Storage Problem - We Have Too Much Of It!!

I know what you're thinking... How can a family of four possibly have too much storage?! Well, it is an integral part of my nature to be pragmatic. Especially when buying furniture. That's why I love Ikea so much! It's cheap, because what's the point in spending lots of money on beautiful furniture pieces that will likely end up crayoned on? But, I also like it because the furniture is so functional. I never buy anything without first considering how much stuff we can hide in it.

Because of this, I have ended up with lots of empty drawers in the living room. Storage in the living room presents a problem anyway, as I can only store things here which are child friendly. My kids are old enough now that I leave them playing in the living room while I cook in the kitchen next door or run some laundry upstairs. We all know how little time it takes for kids to wreak havoc on some fun new "toy" they just found.

I'd really like to store my wrapping and parcel papers in the long drawers of this bureau. Those little drawers would be perfect for pens and tape, and the drop-down section could hold stationery, cards, and things. Can you imagine the fun the kids would have with that?! For now, one drawer keeps our fleece blankets and throws neat, because although it is irritating to have to fold blankets several times a day it's a better option than trying to re-roll paper onto a dented telescope.. erm... megaphone... erm... paper roll.

The wicker baskets in this IKEA Expedit would hold lots of things, but the kids frequently go in there and pull out their contents. So, for now, they just hold bibs, scruffs, mopping up towels and hats and scarves. Half of them are empty and a couple only have one or two things in there.

Expedit number two holds some of the kids' toys. We used to have all their toys in the living room, but we changed that for our sanity. I'll talk about that later.

Lastly, we have the "Big Unit". My relationship with Big Unit is a love/hate one. I love that we can store things up high out of the children's reach and I love that no one can see what clutter lies behind those doors until they open them. I hate it because it is massive and dark and takes over the room. It's also a clutter attractamatron. Everything gets put here. I am working on a solution to that though, which I am pretty excited about.

So my mission of the moment is to streamline the things we have in these cupboards already - I am sure there is a TON that can be relocated or thrown away. Then I will work on finding childproof items to store here which will free up space elsewhere. It may not be ergonomically ideal, but I guess you have to make concessions when you have young kids.

Thanks for reading and please feel free to let me know what you store in your family living room.

I linked up to Furniture Feature Friday

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. 

Organising Some Kitchen Cupboards & Drawers

Oooh, I got on a bit of a roll today. I just thought I'd quickly sort out the two deep drawers in the photo above. One thing lead to another and the next thing I knew I'd done those two plus "the awkward cupboard", "that thin cupboard" and "the medicine cupboard" Brilliant!

Here are those drawers before.

And after...

I got rid of quite a bit of stuff here. Either moved it to a different cupboard, chucked it out or put it in a pile to give away.

The left drawer (top photo) now houses bibs on the left and scruffy clothes and an apron on the right. The oven glove's in there too. We keep a pile of old stained clothes so that we can change our toddler into them before she eats anything "stainy". Mums and Dads will know what I mean - it's usually orange food that does it! In summer she will just eat in her pants, but in winter we keep scruffs for her to wear instead.

The drawer on the right (bottom photo) has tea towels, facecloths, dishcloths, dusters, and placemats. I know our tea towels are old and stained, but they're not getting replaced any time soon. No money for that! The facecloths are for wiping our aforementioned toddler after eating. I figured we were spending a small fortune on wet wipes, so I'm switching to cloth for after meals at home.

Then since the kids were being good I moved onto the medicine cupboard and the one we call "that awkward cupboard". It's called that because it's in the corner and half of it disappears behind the medicine cupboard and it's awkward to get into. Because of this we only store items here that we rarely need access to.

Medicine cupboard on the left, awkward on the right.

 

The best thing to do was just to switch the contents over. My baking things needed more space and the medicine cupboard was full of stuff we didn't need anymore like my daughters play rice (relocated) and the sharps box etc. from when I had gestational diabetes.

