Good Stuff Going On

In the past week, I've been working on my house and garden. And I've found it very uplifting to get rid of the old and bring in new when I've needed it.

The old VCR has been unplugged and put off to one side and my digital television has been plugged into the antenna... and it's cleared a space for a new turntable (as my old one has stopped working - well, okay, it keeps on pulling the arm back to the rest position and refuses to play two or three times before playing a vinyl. And then, halfway through a vinyl it'll pull the arm up and pull itself back to the rest position again... so yep, it's not working anymore). I've talked to my older brother about it, and he's offered to find me a nice new/old one for my birthday! Yay! I'm looking forward to that! 

And then, a few weeks back, Dad and I went to 'Spotlight' and bought some new lace for my bedroom window. Well, yesterday, I got around to replacing the old, tattered lace - which took me around half an hour to do - and now the old lace is in the bin and the new lace looks so good! 

I did try to go three for three, by attaching the back and arms section of the wash table in my room, but the screws were way too long - oh well, never mind. Can't win them all, right? 

But last week, I went off to Life Line and dropped off two big boxes off goodies to them - yes! They're open and able to accept donations; not furniture though. But I told them I did Glen-20 everything before I closed up the boxes. They were so grateful I did that. 

It's been a good week - despite the protests in the city - as we are trying to avoid a second wave of the pandemic. Anyway, I hope you're going well with your decluttering; just like I am. Everything is looking good at my place too. Drop a comment and let us know how it's all going at your place.

Got Cleaning!

This morning, it was another crisp Autumn day here in Australia. I seriously didn't want to get out of bed, but there was a few things to get done around my place, as I've got an old friend coming over for coffee - and I mean, very old friend. He's somebody I used to date 20 years ago and he looked me up on Facebook, then messaged me, asking if I remembered him... seriously, I usually do remember somebody if I have dated them; but not this one. We didn't date for long, and well, we weren't on the same page by the end of the relationship back then. 

Well, we asked if we could catch up for a chat and I said that cafes were still a no-go zone for a sit-down chat, and he suggested my back yard... well, there's no harm in that.

So, this morning, I've been up bright and early in the chilled fingers of the day cleaning the parts of the house which really needed it. 

The downstairs toilet got cleaned, and the laundry tub did too. Then, I put away all the extra cleaning detergents I have collected over the past month and cleared the art bench and pulled out my spare table easel to put my large painting of the Harbour Wall II on it. Then, I shifted everything back under the bench (finding out it was all caught on something under there) by about a foot, and I could push my red chair underneath more.
The washing up got finished and the benches were wiped down and the iron found a place of its own - finally! I've been trying to find a place for it for about a week now, and it's now under the television again.
The vacuum cleaner is back where it's supposed to be and I put everything into a place again, making more space near the storage unit under the stairs.

Now, I have to put away the laundry and make my bed - which is something I've been trying to make a good habit of mine. Anyway, I'm hoping to get the house tidier than it's been in a week; seeing I've been just knitting and binge-watching my favourite television shows on dvd lately... yeah, I've been lazy. But the weather has been cold and that's great cleaning weather for me. 

I have been cleaning out my underwear drawer, which means I'm looking at my pajamas... yep, I've bagged up all of my cotton ones and tossing them into the donation pile; as I've bought some online which are more my style for this Winter. 

What have you been up to lately which is changing your house into more of a home? 

I've Been Lazy

This virus has really bugged me, but it's gotten me to work on a few things - only a few - over time. And then, I got to thinking that we have a lot of time to do everything we want to get done.

So, I'm slowing it all down.

Okay, I've gotten 4 bags of charity stuff all worked out, and my shoes as well, but really, I don't have to rush. And neither do you. This is the perfect time to take your time and work through your house at your own pace and work on what you need to get finished. The best thing about this staying-at-home bit of this is that you can be sure what you want to throw out and what you don't.

Anyway, today, I've folded some laundry, and have to put it away - along with other laundry I've had folded and stashed in my bedroom. Then, I'll be looking at the art gear at the top of wardrobe and little by little I'll be working through that; and seeing what I want from it and what I don't. There's a bag I don't want anymore and I'll be putting anything I don't want into that and putting a label on the handle to put into the top of the wardrobe so I can pull it out when the charity stores are taking donations again.

