garage sales of all the items that were clearly not sentimental or valuable. And two family work days in which they have already taken the items they want or have room for now. As I go through these items, I'm photographing items and scanning photos/letters/documents with the idea of creating photo books full of the photos and family stories/history. I will leave these for my children. I am also trying to value items that I intend to keep and will leave my children a notebook with photos of the items so they know as much as possible about the specifics of the item (value, date/country of origin, history of why it's in the family, etc.). This will make it easier for them to make decisions when the time comes. My mom would periodically tell me these things but even though I requested she write it all down numerous times, she never did. I'm not sure how accurate my memory is so I'm struggling to do the best I can on this but it would have been so much more accurate had she done it herself. Due to having to deal with this mess, again, i would never burden my children with this. I bought my parent's home. I have the luxury of time and space to do this. It is highly likely my children won't. Neither live locally. My son works overseas and will likely remain an expatriate. They will probably need to make quick decisions that would result in the loss of family history if I don't get this done. In the end, my goal is to leave them with several different printed photobooks with as much family history and stories as I can gather and include. These will likely be divided into: maternal history from great-great grandparents to when my mom married my dad fraternal history from great-grandparents to when he married my mom my parents life together my life before marrying my husband my husband's life before he married me our life together up to the point where I actually complete this project and create the book I have also gathered up and organized all the school papers, art projects, and such I kept from their childhoods and will create a book of photos and stories about them from birth to high school graduation. I'm doing this more for their children's enjoyment (if either ever have any) than for their own but I'm sure they will enjoy that, too. Once these are done, I'll print three copies, one for each of my kids and one for me. I will also gift my nieces the books about their grandparents. My goal is that they will simply need to look in the book listing the items in the house to determine what they want to keep (and then they'll know everything possible about the item), and be able to make quicker decisions about what's worth trying to sell to collectors or eBay or whatever, what is garage sale, and what items should really be donated to a couple of our local museums. If they're not in a position to keep any or most of the actual items themselves, they'll have the books. That's the most important thing to me anyway. It's not the items themselves but, rather, the family stories and history behind them. I just hope I live long enough to complete these projects! So very time consuming.