Cloth Nappy Stash Sort Out - Real Nappy Week 2011

In honour of Real Nappy Week 2011 and to help me back onto the organising wagon I have organised my cloth nappy stash! :)

This was my cloth nappy storage space before my little sort out. I keep my nappies in a 2x4 IKEA Expedit storage unit in the living room well within easy reach of where I change the little guy, which is usually on the living room floor. No going upstairs to the nursery every time like I used to do with Eldest! (There was logic in this - get her used to the nursery before she slept in there, change of scenery from downstairs, keep smells out of the living room, etc.)

I figured I need to get back on the decluttering and organising wagon before my whole house descends into chaos. I have been busy doing, but I'll tell you about that in another post.

While I was sorting out my nappies I fancied taking photos of everything. I have quite a wide selection of cloth now because I bought loads of different types in order to find out the best fit for Youngest's bum. Many of them have now been sold on, but my stash still needs some thinning out!

Inserts and Liners

I'll start with the not very exciting. Here are my random inserts and liners. Top left are two Bambino Mio prefolds. I actually have a ton of these, but they're size 1, so no longer fit.  I just keep a couple on hand to stuff wraps with in a pinch. You can see I have one unfolded and the one on top is trifolded. You would fold it into three before laying inside a wrap.

The long thingies on the right are loads of different inserts for pocket nappies not currently being used inside pocket covers. When my nappies are dry I sit and pair all the inserts up with covers and wraps so that they are good to go straight from the basket. These ones are just spares.

Bottom right are newborn inserts/boosters for my BumGenius version 3 pocket nappies. I use these to slot in along with the regular inserts to boost absorbency.

On the right-hand side at the bottom is a roll of flushable nappy liners and one fleecy reusable liner. I usually use the flushable ones, but they also wash a couple of times too, so I get 2/3 uses out of one. If the boy does a poop I just pick it up with the liner and flush down the loo.

Terry Squares

The next photo is of my terry squares. I bought this pack to use with Eldest, but could I heck as get used to the folding. My mum tried to teach me "the kite" or something, but I was no good at it. Now they come in handy for putting under his bum when he's having some nuts out time. Catches the widdles. :) The two wraps underneath need destashing. I never used them since I couldn't get the hang of folding the terries and they're newborn size anyway.

Fitteds and Wraps

This one is a Little Lamb Bamboo fitted and wrap. The fitted nappy is on the left and the wrap in the middle. The long thing on top is a bamboo booster for boosting absorbency and the other whiter long thing is a fleecy liner. Just another reusable liner or catching poo. I never used the booster or the liner though. This is a fitted nappy, which means it's basically shaped like a nappy should be and the whole thing is absorbent. So you need a wrap to go over the top to stop clothes getting wet. This type of nappy - particularly bamboo, which is loads more absorbent than man-made fibres like microfibre - is great for overnight.

More bamboo fitteds. I got these Tots Bots Bamboozles with a birth to potty kit I bought when I had Eldest and I didn't use them much. They are very absorbent, but because they're bamboo they just took too long to dry for me. The wrap is too girly for Youngest now anyway and needs to be destashed. I'll probably hold onto the fitted bamboozles for now in case we need to try them for overnight use. Youngest is still in sposies overnight until they run out. These do have snap-in boosters, but I am using them to boost my eBay cheapies.

These ones are Tots Bots Fluffles. They're similar to the Bamboozles above in that they need a wrap over the top, but these ones are made of micro-terry, so they dry much quicker, but they are a lot bulkier than bamboo. I didn't really like these much but I am keeping them to trial on a night.  You can see they have a pull-out snap-on insert.

This is the last of my fitted type nappies. It's a Just Ducky Baby sock monkeys print, which is fab! I bought it before I knew much about nappies and was dismayed to learn that it would need a wrap over the top. What a waste of a nice print! I used to use this one alongside my little lamb. I would generally use two fitteds to one wrap change - if you know what I mean? So I would put on a clean wrap with a clean fitted then at the first nappy change I would change only the fitted underneath and keep the same wrap. Then change both again the next time.

