Minimal Monthly

Hello, hello!

It's been a quiet July for me but I'm not going to dress it up as some grand intentional pause.

Quiet has a way of making you notice things. This time it had me thinking about how thin the thread actually is. The thread we're all dangling from. The one holding everything together, day to day. Health, plans, routines, our arrogant assumption that tomorrow will be roughly like today.

Most of the time we don't think about it at all. Then something reminds you we're all just skating on thin ice, and suddenly it's hard to think about anything else.

There's a Bruce Lee quote that's been sitting in my notes for weeks:

I don't think he meant it as a meditation on mortality, but it landed that way for me this month.

When you strip everything back, all the stuff, the plans, the noise, then what's actually left is pretty simple. And it's incredibly fragile.

This month's links lean quiet too: cabins, small spaces, a radio app that let me tune into 1980s hits from my adolescence on the other side of the world.

Simple pleasures, while they last!

Affiliate Corner

I didn't buy anything cool this month, and that's probably a good thing. I will mention though that one of my fave shops, Yamakazi, has a good back-to-school sale going on, with a few neat products. I'm eyeballing an over-door hanger and side table waste bin...

​15% off everything here through the end of August.

Mixed Bag 'o Links

Relax your thumbs and let me do some scrolling for you. Here are some fun finds from this past month:

• I had no idea this is how fashion magazine covers are shot. 😂
• Want to get crafty, but hate the mess? Clipart Studio is a nifty find if you love the aesthetic of analogue collages. It lets you create digital collages using high-quality cutouts from vintage magazines.
• We have a bit of a cabin theme going on this month. First, a lovely North Carolina cabin that perfectly blends rustic charm with some subtle midcentury-modern vibes. Then, a Bavarian cabin that looks like where legendary functionalist designer Dieter Rams would hang out if he retreated to the woods. Finally, a lonely cabin shared in the Living Alone subreddit that indeed looks like the perfect solo retreat.
• Speaking of small spaces, this converted garden shed turned home office is a masterclass in functionality and I would totally love working in there during the warmer months!
• A bit of real estate time travel: peek into Madonna's Beverly Hills home in 2001 compared to her current London residence. Her architectural taste and interiors have certainly shifted over the last 2.5 decades, but Madonna has hardly aged a bit! 😉
• Seeing a massive drawer minutely sorted by makeup category is a great reminder of how much easier mornings are when everything has a designated home.
• Sometimes I stumble upon the most wonderful things online that just put a huge smile on my face. Radio Garden is one of them. It lets you spin a 3D globe and tune into live local radio stations all over the world. I grew up in New England and am sitting halfway across the world now, listening to 105.9 FM live from Hartford, CT. And they're still playing the exact same music they were in 1984, lol. I love this! 🤘
• In case you missed it, this reel went viral: a clever little tutorial on folding scrap paper into custom-sized little containers for your drawers or even the air fryer. A completely free, zero-waste organising solution.
• I absolutely love the built-in cabinetry in this 94-year-old gentleman's home. His whole place is filled with timeless classics and goes to show that good design and practical storage never go out of style.
• "And on the seventh day, man rested from the timeline." The Sabbath app is a really nice approach to digital minimalism that aims to help you carve out a dedicated day of rest from the endless scroll.
• Another fun dose of nostalgia: a photo series of Gen X teenagers in their bedrooms back in the 1980s. Yep, this is how we decorated our spaces before Pinterest and Instagram dictated the trends.
• Finally, if you're feeling tired and unhappy, just click here. 😅

Hope everyone's enjoying their summer so far! 🌊

Thank you for reading. If you have any comments, feedback, or would like to be featured in an upcoming issue, hit reply and drop me a line. Have a great month ahead,

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