Man, that's going to be a great day, right? So many people are going to be giving on that first day!

The Big Wardrobe Cleanout!

I'm so proud of myself!

Yesterday, I started putting away my clean laundry and it turned into a big clean out of my wardrobe - mainly because a lot of what I had washed and dried outside couldn't fit into the wardrobe.

So, I pulled out any t-shirts and decided to fold them, and had a lot of coat hangers which had taken up space. Then, I moved long-sleeved blouses next to the dressing gowns, I put the coats in their own colour codes (I know, I know, weird right? But it makes some kinda sense to me). Then, I put all my new op-shopped dressed in one section and my jeans and shorts in the next section. I tried on a few thing to see if they'd fit - and some did and others didn't. 

And then, I found them: the clothes I was given and haven't worn, and don't like. I pulled them all out and put them into a donation pile. I also pulled out all the 3/4 pants/jeans which I no longer wear and put them into a pile as well... and well! I emptied out so much of the wardrobe, I was amazed with myself.

And this was before I had even gotten any clean laundry put away - sure it was folded and hung up on hangers, but none of it was put away... so I put it away and it all fitted so well! 

Then, I pulled some things from underneath my clothes and found I had bags I had bought and other things which I simply didn't need. Some of these things went in the bin, while other items went into the donation pile. This donation pile was getting pretty big now... and this is good!

Today, I folded and put everything in the pile into a bag... such a pity I can't take it to a charity store yet. Well, give it time: in the next few months, we'll get ourselves to the charity stores and they'll have a huge influx of donations from everyone's houses. Won't that be great? 

A Little and A Lot

In the past two weeks, I've been working on a lot of things in the townhouse. And this is why I haven't been here for a while.

But there's been parts of the kitchen worked on, and parts of the bedroom as well. In the kitchen I've packed up some cups and saucers which I inherited from my late-Uncle and given back to my Mum. I really needed the space in my cupboard and wanted to use my own cups and saucers which I've scored from op-shops instead of being scared of breaking the delicate ones I inherited.
So, once they were out the door and at my parents' house safely, I cleaned up the cupboard and moved all my Keep-Cups into the space in cupboard, and made more room on the counter! Woah, that was really cool to see that, and now I have more counter space I can  get more done around the kitchen instead of feeling as though I'm being squashed into the corner of my sink.

The bedroom has been changed around a bit. I've refurbished the use of my shoe box; cleaning it up and making it into a book case for my night time reading instead of tossing it out. You see, it's not your ordinary style of shoe box... and it doubled well as a book case too. It looks great! 

Then I found two large lampshades and tried to upgrade my old ones... which didn't work out. So, I asked my Dad to help me. My lamps I bought last year from K-Mart were super-glued within an inch of their lives - something I didn't expect from K-Mart, but it's happened. So, Dad worked something out and made them fit. And the old shades? Well, they're on their bedside lamps - and both my parents have said they've never had so much light in their room ever! 

I've taken another bag of goodies to the charity store and enjoyed finding those lamp shades while I was there. But that was about two weeks ago... I haven't been op-shopping for something in a little while. I'm still decluttering in a major way.

This next week, I'm hoping to pull out all my VHS tapes and look into getting them converted to DVD to enjoy them like I used to... as my 21st Birthday is on them, so is a few movies we taped and some documentaries we can't find on DVD. So, it's something we want to look into. After they get converted to DVD, it'll be a matter of tossing out the old VHS tapes to the recycling bin. 

Otherwise, the everything is going well. I've bought a plant for the bathroom and I'm no longer using any plastic bags. I tossed out my last lot of recycling of plastic bags yesterday - how good is that? I'm using all reusable bags in all things in my life from shopping bags to grocery bags. 

So, how is your decluttering going? 

Archiving and Cleaning Out

Yesterday afternoon, once I got off the computer and the internet, I jumped into the cleaning up of the home office - which turned into something totally different. Sometimes cleaning up one space does this.

