life in a tiny apartment.

June 24, 2015

life in a tiny apartment: teeny tiny fix | reading my tea leaves
Tip #125: Give yourself five minutes to make a teeny tiny fix. 

On the face of it, this is a post wherein I encourage you to trim a little piece of paper down to size and to use a bit of glue to stick it over anything offending your senses in your home. In true blogger style, I’ve even provided little close-up images of the process, such that it is. You don’t need photos to tell you that the top of a glass makes for the best guide for tracing a circle. Nor did I really have to let you in on my extra-fussy-step of rubber stamping a wave in metallic ink. But the whole point of a blog is to find a bit of magic in the ordinary so I photographed all of that for you, just in case it’s what you needed to brighten up our Wednesday.
life in a tiny apartment: teeny tiny fix | reading my tea leaves
Really, this is a post about doing something teeny tiny to make yourself feel better about your space. It’s about taking an action, whether that’s taking out the trash or gluing kraft paper onto your fan.

Maybe you’re like me. Maybe you have two new New York City hardware store fans in your attic apartment blowing hot air around and you’re feeling like you’d really rather not look at the ARCTIC WIND TM stickers stuck askew onto the center of your fans. Maybe covering up those stickers with a bit of inoffensive brown paper is just what you need to do make your little corner feel more harmonious. Maybe you decided to get crazy with a rubber stamp. Maybe it still only took you five minutes to make a teeny tiny fix.

We’re so often encouraged to think big. In small spaces or much larger ones, there’s a home improvement culture that tells us that if we only had a whole new something or other that our home would be better. We’re told that ripping out the counter, or taking down a wall, or getting new kitchen appliances would be the change to make a space feel like our own. Don’t get me wrong: all of those things would be incredibly effective in changing a space. And if I could put a skylight up in this place and redesign the kitchen and bathroom I would be psyched. 
life in a tiny apartment: teeny tiny fix | reading my tea leaves
But in the meantime, I think that teeny tiny improvements can go just as far, if we let them. You can scrape the paint off your rental window pane and change your view. You can remove a sticker from a stereo and change the look of an entire bookshelf. You can use a twist-tie to wrangle computer cords and end up with a desk that feels brand new. life in a tiny apartment: teeny tiny fix | reading my tea leaves
Here’s a post for my fellow tiny fixers out there. To anyone else hankering to fix even the tiniest speck of something that’s not quite right, this is for you too. I submit that I’m likely the only dingbat gluing paper to my fans, but on the chance that I’m not, I’d love to hear from you. And because maybe this will be fun, I thought we could use the hashtag #teenytinyfix to keep track of our teeny tiny home improvements on Instagram. What tiny thing have you done lately to make your space feel just a little bit better?

I’m still sharing images (along with a few benevolent interlopers) with the #lifeinatinyapartment hashtag that I started a few years ago to catalog our home, but I thought that #teenytinyfix would be a fun way to keep track of each other’s efforts in a more communal space. What do you think? Up for cataloging your #teenytinyfix?

In case you’re curious:
These fans have managed to maintain an almost non-existent small online presence, but you can find them at Basics Plus Hardware stores around NYC.
And yes, we’re still rocking in the free world without air conditioning.

Tiny apartment survival tips #1 – 123, RIGHT HERE.

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11 Comments

  • Reply Jackie {York Avenue} June 24, 2015 at 2:40 pm

    I agree…small changes can definitely make a big difference! For me it's usually getting rid of something, or moving a framed piece of art from one place to another. It makes the space feel a little refreshed and helps me see that piece like it's new. I'm going to see if I can make any other small improvements next time I'm sitting around on a rainy afternoon!

    2
  • Reply Luisa June 24, 2015 at 6:08 pm

    Yes! I have the same fan. Like the overall look, HATED that sticker, so last year I used matte silver spray paint to cover it up. I felt so much better about it afterwards.

    2
  • Reply joan June 24, 2015 at 8:14 pm

    It definitely is the little things.
    I could use a popsicle right now, no air conditioning here also.

    2
  • Reply Betsy June 24, 2015 at 8:46 pm

    I take the labels off of my shampoo/conditioner/body wash in the shower! They're these lovely amber bottles that are so beautiful plain, and my shower shelf looks like an apothecary now : )

    2
  • Reply Victoria June 25, 2015 at 12:55 pm

    I love this!!!! I've never thought about going so far as to cover up a sticker, but I do have my own teeny tiny fixes happening all the time. I always turn candles so I can't see their label (but I don't remove the label because I'll forget what scent it is). I empty the tea in my cabinet into a matching set of glass jars (I think they are old olive jars…I was saving them for a while before I had enough).I make sure all the books on my shelf are arranged so that their spines are poking out evenly. I use cute baskets to keep things like newspapers, library books, magazines, etc. all handy without being out all over the place.

    I guess my teeny tiny fix strategy is conceal and contain!

    I can't wait to see what other people come up with! I can always use inspiration!

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  • Reply Sarah-Lou June 25, 2015 at 2:48 pm

    Brilliant! I also run a project with a friend which is about encouraging ideas that help simplify, clarify, or beautify the everyday for you, your home, or your daily habits. Would love you join in on IG too #TheEverydaySpruce …we also have a joint pinboard for blog posts so I'm off to pin this now x

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    • Reply Erin June 25, 2015 at 5:47 pm

      Ah! Awesome! Thanks so much for letting me know about it! Love!

      2
    • Reply admin June 25, 2015 at 5:47 pm

      Ah! Awesome! Thanks so much for letting me know about it! Love!

      2
  • Reply Anonymous September 11, 2015 at 12:29 pm

    Lol! I just removed a tiny sticker from the corner of my new computer screen! It was smaller than the nail on my pinky, but it was bright blue and it bugged me everytime I saw it. Oh, and I have my electronics cords separated into cords I need to take with me occationally and cords I never move, so that I my computer cord is easily removable without disturbing the other cords.

    Mo

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  • Reply T January 20, 2016 at 12:49 pm

    such a gorgeous stamp! can I ask where it’s from?

    2
    • Reply Erin Boyle January 20, 2016 at 1:16 pm

      If memory serves me, I found this at Paper Source!

      2

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