The life and times of Libby Withnall

On Tuesday I tackled my desk. Since it took 4-5 hours to complete I think it’s safe to say it was definitely a job needing done.

I started at the top and worked my way down. As you can see I removed the top shelf so I could stand things up.

I got rid of some mags I had been keeping, tidied and rearranged. Looks SOOO much better don’t you think?

The desk had become a real dumping ground.

I moved all my bills, etc into the trays in the cupboard and tried to make this a special “ME” place.

Then came the drawers. I cleared out the junk and made a tidy, practical drawer.

All my paid bills/accounts have moved to the spare room upstairs (but still need to be sorted)

and the bottom drawer is now EMPTY!!!

With the cupboards opened…

I’m so happy with how it turned out. Yes it took me All day to do but it’s going to be nice to use this desk again, as I’d pretty much taken to using my laptop ALL the time. And with the desk clear I should be able to use the desk for menu planning, school uniform stuff and anything else I feel like. It’s certainly my new happy place .

With Spring just around the corner, and me finally being in good health, I’ve been itching to give the house a thorough clean. It’s been a long time since it’s been done due to this years injuries & illness so the house is in desperate need of a thorough clean. I often get stuck on where to start so decided to tackle it as I do each week when I do the weekly cleaning.

So first up is the dining and lounge room. It was probably a good room to start it as it was relatively tidy and organised.

I cleared away both sides of the buffet units – which had become a bit of a dumping ground when we got the new lounges.

I then spent a good few hours cleaning and reorganising the buffet unit…as you can see it has been a while…

I cleaned the window sills, removed cobwebs, wiped down the walls and skirting boards.

All that remains is sorting through the jigsaw puzzles….the ones we’re keeping are going to be re-homed in the cupboard under our stairs.

I then moved on to the lounge room.

We still have to order new coffee tables, though we may keep this one, so I tidied and cleaned…

and repacked the blankets…

Looking tidier….

Except this corner (which is awaiting a new coffee table). Amy’s computer has been dumped here and a dogs toy landed. Plus a stack of old magazines for me to sort through.

The plan is t0 drop down the speaker shelf (behind our new TV) and get another shelf to go the whole width of the alcove space.

Still to do – the fun job of sorting out this cupboard, and trying to get Kevin to part with “some” of his DVDs.

Next week I tackle the kitchen…

It’s great having a spare room but the downside is it’s like a magnet for hard-to-home items. I mean it was only 3 months ago that this room was last tackled. But with our Japanese exchange student arriving it was time to get the room ship shape. It actually only took me an hour to turn the room from this…

to this…

And this…

to this…just don’t ask me to open the cupboard doors .

Looking a whole lot better and with some shelves for our guest to make herself at home…

We added a camping bed for her to sleep on…

a mirror (which I’ve been wanting to put here since this became my exercise room)…

and a few little treats for her to enjoy…

Hoping she’ll feel most welcome and at home, and hoping the view stays like this….

And I love that the spare room has another use (on top of sewing, exercise & storage) as a guest room.

Another video for you. I did a blog post a while back on what’s in my bag but thought it would be fun to do a video update – not that much has changed . I wish I’d done this back when I worked and when I’d had young kids. It’s amazing how thing like this change.

Please let me know if you do a post sharing what’s in your bag. Go on – it’s fun and it’s easy.

Another day another video. But this video was actually filmed before our UK trip last year but I didn’t have time to post before we left and then I forgot all about it…. until I started to think about packing for this trip. This is basically a review for the Eagle Creek pack-it system – which I LOVE – but you could use the same principle with snap locks bags to keep like items with like.

My biggest hint for packing if you have reasonable access to a washing machine or laundry service – pack only 4 outfits (days clothes)  for each season. Some items you will be able to mix and match and wear more than once but otherwise be prepared to wash every 4 days. I  make sure that every items goes with at least 2 other items, more if possible. And I try to convert day outfits into night outfits – maybe changing to dressier pants or adding a smart jacket or scarf and wearing dressy shoes (only take one pair of dress shoes). If you want more packing hints be sure to check out this post I wrote last year.

