Gardening without a garden, editing without a pencil

Dear home 911,

My boy-friend and I recently moved in together into a one-bedroom condominium unit in Makati. I came from my parents’ house, which has a garden that I used to help maintain with my mom, and a spare room that I used as my dressing room. I miss the space of our house and garden. The condo unit makes me feel claustrophobic. What do I do?

Marissa

How much do you love your boyfriend? There is always the option of throwing him out of the condo unit, you know. Or move back to your parents’ house. Or rent a bigger unit. 

If none of these options is acceptable, then you just have to edit your life. It’s such a nice term — “edit your life.” It conjures visions of literally deleting from your space unnecessary things — clothes you haven’t worn in three years, broken plates that have been Epoxied together, a dozen vases for the flowers your boyfriend never brings you, or shoes that are just too many it would make Imelda weep and begin singing “Don’t cry for me, Argentina” from her balcony. 

Backspace a little, step back, and be vicious when you survey your closet. You have to have the will to do this, otherwise, it would be like editing without a pencil. How will you delete those unnecessary commas and apostrophes?

I know I’ve always said that the rule of thumb in a shared closet is that the guy gets only one-third of the space and the woman gets two-thirds. But, really, how many little black dresses do you need?

For many years, I have thrown and given away things I didn’t need with such single-minded purpose, which was to let my space breathe. Books and magazines were donated to schools, clothes, bags and shoes were passed on, my husband R.’s toys were tossed into the bin (often without his knowledge, which led to, er, complications later). For a while the house was so neat, then clutter began piling up again. I’ve realized that there are just some things I cannot let go off: tear sheets of articles I loved from many years ago, or things my friends have given me even when I have never and will never use them. Maybe I’m getting old, looking at things with sentimentality — or just plain lazy. 

Edit your stuff and store what you cannot give up in your parents’ house. That’s what I did. I went home to my old room in my grandmother’s house in Tarlac and stuffed my closets there with stuff from my closets here. Every time I would come home for the weekend, wheeling two huge suitcases from my car, my uncle would eye me and wonder out loud: “How long are you staying?”

Now, of course, I need to edit those closets in the province, too.

As for the garden, you can grow potted plants like culinary herbs so when you get hungry you can just toss your basil leaves with pasta and olive oil. How about growing cacti? They don’t need much space and some species look so hilarious. When growing plants indoors, make sure they get adequate sunlight and you water them accordingly. Windowsills and tables make for a good space to lighten up your condo unit.

Of course, flowering plants are the best to prettify a small unit. A friend of mine claimed to me once he could grow tulips in the desert. I said, yeah, right, and I’m Queen Elizabeth. It wasn’t that it’s impossible to grow flowers in the desert, it was that it was him — not exactly the most caring person I know. But he did and does grow tulips in the desert. He texted me a picture of his plants once and they were so beautiful. I thought, how could he grow them and how could I kill so many plants that were meant to grow, uncared for, by the wayside?

You never know these things, do you? Who knows, you really might have a green thumb and pretty soon you will have a mini forest in your condo unit which will soon begin to feel like your old home — and you didn’t even have to toss out your boyfriend.

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How To Clean Old Flatware

Dear tanya,

My problem is the spoons and forks we have at home. They are older than me and in good condition except that some are already tarnished. How do I restore them to their beauty?

Val

Whatever you do, don’t boil your flatware. I used to do this, which made them dull quickly. However, the site Make-stuff.com, recommends dipping them in hot water, but first cover the bottom of the container with aluminum foil, then pour a cup of boiling water and add two teaspoons of baking soda and one teaspoon of salt. Stir the mix and then drop the silver pieces and make sure they are touching each other. The tarnish is supposed to slowly disappear.

My boss Millet said before that for silver trays, rub calamansi all over the surface to make them shine again. 

Using commercial cream products is another option. The tarnish-retardant ingredient in the cream keeps the flatware bright longer and buffing them will help develop patina. I’ve tried two brands of cream polish that I bought at Rustan’s: Oneida and Hagerty. Both have cream and disposable wipes. The cream is more cost-effective. In my opinion, Oneida is better (I used the aerosol spray) but dear God, how it stinks! I thought both our dogs farted at the same time. Hagerty doesn’t have much of an odor but doesn’t polish as well either.

The Cleaning Encyclopedia says sulfur causes silver to tarnish quickly, so don’t hold them together with a rubber band.

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Home 911 answers questions about the home — cleaning problems, DIY projects, decorating ideas, home store resources, and things you’ve always wanted to know about but never had the friends to ask. Home 911 will ask the experts on your behalf. For questions and suggestions, e-mail philstar_home911@yahoo.com. Please include your first name/pseudonym. All questions will be answered through this column — Tanya is too lazy and too chatty to answer individually.