the {toy} room

sometimes, i just feel like organizing. i can only take it for so long and then i'm just consumed until i get a couple of hours and totally overhaul a room or a cupboard ! my victim this time was the toy room.



we ordered bunk beds for the kids room. they share a room and have been sleeping on mattresses on the floor since easter. no biggie, except that we ordered these bunk beds months ago. they were supposed to be here by mid july. um, yeah, it's almost mid september now !

why am i telling you this ? well ... i've been putting off really organzing the toy room because once the beds come, some of the things from the toy room are moving into the bedroom. see, the bunk beds are the kind with a desk underneath. they will both have their own desk and obviously, we will move the crayons and pens and pencils and scissors and glue and paper and coloring books and you get the picture ... into the room with their desks ! but i can't move that stuff yet or it would just be on the floor !!

well ... i couldn't stand it any longer so the other day, i just got in there and got it done. it'll change again but that's ok ! it always does ....

i took a bunch of photos. in no particular order, i'll just tell you what i did ... you ready ?? ok ... let's go ...

the closet. previously they were a couple of big boxes on the floor. no lids. never looked tidy. i hated it ! this bookshelf was in the room as well. never really had a specific purpose. so, i moved it into the closet and filled it up with stuff ...

alia has lots of little bits and pieces. costume jewelry, rings, handbags, wallets, makeup. this top shelf holds all of those things ...



the bottom shelf has a box of spy gear, a box of superheroes, and a box of cars.

the two boxes on the top shelf are ones that i get down as we need them. my mom always had a box of baby toys for visiting babies. i thought it was a brilliant idea so when i was getting rid of the baby toys, i kept a collection for when we have little friends over ! it's great ! the other box up there is puzzles. the kids aren't into puzzles so much as they used to be. i get the box down when they want it and it works great. saves having all of the pieces taken out and strewn all over the place when we have visitors who aren't used to a box with 50 puzzles all separated into sip lock bags !!

the other side of the closet is home to a box with all the barbie stuff, and then two miscellaneous boxes. one has yo yo's and marbles and magnetics and stuff like that. the other had kitchen appliances and a dust buster and magic wands ! :) there's the dress up stuff hanging. that works so well. we've had it that way for a while now ! and the top shelf is the big roll of paper from ikea ... and some great drawings that they've done on it !! i like them to ask before they use it ... my kids are HIGH CONSUMERS of anything paper or craft !!

we also have this cupboard in the toy room. oh shoot ... i forgot to open those doors and take a photo for you. in the double door section, alia has all her little pet shops set up. it's great ! she can leave it setup in there and just open/shut the door !! the single door is the same ... only my little pony !! i'll have to take a photo later to show you !

this is the lego shelf. one box of lego's. one box of lego instruction books.

these next two shelves are at the top ... they are things that jono has built and doesn't want to get wrecked when little cousins or friends come over.

he loves lego.

a while back, i had a dilemma. these kids do so much drawing, but what to do with it all ?? i save my favorites but they just keep producing. i don't want to throw it away ... at least not straight away. so ... i gave them this box. it was full, two times over ! i had to cull a lot of it. i found some great stuff !! jono wrote a ninja book that i'm going to share with you soon !!

alia's baby clothes and blankets and potty ...



paper and drawing stuff ...



and the top shelf. home to all the excess stuffed animals and dolls ...



the fridge.

these stack-able 'boxes' are great ! i've labeled them and so far, the kids are doing a great job putting things back in their right place. ( i labeled everything with a flat surface !!) ha ha anyway ... this is obviously all the little kitchen bits and pieces.

the bookshelf.
yeah, blurry picture.
you'll survive !



this is the other side of the room ...



happy

alia has been writing this everywhere !

