The House - Post Declutter

It has been easier to keep the house clean and tidy following the declutter - except for a couple of zones...

The girl's bedroom has not had clear floor space in the past week. The biggest issues have been dirty laundry, bedding, hair accessories, jewellery and small toys. It is disappointing, especially after having decluttered the space :-( 

Organisation and storage still needs addressing as do routines and rules around putting away items after use and respecting the space.

I'm restricted by space and budget to create more storage, but, I have a couple of tricks up my sleeve.  The first is, storage baskets for under the lower bunk bed. Currently there are draws which slot under one side of the bed - but there is still some space on the other side which is being under-utilised.

My second trick is to introduce a large laundry basket for the room. The small one I had provided is just not cutting it.

The third trick is to provide some storage solutions for the individual problem areas - like a jewellery box and hair tie organiser for my youngest daughter.

The next area I am struggling with is the front entranceway. To be fair I have not decluttered this space, but I had upgraded the shoe storage from a small bin to a large wicker basket.

Shoes have not been the issue - the problem has been school bags and things that get dumped just inside the front door (like clothing, artwork, tools and cleaning apparatus).

Yes, I am guilty of dumping in this space as well. My vacuum, hand steamer and Little Green upholstery cleaner have all found a home in this space. It looks untidy and clutters the entrance!

I'm not responsible for the other clutter, but I've resorted to dumping because my hallway cupboard is a shambles. It has no shelving (other than a small shelf at the very top of the cupboard), so everything ends up squeezed onto the floor. Shelving will come - eventually, but for now the overflow is clogging up my entrance.

So, as you can see the mission to declutter and reorganise is not yet complete.  There is some work to do, so watch this space!

Master Bedroom - Before and After

The Master Bedroom has been a little neglected as of late, but after an hour or so of hard work it is looking much more cared for, clean and inviting.

This is what it looked like before the revamp.

Ok, it wasn't too bad, but I did have a bit

of work to do clearing the low boy dresser of paperwork. Most of it has now been sorted through and a good portion has been thrown out. The remaining paperwork has been relocated to the office awaiting a new shelving unit I hope to aquire soon.

I had a swap around with my wall art, removed general clutter and introduced a houseplant. I also cleaned all the furniture, vacuumed and very obviously made the bed. The room smells fresher and with less clutter will be easier to keep clean and fresh.

Phase 2, the Master Suite is now complete! I now have more work to do in the office, but it was worth it for the result  in the bedroom.  

Phase 2 - Master Suite

I've got off to a great start of Phase 2 of my declutter - the wardrobe is looking a lot better, so I've moved onto the ensuite.

My biggest challenge was decluttering around the bath. I removed a laundry basket of clutter (candles, soaps, bath products and shells). I have added back two small houseplants, a couple of candles, one tea light candle lantern and kept just one bottle of bubblebath and one soap. It seems like a lot - but it is much less than what was there.

I'm not sure how it got so cluttered. I had made it quite impossible to clean and it looked messy and unrestful - not really what I wanted for a relaxing bath time retreat.  I have a habit of adding too many accessories and loosing my whole intention for the space. I want to keep it clear and uncluttered from now on. 

The next challenge was cleaning the windows and shower screen. I tackled that by using my hand steamer and good old Mr Muscle with a microfibre cloth just to buff off any streaks.  It came up sparkling clean.  The steamer really does loosen soap scum. I will be using it more often for this job - it was quick and efficient.

I also removed a bath mat from the floor and cleared the vanity of a few too many bathroom products. I've just left the toothbrushes and soap as these are what is used most often.

The result is a calmer, cleaner space that is easier to keep clean and organised :-)

Friday Night in the Wardrobe

Yes, I had an eventful Friday night this week. I pulled myself away from the dreaded TV and dedicated a couple of hours to decluttering and reorganising our walk in wardrobe.

I removed 6 shopping bags full of unwanted clothes, shoes, dress jewellery and general clutter from the space for donating.  It looks so much better now :-)

I also reorganised my clothing into colour blocks.  I have A LOT of black! I used to have a lot more colour in my larger sized clothing collection - but I guess it tells me that black is practical, flattering and stands the test of time.

I reordered Hubby's clothes into work / formal (top row) and casual (bottom row).  He doesn't have much in the way of clothing compared to me - just as well, I need as much space as possible!

I still have some work to do to reduce the amount to beauty products I have cluttering my dressing table which is in the corner of the wardrobe.  I will probably sort out a basket to store all my regularly used products and either throw out or pack the remainder away.

The wardrobe is one of those spaces that needs regular attention to stay organised. It makes it so much easier for selecting clothes and accessories when you can actually see what you have to work with. 

The Best Way to Enjoy a Leftover Roast

This salad is made up of baby spinach leaves, tomato, leftover roast chicken, roast pumpkin and some grated parmesan and aioli to top it off. It was delicious! Definitely the best way to enjoy roast leftovers.

My weight has increased by 1 kg since my last post to 79.5,  not a huge fluctuation - but I am working to get back down to 78.5.  It's far easier to lose 1 kg than 21!