Category: homes

No one is safe from eviction, not even the rich and famous

Nothing is permanent in life. Ask Prince Andrew (now Andrew Mountbatten Windsor). Not only has he been stripped of his titles, but he has also been evicted from his residence, Royal Lodge. At least he has a place to go: who knows what will happen to his former wife, Sarah Ferguson, who also lived at the Lodge.

This reminds me of a recent story I read about other rich and famous people living at the grand Pierre Hotel in New York City. They too could soon be forced to move out due to the machinations of Howard Lutnick, no less.

There’s a cautionary tale for us all in these stories of the rich and famous: no matter how long or how settled you are in where you reside, you too could be forced to move under the right or wrong conditions. Not even wealth or fame can prevent it. Best to choose to live lightly. (Easier said than done, I know.)

P.S. For more on Andrew, see this. For a long and detailed story of the shenanigans happening at the Pierre, read this.

In praise of the Philips Hue lighting

If you are curious about the Philips Hue lighting system, I highly recommend it. I have two white bulbs, four coloured bulbs, two Go lights, a switch, a smart plug and a bridge. I’ve had them for over seven years now and they are still going strong. The white bulbs are in the basement where I just need basic light, while the coloured ones are on the main floor and give me lots of lighting options. The Go lights are great because once charged you can move them around to give you just the lighting you want where you want it. Finally the smart plug is for a lamp that doesn’t take their bulbs.

The technology is easy to set up. I bought the plug just last week and plugged it into the wall and plugged the lamp into it. Then I opened the app, told it to find the plug (which it did), then I added it as a light in that room. (By doing that, I can turn out all lights in the room easily.) You have a lot of control using the Hue app, and it’s easy to use.

Besides being easy to set up and use, they also integrate with the web site IFTTT.com. That allows me to do things like turn on at dusk, or have them turn a certain colour if the weather is going to suddenly change. I even have it so a raspberry pi flicker them when an event it is monitoring occurs, so I don’t forget about it.

Some people find the bulbs expensive, which I get. But they do last a very long time, and they provide me with capabilities not found with other lights (although I know other manufacturers are out there).

You can find out more about it, here. I’d recommend one of the starter kits and then go from there. You need to have a bridge, so if you just buy the bulbs separately, it won’t work.

Cleaning is part of a cycle. Complete the cycle (though cycles are never done)

I have come across the idea of completing the cycle when it comes to cleaning and it has made a difference in how I perceive cleaning.

I hate cleaning, but a contributor to that was I didn’t complete the cycle. If I was making a meal, I’d start the cycle by getting out the ingredients, then cook them, then eat them. The end of that cycle is putting the ingredients away and doing the dishes. But I didn’t commit to that, which meant the dishes would pile up. The same was true of other activities: I would stop at the satisfying part of activity (e.g. eating).

Once I committed to completing the cycle, things improved. I recognized that doing any activity meant I had to clean up at the end. Cleaning wasn’t a separate activity: it was part of the overall cycle of the activity.

I thought of this again when I read this piece in VOX on the vicious cycle of never-ending laundry. In it they are so close to getting it. It’s true, laundry is a cycle. They seem to think of it as something you can complete. You can never complete doing laundry, any more than you can complete cleaning your bathroom or complete eating. They are all cycles. The best you can do is complete a cycle of whatever you are doing.

Think of laundry as part of a bigger cycle of caring for your clothes, which is an extension of caring for yourself. There are any number of things you do to care of yourself during the week, from getting good sleep to exercising to…well, washing drying and putting away your clothes. Laundry is all part of that cycle you do every day and week to take care of yourself. It’s part of completing that cycle. Don’t think of it as a separate activity. (Unless you actually love doing laundry. :))

Completing the cycle: a smarter way to clean up and stay clean.

P.S. For more on the “Complete the Cycle” Cleaning Method, read this.

I also thought that this piece in the New York Times has some good advice on  how to clean was good.

Finally, if it is all too much, the Washington Post has an article on how to fake clean your house. Hey, whatever works.

On being able to walk through your old home

Have you ever wanted to go back and go inside homes you once lived in? I have. I still have memories of places I lived in as a child, and I have a yearning to go back to them, go back to Minto Street or Borden Street, and walk through and touch the houses I once inhabited.

The last and longest place I lived in was 110 Castlefield. I can’t go back there, but thanks to that Youtube video above, I can virtually go through it. I can see all the changes that were done to it by me and others. I can have countless memories of it as the video progresses.

It’s true, I have hundreds of photos as well, and those are great. But I really love that video. I hope it never comes down.

November 1, 2025: Speaking of going back to homes I once lived in, here’s some recent photos of 26 Duggan Avenue (Lower). Seeing that made me wonder if there were any photos of 26 Duggan Avenue (Upper) where I once lived. Sure enough, there is.

Want help getting your place neat and tidy this weekend? I have some links

cleaning products
If you are in a rut with keeping your place clean and organized, this could help:

  1. Zettelkasten is the German Secret to a Super-Organized Life | Apartment Therapy
  2. The Best Cleaning Apps – For Families, Roommates or Anyone | Apartment Therapy
  3. 7 Smart Cleaning Hacks Using White Vinegar | Apartment Therapy

It’s a pandemic: it’s hard to go anywhere nice and clean, so make your place that place. Or you can do what I do: procrastinate about cleaning and organizing by reading about it instead. 🙂

On starting your own Orangery this winter


Ok, ok, maybe that is a bit ambitious. But as the winter settles in, you might want a bit of summer in your home. If just to help you get through the days when it seems like winter will never end and summer will never come. (Collapse face first on the bed after you say that. :))

If you like that idea, read this: The Plant That’ll Make it Feel Like Summer in Your Home All Year Long. 

Then go get one and get started on making your own orangery.

Need more encouragement: read this from Bon Appetit.

P.S. if you are asking, “what the heck is an orangery”, then go here: Orangery – Wikipedia. It’s a fascinating idea and history.

Image above of the Belvedere Orangery in Vienna, via Wikipedia.

In Detroit, Tiny Homes are in vogue (and for good reason)


This is a fascinating article on the use of tiny homes to help those without a place to call their own: In Detroit, Tiny Homes Are More Than a Lifestyle Trend – POLITICO Magazine

I think for many cities, apartment buildings are the way to go. More importantly, I think cities need to wake up to the problem of unaffordable housing and strive to make living in the city achievable and satisying for those that live there. If that means high rises in one city and tiny homes in another, then what works best is what should be aimed for. Here’s to livable and affordable places to live.

(Image from the article. It’s a nice place. Very IKEA, but that’s ok.)

A bold maximalism


Meanwhile a bold maximalism is achieved here, not so much by the amount of items as by the amount of bold colours and prints used throughout the place. It’s still not a big place, but it feels right. I guess that is all relative, but I love this.

For more, see This Manhattan Home Feels Like a Jewel Box | A Cup of Jo

(Image a link from the above article in A Cup of Jo)

The limits of minimalism…

Might be here: Under 200 Square Foot Studio Apartment in Hong Kong | Apartment Therapy.

Cozy and minimal is fine, but this is basically the space you find in a big camping tent. I am sure some people can adopt just fine, but I don’t know if I could live in such a space for long. I also wonder if this is the direction we are heading for cities other than Hong Kong. Higher property costs and lower incomes might cause this to happen in other cities. I don’t look forward to that.