If you are wondering where I have been ...

I have a good excuse.




SIX (count them - SIX) assignments done and ready to hand in tomorrow.
Regular life (and decluttering) will return as soon as possible.

Soon to come - organising to succeed. And how I remember my green bags. I tell ya - it's all exciting stuff here!

To garage sale or not to garage sale?

That is the question right there.

Initially I was all for donating everything.

But as my decluttering gets more and more focussed, and we are getting rid of stuff that would sell ... I am starting to think we should have the dreaded garage sale.

I don't want to. I want it all GONE.

But I have weekends free coming up.
And I want to turn the garage into a fabulous office/sewing room/playroom.
And I could use the money from the sale to pay for what I want.

I just hate the idea of the mess hanging around.

Maybe if I make a deadline date - say January 31st. If it's not gone then it all gets donated?

Opinions please?

Polly Pockets

If these things didn't occupy my daughter so well I would ban them from the house!
But Eliana loves them and is so patient with them.

She has been pretty good about looking after all the little pieces ... but I thought if they were more organised she would play with them more.

So this is what I found. It's a storage container from bunnings. What I loved about it (besides the fact that it had perfect polly pocket size spaces) was that it was all one layer, and shallow enough that it should be easy to pick up those teeny tiny itsy bitsy shoes from.

Eliana and I had a ball this afternoon, sorting all the pieces and labelling the spaces. Although she cannot read all of those words, I know this will change soon enough so I wanted to have them all labelled.

Very happy! And great for church or travelling too!

I think I'm starting to get it.

You see - anyone who knows me knows I am sentimental.
I keep stuff.
If it is linked to special days - or my family especially.

Yesterday I threw out my wedding shoes.
And it made me smile!

You see - I have been married almost 10 years (in February!) and I haven't worn those shoes once.
I still have my gown (at my mum's - thanks mum!)
And the photos (that my dad took)
And a quilt made by my mum and gorgeous cousin
And a beautiful memory box from my mum.

But I was hanging onto these now too small, going off coloured, high heels (that I never wear) shoes just BECAUSE they were my wedding shoes.

To have that space back made me happy. And now I have room for something I love in my life.

I think I am starting to get it.

Clutter Kicker's challenge

A challenge was issued by clutter kicker on an online forum I go to. http://clutterkickers.blogspot.com/2010/01/what-have-i-done.html

The challenge was to attack an area 5 min at a time. Progress not perfection.

Most of the mess ended up being clothes that had fallen down, bags and backpacks and Paul's shoes.

This area had become a dumping ground. It was pretty bad - not sure I want to post a before!


And this is the after - the white box on the right is for Paul to put his shoes in once he has sorted which ones he is keeping.




And I am going to install hooks on the inside of one door to hang his backpacks on.

So much better!

Before and after - a kitchen corner turned control centre

Before - an ugly corner of our kitchen/dining room.


Yes we used a laundry hamper to store all the clutter in that ends up in this room.
And yes - the cd's normally seemed to live on the floor.

Not to mention all the other stuff spread about the house - my diary in the kitchen, bible in the lounge, school info somewhere else, chargers in every nook and cranny ...

I used this cabinet from deals direct. It isn't what I intended to use it for but I love it! Oh and it was easy to put together - and stronger than I thought it would be. And the thing I love is it is on wheels - I can bring it in with me while I watch tv and have everything I need at my fingertips!

The calender is a family planner - a section for each of us - I intend to use the other two kid spaces to record meals and my exercise attempts.

This feels SO much better! Starting to breathe again!

Brightening up the laundry

I worked hard last week through unbelievable layers of dust to clean our laundry.

Yet it still looks like a mismatched store room.



Nothing like a few pretty accessories (that are useful and functional too!) to cheer a girls heart!