All In Ones

These two are my all in ones. I decided to try these on Youngest as I've never used them before. All in ones can be very long in drying. Basically an all in one doesn't come apart at all and you need no additional parts. It's an insert, nappy and cover in one. The Tots Bots Easyfit is on the left and a Bitti D'Lish on the right. You can see from the second photo how they have lay in inserts that hang out. This must help with drying. Not sure about these to be honest. I like the Easyfit, but I didn't realise the print had flowers on when I bought it. Doh! I just saw the mushrooms. It's called Magic Mushroom. The Bitti D'Lish I like, but it's very narrow in the crotch and takes an age to dry.

Pocket Nappies

Next up are my pocket nappies. Pocket nappies comprise a cover and an insert, which you can see illustrated below. The insert is along the bottom and the cover is open to the right. The rest have been constructed. You can see the little pocket into which the insert is stuffed. This type are great for boosting easily if you have a heavy wetter. A lot of people like to use boosters overnight to get the nappy to last the duration. The boosters that go with these are in the first photo with all the random inserts etc. I did buy 16 of these BumGenius V3's in a birth to potty kit when I had Eldest. When I decided to put Youngest in cloth I thought I should change the pink covers, so I did a swap with a lovely lady in The Netherlands. My pink for her blue and green! Now I have found that I prefer a two-piece wrap system, which I will tell you about in a minute, so I have sold on all of my gender-neutral coloured ones. I'm keeping these 5 because they are still a staple in my stash.

These BumGenius are birth to potty, which means that they should fit from about 8lbs through to 35lbs. They have poppers along the front of the cover to adjust the rise from small to large. Small is fastened down to the bottom row of poppers, medium to the top row of poppers and large is just unpoppered. The insert also has poppers as you can see in the photo. It's the same principle - you adjust the length to suit the size of the cover. Put the folded over bit at the back for girls and the front or boys.

These ones are my eBay cheapies. I have a few of these and they usually come from China. This particular two are Coolababy birth to potty and cost me £1.99 plus about £3 postage, but I got them from a UK seller. See why they're called cheapies now? :) To be honest, they're okay, but the inserts you get with them aren't up to much. I boost mine with the snap-in bamboo boosters that came with my bamboozles. They do 3 hours if I'm lucky when boosted, but definitely no more. I tend to just use them as a filler when I know he won't be in it for long.

The last of my pockets are these Blueberry Minky one size. These are also birth to potty with poppers to adjust sizing. These are good nappies when you have the right insert with them. I bought the top two preloved and didn't get the right inserts, but managed to find one proper one as a replacement recently. If you have a spare blueberry insert give me a shout!! :) Minky is a lush, soft feeling furry kind of fabric.

Lay In Inserts and Wraps

BumGenius Flips! These are my current nappy of choice. They're a two part system using a wrap and a lay in insert. The wrap is on the bottom in this photo and you can see the two flaps at either end. This is where the insert tucks in at each side, but the actual insert lays against the skin. Kind of like a pocket, but without the pocket part... These are super soft and last really really well. I have mainly microfibre stay dry inserts for these but I do have one organic cotton insert too. The organic cotton lasts longer than the stay dry but takes longer to dry too.

The Flips are birth to potty, so like the BumGenius pocket nappies you adjust the poppers to suit your baby's size.

Here are some of my pretties. The good thing about using this lay in system is that there are some really nice prints out there, just not in the flips (take note Flips people! (cause, you know, they will obvously be followers of my blog and all)). So for my prints, I go to Weehuggers. You can get these in applix (velcro) fastening or poppers (press studs). I prefer poppers cause velcro sticks to everything in the wash. I do have one applix though, it's the owl one. Cute! The guitars print is in size 1 so it needs selling on. My boy's fat bum is too big for it now. :( These wraps are pretty much the same as the flips in how they work and how you can adjust the sizing to suit. They're not birth to potty though. You get size 1, which goes from 6lbs to 18lbs, then size 2 is 15lbs to 35lbs. You can actually use disposible inserts in these types of wraps if you like.