Here's what it looks like now:

 

I pinched my handy "extra shelf" rack from the tins cupboard because I didn't really need it there and this cupboard was so tall space was being wasted. Now I can see all of my baking things at a glance. I also collected some things together into Tupperware boxes to keep them together - cookie cutters, cake candles, piping nozzles, food colourings, and flavourings, etc.

This one is pretty self-explanatory really. I've created a little list of what's tucked away in there that is fixed to the inside of the cupboard door for easy reference because I will forget and it saves me having to pull everything out to see what's there. The glue isn't dry in this photo, but don't hate me. I was excited to show you and couldn't wait for the drying time!

Last, but not least is "that thin cupboard". Here's a before pic.

Sorry for the poor quality, I was using my small camera and it's not so good in low light.


After...

Not much has changed I suppose. It's just been tidied up really. The jelly man is my coppers jar. He rocks.

Thanks so much for reading!

Sarah. x

I've linked this post up to...

Bringing Out My Daughters Next Size Of Clothes

  

Now my little lady has turned two I have gone into the loft to bring down her stash of clothes that are the next size up. Thanks to a very kind friend I had a lot of clothes in waiting that have been passed on from her little girl. 

Since I have sensed Eldest growing out of her clothes for a while I decided to "catch" those things that are too small as they came through the laundry and ironing. I then had three boxes set up. One for things to pass along to my friend for her daughter and another for those things I can sell on eBay. The third box wasn't really a box at all, it was just the bin - for those clothes that didn't survive this particular stage of toddlerdom.

On principle, I would never try to sell anything that had been given to us by anyone. I think that would be tacky and would feel wrong, so everything that was passed to us I will pass along again. The eBay box will only contain those things we have bought ourselves that I feel will sell well - sets, 'better' brands, etc.

So here are some photos of Eldests clothes storage before. First her chest of drawers...

This is her top drawer - Socks, hats/scarves/gloves, sleepsuits/PJs, tights, blankets, big girl pants. There is a lot in there and I'd like to declutter that drawer a little.

The middle drawer - home to long and short-sleeved tops, vests and knitwear. Too much in here too!

Bottom drawer - home to all "bottomy" types of things - leggings, trousers, jeans, dungarees, skirts, and shorts.

Last but not least...

The wardrobe! I have never understood why they don't fit children's wardrobes with either a second rail halfway down or some integrated drawers or something. Such a waste of space! This is why there are those plastic drawers in there.

In this wardrobe, we have dresses, jackets, and coats as well as my wedding dress at the end there. This should be moved really, but there's no room in our wardrobe right now. That's a whole other blog post for a whole other day!

On top of the drawers are a random cardigan and her bath box from when she was a baby. This needs sorting out now too. Have I opened up a can 'o' worms or what?! It's full of cotton wool balls, hair clips, bobbles, baby bath stuff, etc. A real mish-mash. 

Stuffed down the side of the drawers is the pillow from her bed (doesn't like it) and her old nappy bag. 

The drawers contain a whole array of things such as breast pump, instructions for the nursery furniture, a foot moulding set, sling, nappies, knickers for under dresses, wipes, plunger (yep, plunger), shower gels and probably more random things that I've forgotten about. 

So far I managed to weed out all of the clothes that are too small and reorganise her drawers to fit the new things in. 

Here's what her room looked like mid-session...

This girl has more clothes than I do!

I haven't finished this little mini-project yet, so no after photos for you until I'm done. Nooooo! Cliffhanger! ;o)

In the meantime, I'll give you a little taster of my next mini-project to get your fingers itching for a sort out (or just to do your head in).

The Great Sock Declutter!!

I decided to start with something in keeping with the season. Since Christmas has only just been and gone, and like many Christians across the world, my family celebrated the birth of our Lord by the giving of socks. Not to be sniffed at! Especially since my great sock decluttering session exposed 51 pairs of too small, threadbare or holy socks.

Now my husband, daughter and I have lovely organised sock drawers. And I feel energised and motivated to carry on. Today the sock drawers, tomorrow... Knickers!! Maybe...

Oh, and in the interests of me thinking, "I wonder what would happen if..." I have listed our old socks on eBay. Nice!