Living Lagom and What I have Learnt

Years ago, I decided that I wanted to build a single storey extension on the side of my house. I knew what I wanted to do, as in room function. I knew how I wanted it to look and most importantly I knew that I wanted to make it easier to be "green". You know, the sort of things that we were taught about at School. A sloping roof so that I could collect rainwater to water the garden, possibly some solar panels, excellent insulation, massive windows (natural light in the room), underfloor heating... oh wait that last one was just because I like to not walk on cold floors!

The problem is, I'm poor and building an extension takes more money than I can find down the back of my sofa (I actually just found a ruler down there but no money). And this is why I was in part really excited to join the Ikea Live Lagom project. It gave me a reason, a kick up the bum if you will, to make the changes that I want to make to live more sustainably and to live more "just right".

All the changes we made, combined with the KonMari method of tidying means that my home is looking better than it has since we moved in and I kinda feel like, my home is actually my home and not just the place I live.

And that's a pretty big thing for me to say. I've lived her for over eight years and it's only been in the last few months that it has been home to me.

What have I learnt?

Well, for a start I've learnt that some changes are so small that they are easy to make and forget about. Things like light bulbs and LED lights which really make no difference to your life, but make you (well me!) feel better about the changes you are making because these changes really do have an impact on the environment.

I've learnt that I'm never going to be someone who grows food on an allotment. Honestly, if society breaks down I'm going to kidnap someone that grows food or knows how to grow food. Monty Don, I'll kidnap encourage him to rescue me from starvation... however I have learnt that I can grow small things. Fruit, herbs, potatoes, carrots, onions and that it can look attractive and make me feel better about my garden at the same time too!

I've learnt that portion size is important. And that teaching my Children how to cook is important. I mean don't get me wrong, I've always known these things but over the last few months I've realised that I really need to ensure that my Children learn the skills that I've spent a lifetime honing because if the future is going the way we think it is, they will need to build upon the skills I have in order to provide for their families and to live good and healthy lives.

I've learnt that this isn't something that you do once and then that's it over and done with. Every time I go to Ikea, and I go a lot seeing as I only live five minutes away from the Milton Keynes store, I find a new item, something that sparks an idea for our Lagom journey.

And I think that's what I've enjoyed the most about this process.

Don't get me wrong, I loved going shopping in the store and filling up trolley upon trolley. I loved talking with others doing this project, or as was more often the case for me reading what they were up to, reading the articles that they shared and gathering tips from them.

Like scattering egg shells around the bottom of my plants to stop the slugs and snails getting at them.

I have loved seeing the changes that Tops and Dan Jon and Flyfour and I have made to our lives independently as well as as a family.

It was is the journey of living Lagom that I have enjoyed most. The constant refinement, the constant thinking of is this just right for me and my family? The thought process and understanding of how I can make changes to my life, make changes to my Children's life and hopefully make a difference in this world.

So it's not over.

It's far from over, this ending is actually the start of a new beginning, the rest of my life.