This one is my only GEN-Y Universal wrap. It's similar to the last two kinds, but has side snaps (press stud fastenings on the sides, not the front). I love the print and could have all of their prints cause they're ace! I am just finding it hard to get used to the side snaps. They are great because they can be adjusted ti fit my lil guys chunkier thighs. The whole wrap is a bit more poofy outy than Flips or Weehuggers though. Maybe I just need to get used to it.

The last one is a pirates wrap by Olive Jane. I love this, but it's a small so didn't fit for long. Needs to be destashed. It's open in the pic so you can see the ship (which goes on the bum) and the "X marks the spot" which goes in front.

Wetbag

Last but not least! My pretty purple minky wetbag from Weenotions. :) This was a gift from the lovely Dec07 ladies when I had Eldest (along with other lovely things - thanks again girls!). I take this out with me along with a few nappies for changes. Then when one comes off it gets put into here to contain any wetness and smells. Pretty and useful! :)

There are a few nappies in the wash, so i'll probably update when those are dry.

Here's that "after" photo. All tidied neatly away...

 

I've linked up to I'm An Organising Junkie's 52 Weeks of Organising. 

Your Own First Stop Shop!

Okay, your mission - should you choose to accept it - is to take one large box, raid all of your cupboards, and throw in those brand new unopened items that are scattered about the place just sitting there doing nothing.

• The extra shave gel you got on a BOGOF.
• The shower gels you got for Christmas
• The baby wipes you stocked up on when they were only 89p each.
• The next size dummies that baby isn't using yet.

etc etc etc.

Apart from the cathartic act of decluttering your cupboards, this task also serves a further purpose... If you're anything like me these things will be sat in cupboards for so long that you forget they're there. I always buy new toothbrushes when we need them, forgetting that I have some sat in a basket on top of the bathroom mirror that I got on impulse because they were on sale! I end up buying shower gels forgetting that we were bought lovely gift sets for Christmas with our favourite shower gels in there!

But now I have this box. This "First Stop Shop" where I look when I need new baby goods or toiletries. And because it's all in one place I might reach in for some wipes and notice that I have some hand soap. So the next time I am looking at hand soaps in the shop I will remember the time I saw some in the magical box of shiny new toiletries and save myself some pennies. Yey!

So Many Receipts!

May 2005 was almost 6 years ago. It's also the date of the oldest receipt I found in my little receipts box. Yup, I am *that* rubbish on keeping on top of this. Paperwork again! YAK!

So I tipped them all our into a big pile on the floor.

Put the ones I wanted to keep back into the box.

And the rest were burned in my parent's fireplace.

Ahhhhhh... My mind feels a fraction lighter now. There's no way I needed that 4-year-old receipt for a bra and that one from last week for the doorstop. No way!

Stay tuned for my plan on how to keep up with all this organising fun. I figured I need a way to make sure I stay on top of these systems and things, otherwise things could easily slip again. I need to keep reassessing what's working and what isn't. It's okay though. Like I said, I have a cunning plan. :o)

My Daily Box

This little box of tricks has worked wonders for my morning routine! It's a similar idea to the little cosmetics bag I put together for keeping in my handbag / nappy bag.

It sits in my bedside cabinet and when I get out of the shower in the morning I just grab the box and it has everything I need right there! Now, this might sound like a bit of a no-brainer to some of you, but please bear in mind that everything was previously strewn all over. Makeup in one place, hair things in another. Deodorant here, contact lenses there. It really was an exercise in memory and fitness just to run around finding all of my daily essentials each morning!

Plus, with everything being in one place, it's much easier to keep moving it to different places out of my daughters way when she's hanging around me getting ready, rather than having to constantly scoop up and move loads of loose items. 

So, in here I have...

A mirror - I apologise for the reflection of our awful ceiling and tatty old light shade. Our bedroom is unfortunately well down the list of "things to spend money on" this year.
Face wipes - I'm too lazy to properly wash my face each evening, so I use a face wipe. I don't wear enough make up for it to matter anyway.
Alice band - to keep my hair out of my face when I'm getting ready
Bag of hair clips and bobbles - cause I usually wear my hair up every day
Deodorant - anti stinky
Hairbrush - to pull out all my hair since all I do is shed right now
Contact lenses - all the better to see you with my dear
Moisturiser - I do think I should be considering an alternative to "First Effects" by now. :o|
Eyeshadow and brush, bronzing pearls and brush, mascara - the only make up I wear usually if I bother at all
Witch Hazel - for zits
Q Tips - for my ears. I have an ear cleaning fetish.