(can you see it on the crib ?)

grr.

well ... that's it folks. toy room done.

i've started a new schedule today. after a planning session in the bath last night ! :) i got up at 5:00 am. I've been working on the computer and will get off by 6:30 at the latest. it's 6:12 ... eek ! the time flies !! i have been thinking i need to 'un plug' a bit more and just get control over my time spent on the computer. we'll see how this new system works ...

i'll let you know !!

ps ... i'm not proof reading this. no time !! :)

{pantry overhaul}

The pantry in this house is totally different to the pantry in the old house. When we moved in, I just did the best I could with what I had ... just wanting to get unpacked ! Well, it had been driving me crazy for some time now and the other night I had just had ENOUGH ! I took everything out and got to work.

My organizing 'style', if you will, is to use what I have on hand, before going and buying new stuff. (For this job I only bought the container that now houses 10 kilos of rice and the containers that came inside that big container !) I have a shelf in my garage for organizing equipment and I don't often throw stuff away (in that department) because I find that systems are forever changing and needing re-doing and I often use something that I had used somewhere else. In fact, all of the plastic 'shoe boxes' that you see on the second shelf of my pantry were being used for craft storage until I re-did that system two weeks ago !

I've taken a few before and after shots for you and I'll give you explanations as we go. Feel free to ask any questions you like !

The top shelf didn't need too much work. I have sugar and salt up the top there. To the side of the wire baskets is tea bags (yeah, we drink a lot of tea and I like variety !!) Then there is the honey and agave nectar that both have to live in tupperware so the ants don't get them ! (been there, done that already !!)

The 'shoe boxes' are catagorized and labeled. One is 'japanese', one is 'indian'. There's the cake decorating stuff ... you know, sprinkles, candles etc. One box is nuts, seeds and dried fruit. There's a box of dried lentils and beans. Packet soups and dressing mixes in another.

The bottles of sauces, vinegars, oils etc were really irritating me so I moved them to this cupboard and beside the stove. Much better !!

These drawers are fantastic. The one on the right is snack stuff. Crackers, gum, marshmellows, you know ... that sort of stuff. The one of the left is salt, pepper, tahini, peanut butter, that sort of stuff ...

That big box is sushi rice. 10 kilo's of it ! We eat a lot of sushi 'round here !

The cereal needs to be on lower shelves so the kids can get their own breakfasts ... and the big pullout drawer beside it is all my spices. I have quite a collection. I loooooooove spices. They are all labeled on the top for easy access !!

The floor of the pantry ...

The potatoes live in an old crock pot dish. The electrical part stopped working but I couldn't bring myself to throw away the dish. It is perfect for potatoes ! Keeps them fresh for so long ! The onions are there on the floor too, as you can see. The two drawers are my grains. The top one is pasta and noodles. The bottom one is rice, quinoa, millet, amaranth etc ... Beside the drawers is drinks. There's a big juice and a couple of soft drinks for special occasions. In front of those are my brown sugars. I debated changing the canisters but the kids like to have brown sugar on their oats and they don't make a mess with them in these so I left them ! The big tupperware is flour ...

Where are my canned goods ?? NOT IN MY PANTRY. I didn't change this in the overhaul as it works quite well. But, I'll show you the system anyway. I have sort of second pantry in the garage. The garage is just around the corner from the kitchen so it's good on the convenince scale. This second pantry is home to all of our excess appliances. The only ones that live in the kitchen are the rice cooker, the kettle and the coffee makers. (yes, more than one !)

Everything else, lives here. I like it because I have easy access to all of them, and yes, I use these all quite regularly. (except the deep fryer ... it only gets occassional use) No digging to the back of an inconveniently placed corner cupboard ! I hate that and more often than not decide against using what I might have to dig for !!

Anyhoo ... the cans live out here too.

Well, there you go ! Anything I haven't covered ? If so ... ask me about it ! I'd love to have a discussion with you !! Anything you see that could be improved ? Again ... let's talk !! :)

{home management}

My sister Ellie inspired me.
It's not the first time.
She has a tendency to be like that ... inspirational.

We were talking the other day about home management.
She has recently put some new systems into place that are working really well.

I'm not following the same systems as my schedule is different to hers.
But, listening to her enthusiasm inspired me to put my own systems into place.

