My hanging storage was breaking due to the weight. So I had to replace this with another one from Ikea. It is called a Skubb. And the top two had t-shirts and strap camisoles. And using the Marie Kondo method of folding, I got all my t-shirts and camisoles in my chest of drawers.
In our spare room, we have an Ottoman bed. When I saw this one day online, I loved it and then when I went to the store I really wanted it. It was retailed at £1249. So I waited for the sale and within the year, it was reduced and I got if for £349. Such a bargain. I did not need a mattress so that kept the cost down. I wanted it for the storage. This is what I have put in mine. I mainly use it for shoes and bags.
These are my summer sandals and shoes. I travel frequently and often go to warm places. So it makes more sense to keep my summer stuff in the bed. Easier access when needed.
Lots of bags for different purposes. I used to have so many more but I have since decluttered so many and given them to charity. Now they are in piles and baskets so I know what style I am looking for.
This is my emergency/carry on bag that fits under airplane seats. I have it semi filled so I just need to add toiletries, clothes and electronic pieces. It is perfect for me, and it can ever hold my computer as I use this often for short haul trips last year.
These are my summer bags and accessories.
This is the rest of my shoes and boots. I have my trainers in buckets. I also have my walking boots and my hunter wellington boots.
I would recommend have an Ottoman bed to anyone. It is perfect for me and storing all this pieces. I do have a lot of things and will not need to buy replacements for a very long time !
The linen cupboard was the next place to be organised. This was what I started with. We have king size and double size bedding. My linen cupboard also has to hold a lot of non-linen storage items as well. I need a place for towels and sheets, but also cleaning supplies, beach bags, games and travelling items. This is what I started with;
![20180704_144527[1]](https://traveladdictuk.files.wordpress.com/2018/11/20180704_1445271.jpg)
I first emptied the cupboard completely and was in such a mess. Then I started to sort and purge, and I needed to be as ruthless as I could. As I started to put things back away, I had a long thought about my linens. I have kept some items for when my cats have died. I am not going to use brand new bed sheets, if my cats are going to be sick on them. We have two cats over ten years old, and they have started to be sick on our bed. Not nice but what can you do ?
Using baskets and containers is especially helpful when it comes to items that are hard to stack neatly, such as flannels, hand towels, cleaning supplies etc. If your piles are always toppling and in disarray, give them a dedicated container/basket.
We do have a lot of linen and towels almost double what I expected to find. But that is fine. We are planning within ten years to move to Spain part time, and then we can take any duplicate bedding and towels with us. Any things I was getting rid of, I bagged up and took them to one of the charity bins, who sell the fabrics based on the weight. This is my organised linen cupboard which I am pleased with. Now onto towards something else I need to organise !
This is my pan cupboard, where I stock our saucepans and oven trays.
I started taking every out and deciding if I wanted to get rid of anything. In the end I removed cake tin. I do not bake anymore and they were not getting used. They were moved to my charity box. I then when through my pans.
One of these I have not used in six months, and tried to put in my charity box. But my husband was not having any of it. He insisted we keep it and I told him, if we still have not used it within the next six months. Then it will be sent to charity. I then cleaned the cupboard. And then put all the saucepans lids, and folding steamer baskets in a box from Home Bargains. This small one is perfect so that things do not fall down and get in the way.
And then I was wondering whether to change to a saucepan lid rack holder but it did not fit properly and the basket was better for our needs.
And then I was finished, so this is pan cupboard until I do another declutter !
Just a quick post to show you how I store all my different batteries.
I ordered this craft box from Amazon
What I like about this box, is that you can adjust the compartments for you purpose, we hold all our batteries in this. And it is easy to see if you need to buy some more. At the moment, we hold;
AA, AAA, MN21, 2032, 2CRS, 1.55V
And our rechargeable batteries
This box is just right, and even works for my rheumatoid arthritis hands. I am very happy with this box.