Bedside Table / Nightstand Sort Out

This was the view when I opened my bedside cabinet door before I sorted it out last week. The bedside cabinet is part of a massive organising project that I am still on with, but since it's been a while since my last post I thought I'd best give you something. :o)

Okay, the top shelf had all kinds of crap up there - q-tips, contact lenses, face wipes, sleep mask, clips, blah blah blah. The middle shelf had an IKEA Skubb box full of waxing strips, spare deodorant, and other personal care items. The blue container to the left of that is the tub of receipts I mentioned earlier and some receipts aren't even in it, they're just stuffed in front. The bottom shelf has a box with our wedding stuff in - certificate, ring boxes, etc. Yes, we got married 4 years ago... There's also a Topshop shoebox with sentimental stuff in and some tarot cards. The black cosmetic case on the left was empty.

Are you ready for the transformation?

Ta daaa!

This cabinet is now my dedicated "personal care station". I used to have all of my hair, makeup, lady products spread out all over the bedroom in different places, but now it's all in one place for the most part.

Top shelf - Make up used less often. My daily make up is kept in my daily box (explained below).
Middle shelf - I used two IKEA Skubb drawer dividers. On the left is my waxing strips, spare deodorant, perfume, oil, etc. Things I don't use too often. On the right is what I internally refer to as my daily box. In a morning I just grab it and it contains everything I need to get ready on an average day. I'll post more detail about this later because it's really helped shave time off my getting ready routine!
Bottom shelf - Just other lesser-used items like leg tanning cream, spare face wipes, body lotion, glasses case, costume jewellry, etc.

Admittedly, if I had enough hours in the day a lot of these "lesser-used items" should be in my daily box, but I'm a mum of a 4-month-old and a 2-year-old. I barely have time to even dry my hair with a hairdryer these days, nevermind primp. :o)

Daily Lists & Negative Conversations

This week I started to make lists of the things I planned to do the following day - what's for tea, appointments, plans for walks and activities with the kids, housework, etc. It works!! I have never made better time and felt more mentally tidy than I have this week. I have no idea why I didn't do this sooner because it's something I used to do every single day at my workplace when I was working full time. It should come naturally to me to bring over these time management and organisation techniques, but for some reason, they don't mentally transfer to my new job as a homemaker. It's irritating!

Well, last night I forgot to make my list as I have been doing, but then I woke up to Laura's latest 52 weeks of organising post which tells us to,

"Make a commitment to spend at least 10-15 minutes every evening preparing for the next day and maintaining your home.  Put misplaced items back into their places, make your list of tasks needed to be done, what’s on the menu, what activities need to be arranged?  Set yourself up for success in this way and watch how powerful and in control you will feel…well most of the time anyway :)"

What perfect timing! I really needed this reminder and kick up the backside and somehow by someone else telling me that's what I should be doing it affirmed to me that I was on the right track and the idea that I had to do it in the first place was a good one that should be continued. 

This week is about negative conversations and I must admit that unfortunately, I fall prey to these almost daily. I try very hard to become the efficient domestic goddess I know I am capable of being, but when I fall behind due to crippling procrastination I always end up bashing myself. "Why bother, you'll not end up sticking to it?" "No one else takes it seriously so you're fighting a losing battle all on your own!" "It's the same crap, different day. What's the point?"

Sound familiar? I just want to prove to myself that I can be organised and follow it through, and so far this blog does seem to be helping me to do that. I feel accountable to my precious 5 followers and the people who have left wonderful comments so far. I owe it to my anonymous daily visitors who would give an almighty eye-roll and a tut if I were to suddenly quit. It might be just a slight blip of a disappointment to them, but it would be a mighty shame to me. I want to do this.