We pack a lot into our lives.
Rory works full time.
He also plays futsal on two different teams.
I work part time
and spend half a day a week in a studio doing an art lesson.
We are both involved in music and missions at church.
Outside of school, Jono plays AFL and soccer.
Both kids take swimming lessons.

And that's just the stuff that's scheduled.

It's not too much.
We have plenty of time to relax
and enjoy being together.
We eat dinner together almost every night.
There are of course, exceptions.


BUT, what can happen, if I'm not careful is that I let the housework pile up
and then I spend an entire Saturday cleaning and that makes me grumpy !

There just had to be a better way ...

One of my biggest frustrations, when it comes to cleaning the house,
has been not knowing what my husband expects.
So ... first thing I did after talking to Ellie
( why did I not do this 12 years ago !? )
was have him tell me

EXACTLY

what his expectations are.

How often does he think the house needs to be vacuumed ?
How frequently do the sheets need to be changed ?

etc.

etc.

etc.

I thought his expectations were reasonable so I went with those.

I sat down and made a chart that lists all the cleaning and how often it needs to be done.
I added dates according to the frequency.
So ... this week, when I clean the toilet, I'll write the date it was done in the column for this week.
Make sense ?

I think it is going to be really good for me to be able to keep track of everything.
Also good for when Rory gets an inkling to help out, which he is very good at, to be able to
see what has been done and what needs to be done.



I also did a daily chart for each of the kids.



They love it.



I added the charts to the 'home management station' that I've been developing
on the inside of the pantry door.
It is the perfect location.
Seriously, how many times is a Mommy in and out of the pantry on any day of the week !?
I ALWAYS see it !!

I've got my calendar there.
The notes from the school.
Events, like a wedding we are going to in June ...
The menu.
And now ... the charts !

Can I tell you how much I love having everything in one place ?
I have always wanted some sort of 'home management system' but have never had a good spot for it.
I didn't want it on a wall somewhere where it looked 'junky'.
But, in the pantry ... with a door that closes.
Perfect, I tell you.
Just perfect.

So tell me ... do you have a system for getting everything done ?
Care to share ?
You can do it in the comments or post it on your blog.
If you do a post, be sure to let me know so I can come check it out ...

Sharing Reality

I think that often times, in blog land, we get a skewed idea of people and their lives. You may look at all of my organizing posts and think that my house is always spotless. Today, I'm going to dispel that myth !

I don't think it is realistic for a home, especially a home with children, to be spotless 24/7. Life, for me is about much more than a spotless home. I don't have the time, nor the inclination to clean any more than necessary. Maybe that is one of my motivations for being so organized.

Even so ...this is what my house often looks like at the end of the week. I did not pick up anything. I did not move anything. I did not put anything away before making this. I just got the camera on Saturday morning and went around and made this video. You may notice too that I didn't get out of my pajamas ... didn't even brush my hair !

This is as authentic as it gets, people !

Please excuse the irritating way I am speaking. How many times can one person say "right ..." ? I don't do that in real life. Not that I know of. I didn't even notice that I was doing it. Rory pointed it out when I showed him the video !

And for some reason, on this video, I have a lisp. Wild !!

"Show Me Your Systems" said Shay (Garage)

I had another mocha caramel latte yesterday ... I said I was going to !
It was not as delicious as the first one ... they never are. I need to remember that !
I hope you've got yourself a cuppa, this will have lots to look at.


Remember the before and after pictures of my garage ?
Go have a look if you need to.
I'll wait.

do do do do do do do

do do do do

do

do do do do do

That's jeopardy music if you couldn't tell !!

This first little section stayed pretty much the same except that the rubbish bin and recycle box didn't used to be there. They fit much better there then they fit in the other place. Oh ... the vacuum cleaner. It used to be farther in but this is much handier access. You may be wondering why my microwave is in my garage ! Well, there's not really room in my kitchen ... the door to my kitchen is right there, beside the rubbish bin. Having the microwave here is almost like having it in the kitchen ... plus, I don't use it all that often anyway. I didn't take a photo of the open cupboard because I didn't change anything inside it ... but, it contains my bigger kitchen appliances. Pop corn popper, sandwich press, juicer, stuff like that ....