I am today showing you our renovated home. We moved into an old council home that was lived in by a brother and sister. And it need total renovation. We had to replace the roof, put central heating in, remove two bathrooms. Yes, we had one on both ground and first floor. These are a few photos we took when we decided to buy it. The brother and sister had moved out and left it empty for showings.
This was the bathroom upstairs with a cast iron bath. When we moved in, the bath was unusable. The bath had to be broken up to be removed. This was one of the first things that we did after the roof was replaced and central heating put in.
We had a very small lounge and a very large dining room. We actually slept in this room for a good part of six to nine months, while we were having work done upstairs. All our possessions were still packed up and we worked full time while all the renovations took place. If you have ever done a renovation and lived through it. You know exactly what I mean when I say there was always dust and dirt everywhere. Floorboards were taken up, looking back it was a nightmare.
We could not agree for such a long time, whether to have a lounge/diner or a kitchen diner. In the end, my husband decided, while I was out with family one day. I came home to find the wall removed and the rubbish taken away to the tip. I was shell shocked and again speechless. And that does not happen very often.
The downstairs bathroom was pink and I used this for a year. This was the first room we tackled after we had moved upstairs. This was roughly a year after we brought the house. We knew this was going to be our utility room, to hold our washing machine and dry our clothes. Except now the cats have taken it over. It is their room now.
The kitchen was horrible and we both knew we wanted to replace this as soon as we were able. We eventually did this finally starting eighteen months after we brought our home.
I would do a renovation again. But my husband has said that he would not. But you never know. This house is perfect for us. It just needed a larger garden and a garage next door. Maybe our next house will have everything we need. After the renovation, we never emptied the loft of all the other things. And we just lived our lives. But now we need to do a big declutter and get better plans in place. And this is the time to do this.
Today I am showing you my greeting cards organisation. In the past, I had found myself without a card for a birthday or not enough Christmas cards Trying to be better about being prepared, I started collecting greeting cards to keep at home. A few here and there and I had grown a nice collection. And they needed a dedicated home.
I had a old Ikea box that I liked the look of.
I could have just put the cards in there. But as there are both Birthday, Thank you, Christmas cards. I decided to make some dividers. Using craft cardboard, I cut this down to size and used a label template to create tabs for the tops. I used one of the tallest envelopes in the stack to act as a guide for height. And using my label maker, I had labelled dividers. Then I sorted all the cards and then I was done. I am very pleased that I have a dedicated card storage system.
My gift wrap is all stored in one box. I have both birthday and Christmas paper in this box. I also have ribbon, sellotape, tags and scissors. So that I am ready to wrap my gift. This is the box that has made me life easier.
This is the inside of my box, one section holds the ribbons, sellotape and scissors.
This other section hold gift tags and stickers for my gifts
And the bottom of the box hold my wrapping paper both Birthday and Christmas and any sheets that I have.
I would recommend this box to anyone wanting to store wrapping paper and everything else that comes with this, in the one place. It has made my life easier and that is all good !
Welcome to my blog ! Are you overwhelmed by clutter? Feeling disorganised even stressed in your own environment and don’t know where to start? This was me last year. Being made redundant due to ill health, I thought I would start decluttering my home.
Organising can overwhelm us all and bad habits can quickly happen before a blink of an eye. Decluttering is also one of the best things that allows you to weed through your belongings and find out what you have room for and what you NEED in your new home. Decluttering is one of the best feelings in the world.
I have started to really enjoys sorting, organising and getting things into order. It has taken me a long time to be able to tackle these tasks themselves. I have found that making decisions about possessions is difficult, and that emotional attachments to our belongings can be very strong. But I am pleased to be actually feeling better the more organised I am becoming.
I suggest starting by having a look at the areas you would like to work on and think about what you want to achieve in your own homes. What comes first is decluttering; setting up a system for categorising items e.g. keep, charity or sell. That is what I am working on. Come join me and see how I get on organising !
If you want to contact me, feel free at
thisessexwomanorganises@gmail.com
Happy Organising
Natasha
traveladdictuk.wordpress.com 