Negative conversations can sod off! I am accountable, dependable and will follow through. I pledge to blog my journey throughout this shake-up of domestic systems, and will lead you through my home in all it's cluttered disarray, leaving efficiently organised storage and neatly lined rows of beautiful containers as we go.

So how silly will I feel now if I fail?

I won't! Because I'll not fail you bloglanders!

Okay, now, my list is nothing fancy. I gather together the various source materials I need to reference. Those are the previous day's list, my motivated mum's list of household chores, diary and notebook. The list is just written on scrap paper. I'll put on the day in case I forget which day it actually is. Wouldn't be the first time! I usually put what we're having for tea at the top of the page under the date and everything else underneath.

Simple but effective!

Once this becomes a habit in about a month I might switch to putting it into a notebook instead, but for the time being I stick the list into the front of the big unit so I can't miss it.

Two Small Jobs to Check Off

2. Sorting out an essentials pouch for my handbag / nappy bag.
CHECK!
3. Getting together a kiddies essentials pack for keeping in the car.
CHECK!

Now I just need to work on a place to store all the things I need to keep close at hand while I'm about the house. I know what kinds of things I need to keep there, but now where I am going to put them. This will require a little thought.

Here's what I did today.

This is the bag of stuff we will keep in the car for the kids. The logic behind this is that we're trying to shave time off our leaving the house routine. It's annoying that we have to think about what we have to take each time. Completely going through our one nappy bag to check we have all items takes too long. Partly because we often have to do it last minute. I am hoping that knowing we have this bag in the car will enable us to get out of the house faster at least for little trips.

In it, I have packed a couple of bottles of water, jumpers, spare clothes, nappies and wipes.

The other small job I tackled today was the cobbling together of my handbag bits and bobs. When I leave the house I either take my main nappy bag or if I am lucky enough to get to leave on my own for a while I will take a handbag. It's irritating having to completely empty all the pockets to switch between bags each time I swap over.

This problem has been fixed by getting all these bits into one easily portable cosmetics bag.

Ignore how tatty it is. I will keep an eye out for a nicer one on my travels. Here's what's in it. My apologies to any male readers - there are tampons and sanitary towels in here...

OMG! Blogger will not display that last photo the right way around no matter what I do! GRR!

Anyhoo, in this little handy bag, I keep an important key, comb, pen, paracetamol, aspirin, Rennies, tampons, contact lenses, sanitary towels, vaseline, hair bobble and grips, sweeteners, breast pads, plasters, clear nail varnish, tissues, mirror compact.

Most handy when out and about!

Here's what the other half has been doing today:

Those are the cupboard doors for the nursery wardrobe. We also went shopping for hinges and handles. Hopefully, the doors will be put up by tomorrow. If not I can at least get his clothes put away because the shelving is in place and just needs to fully dry overnight. WOOP! We're sooo close to bottoming this massive job and I am excited!! :o)

Can you help?

Are you thinking that you have a great way of doing some of these things I am sorting out? If you are please, please tell me! Do you have a blog post of your own that might help me? If you do I would love to see it! Just leave me a comment with a link to the relevant blog post or a description of your helpful ideas and I will repost and link to any that I use in my blog. I am really new to this and relying heavily on inspiration from blog land!

Sorting Out Paperwork

No one wants to do this job. Even when you quite fancy having a bit of a sort out the last place you want to go is "The Pile." It's an awful place. A real can 'o' worms job. All it does is remind you of how badly you procrastinate and which jobs you have been meaning to do, but have added to "The Pile" in order to do them later and then promptly forget. Letting "The Pile" build-up is an act of avoidance and repression, so it is inevitable that approaching this task will set a person on edge.

Well, last night after the kids were in bed I went through my usual routine of tidying up and did my ironing. I then got the office ready for use to paint the nursery cupboard doors today. After that, I considered sorting out the cupboard under the stairs but realised it would be too noisy and have the potential to wake the kids. Gasp!

I looked on here at my list of little jobs from the last post but offed them on the basis that several of the "ingredients" were in the kid's rooms or aforementioned cupboard under the stairs.

So, with reluctance, I got out "The Pile" and made a start.

