Craft Room / Guitar Room / Home Office Overhaul

Remember this?

Well, a couple of hours, a couple of recycling boxes, a couple of binbags and a couple of strops later it's been decluttered, cleaned and organised to perfection!

This room is our combination craft room, guitar room, and office space and it is actually what used to be our old kitchen. If I get some time later I'll post photos of the old room and pictures from when it was being renovated. The vintage wallpaper we uncovered is worth a post all on its own!!

So, without further ado here are the before and after photos from my latest decluttering and home organising mission:

 You may notice in that last one I had a little helper. Not much help mind - he was asleep! Tut!

Now for the after photos. Please try to ignore how wonky some of these photos are. I think some of it is lens distortion and some is just because I was stood in a cupboard to take the photo. 

Ta daaa! I am very pleased, even if I do say so myself!

The only downside from sorting out this particular room is that I found nothing that I am able to put on eBay. However, I did manage to throw away tons of paper recycling and filled a binbag with normal rubbish, so not too bad.

Remember that cupboard I stood in to take photos? It's the door to the left of the desk. Inside is our boiler and other household bits and bobs. You would think that it would be a useful cupboard, and it kind of is except it's not really big enough for the clothes horses (yes, we need two) to fit in as well as the ironing board and hoover. I do have plans though, so watch this space!

I'm Coveting This Laundry Hamper

This would make life a lot easier! No more bending into the one basket to lift out mixed up clothes, sorting into three piles then discovering that you don't have enough in any pile for a load...

Actually, that's not happened to me in years. Usually, I find I have too many of one colour section to do one load. In which case this is still a good item to have! Everyone puts their washing in the right basket so all I have to do is glance to see whether any of them are full enough for a load to be done, rather than having to empty and sort the one basket to see. Easy peasy!

There's a catch though. It's £30 in Next and I think that's a bit much to pay. I'll get my thinking cap on and see if I can come up with an alternative solution based on this idea.

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).

Selling Books on Ebay

I am a book addict! Specifically books about vampires and werewolves. You know, the kind of thing that is all the rage at the moment. In my amazon account, I tend to preorder the latest paperback release in those series' I like the most. Then I can get my hands on a copy as soon as it is published.

The sheer amount of books I devour means I would have a LOT kicking about the house if I kept them. Last year I got together all the books I didn't want to keep and sold them all on eBay. Now I continue this by listing each book I have read as soon as I have a batch of 4 or 5 to go on in one go.

Not only does this help to keep clutter out of the house, but it means I get some of the money back from the purchase price I originally laid out. Everyone wins!

Books are pretty easy to list on eBay. You don't even have to use your own photograph of the book if you use their system to enter the ISBN number and bring up the details. I prefer to take my own photographs though. It helps to describe the book so that people are clear on the condition. I also make sure I explain the condition in writing too.

My prices on eBay usually always start at 99p since I think that attracts more interest, apart from the fact that it's free to list at 99p or less since I am a private individual. Also, in my opinion, items will tend to find their own correct value provided you have used a decent photo and described it well.

Decluttering to Ebay

Today's job was to upload those listings I'd already added to Turbo Lister. That included the bag 'o' socks. I tell you what there's going to be a bidding war over those!! Since I had some time this evening too I also listed some maternity wear and baby clothes.

Each time I organise a cupboard or tidy a shelf I will be thinking about things that I could list on eBay. This will help declutter our living space as well as raise funds for home decoration and storage solutions for all my home organising wizardry! :o)

Organising My New Diary

Happy New Year!! :o)

Yesterday was a day for a minor organisation. I always find the updating of a new diary to be a fun experience. It's like a fresh start. This year I will remember all birthdays and make sure I use my diary efficiently to effectively run my family's lives. Yeh. ::nods::

To warn me of upcoming birthdays I have counted back 10 days before each one and added a note forewarning me so that I have time to buy or make a card and post it out if necessary. I've also put my weight and vital statistics in there as measured on 29th December so I can refer back when I'm skinny.

This feels so good! I'm never this organised at home!! :o)

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!