You know it’s time when you pantry items start to explode from every shelf and every spare bit of space ,and things are put where they just don’t belong. I’m sure everyone knows that it’s important to have an organised pantry so as to use up foods BEFORE they expire and to make cooking and preparing foods so much easier.

If you have a smaller pantry or mutliple storage areas you could totally empty the space, sort and then put everything back but our pantry is too big for that plus this is a job I do fairly frequently so there isn’t a lot of expired product. So I tackle one shelf or section at a time, bringing everything onto the main island bench, sorting, repackaging and cleaning the shelf before returning. Two tins of milo? – condense or put one into spare storage (we have a back up or stockpile pantry in the garage). Open packet of corn chips? – put into the container labelled corn chips (hint,hint Amy).

I also weeded out these items to go back to the stockpile pantry.

On this clean up I also did a bit of reorganising and moved some things around. I also created a grab-and-go snack box.

Which now sits beside the other kids snacks.

A few hours later order is restored. I’m sure you already know the key to a well organised pantry – keep like products with like and use containers to house small items. I’m not totally 100% – my pasta is not beside my pasta sauces . But all my cereals are together, all my packet mixes are in the same container.

The grand reveal…..before…

after…. I’m just waiting to finish off the old flour before emptying the new bag into the container…

before….

after….

Love it! I just love a well orgnised pantry. It makes playing in the kitchen is much more fun.

How do you all organise your pantry? Any hints or tips? Any photos to share.

Finally, after far too many weeks, I managed to get all the bedrooms and bathrooms tidied and cleaned. Feels so good.

Once I’d done the main cleaning I spent a bit of time tidying up my stuff in the bathroom.

While we’re here how about I quickly show you how everything is organised.

I LOVE these glass organisers – I have one for my jewellery…

and one for (most of) my makeup.

Then I have all my skin care in a pull out cupboard.

My top drawer has more make up, hair brush, hair ties and bands, tissues and my glasses cleaning cloth.

My other drawer holds all my sample products – these are so good for weekends away, and spare body washes.

The main basin area has some of Kevin’s stuff (funny how guys don’t need anywhere near as much room as us girls!), my hair products and a little container with my lush bath bombs, etc. Underneath we each have a basket with spare products and our toiletry bags.

I was thinking of doing a video showing things in more detail – let me know if you’d like me to do that.

Anyone care to share how they organise their bathroom and beauty products?

Just as the school term draws to an end I’m finally getting my new routine (and heel spur) under control, and as such I’m starting to get around the house and do a more thorough tidy and re-organising of some rooms. Yesterday I tackled the walk-in-wardrobe. As you will see it rather needed it.

Basically I went through every item, getting rid of anything that I no longer liked or was flattering on (you know those things we buy when we’re feeling desperate).  I then tidied the shelves. And finally put away the clothes that don’t currently fit…. but I’m hoping will soon… .

Before….

After… the tubs up the top house Winter clothes.

Before…with my heel spur I back to wearing Crocs again 99% of the time so moved my other shoes to a less prominent position.

After….

Before….

After….probably could do with a little more tweaking…

Before…and the main reason I needed to do this job…. clothes to donate, amongst other things, piled on the floor.

After… Kevin can now get into ALL his drawers…

It’s once again a joy to walk into my wardrobe

One thing I do want to get is some rails so I can better display (and remember to wear) my scarves.

Next job… the ensuite….

Taking a break from watching the Iditarod to show you our new fridge. This is the one that we planned for when we built this house 5.5 years ago and I’ve been patiently waiting for the day we’d get it. Our old fridge was 12 years old and starting to muck up – it wouldn’t make cube ice, was moldy and discoloured and because it was so deep it was hard to get to things at the back.

As you can see it will be so much easier seeing what’s in there and getting access to it.

I think we need to streamline what we keep in the freezer – at the moment we have 3 different kinds of ice cream!!