First of all, I go through each item and assign it to a smaller pile in my immediate area. It's always easiest to do this on the floor. 

1. Cards I am going to recycle by using their embellishments for new cards.
2. Unused greetings cards to be stored for future use.
3. Documents to file.
4. Items requiring action asap.
5. Event invitations and dates to add to my diary.
6. Things that need shredding.
7. Paper for the recycling box.
8. Receipts to file.
9. Items for kid's memory boxes.
10. Things I want to scrapbook.
11. For putting into my purse.

Now, the trick is that you need to make sure you deal with all of these mini piles right away. So...

1. The cards I will be using I took into my craft room and placed on the desk ready for when I have a moment to butcher them. Okay, so this isn't really dealing with it entirely, but I consider this crafting time and something that I need to do during my "me" time and not while I'm supposed to be "working".

2. My unused greetings cards slotted into the pocket of my birthday card organiser. It's a little book with a pocket for each month and a calendar page where I can note down each important date. Very handy!

3. These documents to file were put into my filing tray in the office. Admittedly, this is another 'pile' I will be dealing with at some point.

4. Items requiring action generally go back into the wooden box that houses "The Pile" and I am rather ashamed to say that often they are still there the next time I tackle the job. I do need to come up with a better system for these things. It's not like work where I have a desk to keep these papers on so that they constantly jog my memory. I'll think of something!

5. Easy one. I just went through the invites and added their dates to my diary if they weren't already there. If it's one I needed to keep I staple it to the relevant diary page.

6. Things that need shredding to go into the shedder container for now. I plug it in periodically and shred when I can bear to. As a former office junior in my youth, this job still makes me groan. Maybe it's one to get my other half to do instead?

7. Paper that needs recycling just goes straight outside into the recycling bin. End of.

8. I have a very rubbish filing system for receipts that is in bad need of the organising touch. It's basically just a round box that all receipts get stuffed into and for some reason, I keep it in my bedside cabinet. Don't ask why because I've no idea. It should be in the office if I were employing any kind of logic to its location.

9. There are certain things I like to keep hold of to put into the memory boxes I have for the kids. Their hospital bands, special birthday cards, photos, etc. These are separate from those things I scrap about.

10. And that leads me neatly onto the pile of things I would like to scrapbook about. This pile is simply put into a box in the craft room/office and when I have a moment to scrap I root through said box for inspiration.

11. There are some things in the pile that need to go into my purse - vouchers, coupons, stamps etc. Another easy job.

Now I realise that some of these things weren't dealt with completely and maybe this is something I need to address. Perhaps this is my failing? Is this part of the reason for my disorganised home? A protracted avoidance of following through? Hmmm... "Clutter Agitation...?"

Obviously, the mini piles within your main pile of paperwork might be slightly different from mine. However, you will probably find, as I did, that the largest piles were those things to recycle and shred. Funny huh? Now if we could just learn to throw out that junk mail or shred that card statement as soon as it was finished with then we wouldn't have such a daunting task to complete. By "we" I mean "I" of course.

Who's betting I have to come back to this particular job a few more times before the year is out? :o)

While I was looking at home organising stuff on t'internet I happened upon what looks to be an awesome blog, orgjunkie.com. This chick went through her own home overhaul process and is now writing about all manner of mega useful home organisation and decluttering tips.

All this year she's doing 52 Weeks Of Organising and inviting readers to share their organising tales too. I think I might just link up and join in!

One reason I want to get organised...? There are so many! Mainly, it's to prove to myself that I can be organised at home. It's the difference between the person that I want to be and the person that I'm annoyed I am right now. If I don't strive to be this new, streamlining version of myself it would be all too easy to allow chaos to take over and I hate the chaos.

Last week I was busy with our son's room - restructuring and painting his cupboard. I also ordered my shiny new three-section laundry hamper and fell in love. I am amazingly happy with my new laundry system and can't believe I had to do it the awkward way all this time! The cupboard is yet to be finished, but I am very happy with how it is progressing so far. We have been painting the shelves and doors today, so hopefully, by the end of the weekend, I will be able to cobble it all together.