You'll be happy to know I did indeed clean my rubbish bin after the embarrassing photo in the stinky story post ... I just couldn't not post a photo of it nice and shiny clean !!

Storage is a HUGE problem in this house. We have very little of it available. Case in point, there is no linen closet. We bought this one and it lives in the garage. It had been driving me crazy though. As you can see in the before shot, it was way too full. So ... I moved the extra blankets and pillows ( you'll see where they are stored in the next photos) and just rearranged the rest. Now my linen closet is just sheets, towels, pillow cases and table cloths.

We have this old entertainment unit in the garage as well ... for storage. It works well except I've never known what to do with the big 'tv section'. It's too big to work effectively. So ... that big target bag ... it's got all the extra blankets and pillows in it !! Perfect. On top of the unit, I've got an old computer than I'm giving to a friend, our Christmas tree and the red/white/blue bag has got the fleecy under covers that go on the bed in winter ... plus my electric blanket.

The kids shoes live in the garage. In that white basket. We always come in this way and it's nice to have their shoes right there for those mornings that we are in a rush. We rarely have kids running around trying to find their shoes ! (it's me who runs around trying to remember where I took mine off !!)

This space on top of the dryer has always felt like wasted space to me. Not any more. I moved those stack able white things. I don't know what they are called. They used to be in the entertainment unit but they weren't convenient to get into because I always had it covered with the sheet ... just looked better. But, here is perfect !! Want to know what lives in them ? Hopefully not mice. ha

The top one on the left is those plastic bags that you get from the grocery store when you leave your 'green bags' in the car ! They are good for garbage bags and carrying wet swim suits though so I keep a good supply of them on hand. Next shelf down houses a few 'green bags'. I keep the majority of them in the car but I do like to have a few in the house too. The third shelf down is all of our goggles and caps for swimming. And a box with a few bits and pieces of cat stuff. You know, brushes and junk. The bottom one on the left side has a box of clothes pins. I hang our clothes in the house ... I'll share my laundry system with you soon too ! On the other side of the clothes pins is all the single socks ....

Ok ... the three shelves on the right. The top one has all my cleaning supplies, including rags, for easy access. Middle one ... a box of candles and the bin liners. The bottom one has the phone books. I'd like to throw them in the bin but Rory uses them from time to time so ... not yet !

Moving around the garage a bit ... next to the washing machine. More wasted space. A box holding a water noodle ?? Hello .... !? Now, it houses all of my spare organizing materials. Or ... my stash !! I rarely throw out things that can be used to organize ! Systems are continually changing ... developing ... improving. It's good to have a little stash !! Just make sure you have somewhere to keep it !!!

The last two shelves are closest to the roller door in the garage. The blue shelf houses all of the kids stuff ... except their bikes ! The other one is tools, fishing tackle boxes, Rory's sports gear, the tent, the radio controlled plane, the roller blades and up top ... the water noodle ! Much better home for it !!! *sigh of relief*

In every organizing session ... there must be stuff that LEAVES your home ! We accumulate so much and we just don't need all of it. I am a hoarder by nature. I've had to teach myself to let go of things. After years of teaching (!!) I do it quite naturally and very regularly.

But what to do with the stuff ??

If I know of someone who needs something that I'm getting rid of, I always offer it to them first. I love to give stuff to an organization here on the coast that gives things away free. You know, like a second hand shop ... except they don't sell it. They give it. I love that. As well, I give stuff to my favorite second hand stores. The ones that use the money they make to put back into the community ... I like that too.

The big items of furniture that need to go ... again, if I know of someone who has a need, I offer to them first. Next step ... freecycle.

Our communities are so full of people with needs. I'm constantly overwhelmed by it, by the feeling of 'where do I start' ? How can we ever help all these people ???

"What is in your hand" ? -- something I heard in a sermon that has stuck with me ever since.

