I’ve always been a big-picture thinker. Starting a project, the first thing I envision is the end result with all its many branches and possible layers. Task analysis (the “how to get there” part), comes next. I’ve had to work on that skill a lot in both my personal and professional life, but I like to think I’ve gotten pretty ok at it. My challenge is to move steadily from brainstorm to planning to action.

Needless to say, this project started with some heavy-duty Pinterest scrolling. I love Pinterest! It’s a fantastic way to find inspiration and see what ideas might look like in actuality. I have a bunch of different boards on home organization ideas, things I would want if I owned my own home, or just pretty stuff that popped up on my feed. As I daydreamed one evening, adding another pretty garden design to a board, I realized that all of my collections had the same general theme – slow living, organic materials, and lots of cute handmade details.

When I pictured the end result of what I wanted, there were images of a full cottage garden somehow squeezed into a balcony/catio situation, combined with plenty of cute details in a mostly-organic kitchen. Let’s analyze that task a bit. Physics doesn’t allow for that much growing and walking space on my balcony, unless someone does me a solid and parks their TARDIS out there. Also, my work schedule and overall budget doesn’t allow for a full-on Barefoot Contessa moment in my kitchen. As cool as those things would be, I’m not there yet.

Instead, I need to pick a handful of smaller goals and work toward those. What makes sense for my current lifestyle, knowing I’m heading into a very busy season? What is the bare minimum that I want to change? Extra stuff can come later, but for the sake of this exercise, I’m starting very small.

Eventually, I settled on the following: I want a clutter-free balcony setup with safety measures to protect the cat and provide a little privacy. I also want a functional kitchen that provides easy access to tools and workspaces for batch cooking prep. Those two projects are definitely achievable! The kitchen is going to take a lot more time to organize and document, so for the sake of blogging I’ll break down the balcony project first.

When I was apartment hunting, one of the key requirements for me was easy access to some kind of green *cue the elemental power meme*. I’ve learned that being around growing things is critical to maintaining my mental health, so living in a building near some kind of grass or a tree was important. I lucked out with my current apartment, as there are trees all around the area and a green space all along one side of the building. The balcony looks out over part of the green area and has a sort of window that opens up a bigger view. The balcony itself is concrete, which makes it perfect for growing plants and (small, contained) candles.

My first step is to set up furniture. A chair, a table, some kind of lighting, will all do the job nicely. Next, I’ll need to install protective measures to keep the cat from falling off. Generally speaking, he’s a smart little guy. But we’ve never lived someplace with a balcony and he doesn’t seem to understand the distance between us and the ground. Some kind of trellis in the side window and a mesh over the front railing/grate will keep him safely inside. Once furniture is in place and the screening is secure, I can start planning for spring planting.

Next time, I’ll show you how those first baby steps turned out!