It's actually pretty amazing how much psychoanalysis I am doing of my personality as a result of this project. Just by writing down what I am doing and blogging about it I am discovering the traits that have meant a messy disorganised home for me so far. Traits such as my flitting and my lack of following through. When I think about it these are traits which colour my whole life, so it's been really interesting finding out about them and seeing how they affect even small, everyday things. I guess my real a-ha moment will be when I learn how to work with these flaws to help run a tidier home.

Big Unit

This is our "Big Unit." Sometimes when my husband refers to the Big Unit I cannot be entirely sure he is talking about this piece of furniture, but I give him the benefit of the doubt else I'd get a complex. Look! Mister Maker is on the TV!

Now, this was a genius buy intended to banish all clutter from our living room forever. We would just close the doors on it and forget about what was lurking inside while we watched Dr. Who or whatever. Unfortunately, being messy by nature, the Big Unit hasn't really fulfilled that role. Yet.

At the moment it's more of a "clutterattractamatron". Due to the shelves being really high up and out of the reach of our curious toddler, we end up sticking everything on there for now. Illustrated pretty well on the above photo. In fact, this photo shows an improvement cause we previously had all the top shelves open. I bought two new doors in order to reduce the cluttered space. It does look loads better, especially for the short time it is free from rubbish.

Now, I know you're as nosy as I am - why else would you be here!? :o) So I have some photos of what does lurk behind those doors...

Okay, so this was a typical messy day before adding those extra doors. As you can see, the abandonment of stuff is not limited to the shelving, we also leave random objects on the top.

These drawers will likely just stay how they are. The wires and things are fine in the right and drawer and we need the nappies within easy reach, so they can stay in the left-hand drawer for now.

Need I explain what is pictured below? The clothes were the Eldest's next size ones waiting to be ironed. They've now gone into her room. The rest is mostly man stuff.

This is my crap. Obviously, the main ironing pile belongs with my things, being the wife and all... ;o)

You're not going to get closure on this today because I have no photos of what it looks like now. I've tidied the top shelving, sorted out my side and rearranged the ornaments so less is more. The hubby's side remains pretty much the same. Meh. I'll leave him to it.

So, I will take some pics and get them posted soon.

Well, it's the end of January and you know what? I am pleased with what I have done! I have managed to get started on a lot of little organising and decluttering projects that were really starting to grind me down. I may have flitted a little too much and not managed to finish a lot, but it is only the first month!

By the end of February, I expect we will have finished our son's nursery and made a good start on our next big decorating project - the living room. Yikes! It is badly in need of it, but boy am I not looking forward to that task. It's a pretty big room, not to mention having to work around two young kids. EEP!

Other smaller things I have planned for the near future are,
1. Organising a place to store all my daily essentials - diary, breast pads, phone, etc.
2. Sorting out an essentials pouch for my handbag / nappy bag.
3. Getting together a kiddies essentials pack for keeping in the car.

My Bunch of Keys

It's a silly little thing, but one with a decent enough impact. My bunch of keys was getting stupidly big. Each time I got a new key I would simply add it to the bunch with little regard for what was already there. I had too many keyrings, too many of those metal ring doodads and duplicates of keys where I only needed one.

So, I sat down for 5 minutes and took the whole thing apart to rebuild it. Now I just have the essentials - one front door key, one back door key, one key that is for something I've forgotten about and need to track. One keyring with my daughter's bounty photo in, my Clubcard barcode and a key club keyring for if I lose them. Job's a good un!

You may not be able to tell much of a difference, so I sexed up the second image a bit. The first image was taken with the flash on with a crap background. The second image was taken in natural light in a sexier setting (is a keyhole sexy?)

What's that you say? "My word what a difference! What once was a mightily shoddy bunch of keys is now a shining example of lock opening implement organisation!"

Oh yeah baby!

Okay, so I know that doesn't really make up for a week of silence, but truth be told I have been very busy with my decluttering! I am on with my daughter's drawers and working through filtering out all her too-small clothes. Our baby boy's nursery is almost finished and I will be ready to share a photo of that soon, followed a couple of weeks later by the gorgeously new tidy wardrobe/cupboard in his room. Oh, it's all going on!