What is in my hand ? What am I good at ? What do I love to do ? I'm wired that way for a reason ...

I'm good at systems, paper work, filing, databases, spreadsheets, etc ... I believe in the purpose and vision of the place where I work and want to be part of it. That is why I volunteer as an administrative person.

I'm good at organizing. I love doing it. That is why I help as many of my family and friends (as will let me) organize their homes ...

I cook. I cook well. I love to cook. I love to cook well. Our dinner table ... it's in my hand. We open it often ...

I give rather than sell things I don't need ... it's in my hand.

What's in your hand ? What are you good at ? What do you love to do ?

"Show Me Your Systems" said Shay (Kids Boxes)

Tuesday I showed you my wrapping paper system ... but, there's other boxes in my office closet. The Christmas decoration boxes, pretty self explanatory. Maybe I'll do a post about them next Christmas when I pull everything out. Maybe I'll forget ! We'll see ! *grins*

What I'm going to show you today are the pink and blue boxes. They hold lots of little treasures that I'm sure will be fun to go through when the kids are grown.

Are your kids like mine ? Do they do colorings and paintings and drawings and toilet roll crafts and cereal box crafts and you name it ... they do it ? Yeah, I thought so. What on earth is a mother to do with all of this stuff ? I have been keeping bits and pieces of what they do over the years. None of the cereal box crafts though ... too big ! My friend Kelli takes photos of those things and keeps the photos !! Brilliant idea !! I've done that with a few things ....

I have tried to limit myself to what I keep. That was harder when they were tiny. Every little thing they did, I wanted to keep. So ... I've got a good collection from their early years ! Now, I just keep things that they do a particularly good job on or that they are particularly proud of or it's something sweet that they've done, like this little beauty. Remember ??

Eventually, these things make it into the black notebooks you see in the photo below. Named, dated and filed in plastic sleeves in date order ... I'm behind a couple of years !! BUT ... that's ok. Because I just keep putting the ones I want to keep in the pink and blue boxes ! One of these days, I'll pull them out again and file them all and then start collecting again !!



They hold other things too. Here's Jono's box. In it, you'll find a small assortment of baby clothes and baby blankets of his that I want to keep. There's a few things grandma has made, like the library bag on the top there that he's outgrown ... Actually, she made the superman shirt and the blanket beneath the library bag too ! I just pulled those three things out of his room the other day.

There are letters from his cousins. (and other family members) Awards he's won at soccer ... once they come off his wall ... they go in the box ! Stuff like that. Eventually I'll put Mr. Bear in there too. That's his teddy bear that he's slept with since he was old enough to have stuffed toys in his crib !



Alia's box is the same ... but in her's there's also a little box with jewelry that she wore as an infant. One day I'll give it to her but not while she's bound to break or lose it !

Oh yeah, both of their boxes have a dummy ( pacifier ). Little sunglasses. You know, just the little stuff that you can't bear to throw away. Memories of the short period of time that they were babies !

Jono has started losing teeth, they will go in his box too, wrapped up in tissues like this ...

Is that gross ? To keep teeth ? I have my wisdom teeth and I think they are really cool ! I wish I had all my teeth.

I might end this post here. I'm pretty tired today. Rory and I stayed up til 11:30 last night *SHOCK HORROR* to watch the first two episodes of 24. Don't know why they do that ... show the first two at once ... maybe it's to suck you in ! Not that they need to do that ... if it's got Jack Bauer in it, I'll watch it !! Seriously, he's the only character that's been in EVERY season.

We rode bikes to and from school today, I worked out at the gym, I worked as well ... accomplished a lot which I was happy about ... and now I'm thinking "can't someone else cook dinner ?" Unfortunately, Rory won't be home tonight 'til after dinner so it's all on me ! Oh well ... my bread maker is making the dough for the Focaccia bread as I type, and I'm just making a simple dinner ... Trina's chicken casserole ... minimal effort for a yummy yummy meal !

I'm pretty sure I said I was going to end this post ....

Doing so. Now.