I assembled the two archive boxes and sorted through some of the paperwork and the filing cabinet next to my desk. There were things inside the cabinet which needed to be archived - like 'The Flame' magazine from Epilepsy Queensland from 2006. I know that's a long time ago, but there's articles in those issues which are important to me.

Then, I tried to find some letters from a doctor which were addressed to my Mum and I from two years ago just in case my neurologist retired. However, I have yet to find them. I went through one box I had sorted out, and the letters weren't in that one. So, it may be in one I've already put into the wardrobe. 

But then, I sorted through my hand-written notebooks. These are notes from books I've written, like 'Ravenstine Kingdom', 'Angie', Fry Nelson' and other book and story ideas as well. I have archived those into another box so I have them put away for the time I need them at some point in the future. 

Now, what I did after that was reorganise that shelf of notebooks, looking through them and making sure they were in order. There are still books there which I need to use which are for current projects. Then, I looked up on the wall and realised I needed to hang a description of some art. So, I worked on that for about half an hour; which worked out well, as I needed a break from sorting. 

By this time, it was around 2pm and it was stinking hot! So, I cleaned up the office as much as I could and put things away. A lot of had been done in the way of organising the archive boxes. I didn't think I'd have so much archiving in my life by my 40's, but interestingly enough, I do. I did one last thing. I put up the 'Home' hook set Mum gave me in the wardrobe in my room and hung up my Japanese house coat and a brunch coat on it; along with some umbrellas as well. This helped clean up some of the mess in my room.

Then, last night, after I watched a bit of television, I did more cleaning up - this time in my bedroom. I made up the bed (as I had washed the sheets yesterday) and then folded and put away the quilt and the big, blue blanket (in their respective places). The bathroom towels which had been folded earlier that day were put into the bathroom, and so I organised the rest of the towels and folded the rest of them - taking them into the bathroom too.
Then, the wash basket was picked up off the floor and put on to the glory box/hope chest, and I took the paintings I've done and no longer want into the hallway. I'm going to offer them to my family first before giving them away. 

Before I knew it, it was past 10pm and I was really tired. A lot had been done yesterday; more than I had done in any given weekend in the past two months. So, how was your weekend? Did you get much done? You can see I got a lot of organising and sorting done in my weekend.

Bedroom Tidiness

I have two bedrooms in my townhouse; but only use one for a proper bedroom - the other is used as a home office.

My master bedroom is light-filled and beautiful. I have a massive bed - which I've spent a lot of money to buy - I often buy lovely covers for it when I'm on holidays at the coast to make look colourful and pretty. And it doesn't matter if they match the sheets or not, so long they're lovely. 

But I do have a problem with my bedroom being messy and it goes back to when I was a child and not cleaning my room when I was told to. When I did finally move into my own place with somebody, it was paramount to keep the place tidy - however, when that person wasn't nice to me, and I found his demands to keep the house tidy to his specifications caused me to feel awful, I really didn't want to clean a house when I moved into my own place on my own.

I found a clean place made me feel stressed out... I felt as though he was going to come home any minute. I had to have a bit of mess around the house. I know this sounds crazy; but it happens to make me feel okay when I have a pile of magazines sitting in the living room gathering dust for a while before I move them. 

My master bedroom? Well, I'm really working on making it as tidy as possible because when I was with my ex-bf, it wasn't tidy... he didn't care about it, because nobody saw it. I have been trying very hard to keep my bedroom tidy and neat and it's not really working all that well. 
Today, it took me two hours to put away all my laundry, and as the same time, I was going through my wardrobe and sorting through things I didn't want as well - how exhausting!

But I got it done! 

I still have a few things to get done in that room, but I have sorted out a few things which weren't being sorted. I figured out my gym clothes and towels. I have organised my towels for the bathroom, and I got to clean the upstairs toilet while I was taking a break from cleaning my bedroom (yeah, not really a break, right?).

And I found this great link to 7 easy tips to keeping your bedroom clean. How cool is that? I've read it and it really makes sense. I'm already getting in and making my bed as soon as I can in the mornings; so that's something. But I also think that your bedroom should be well-lit too. 

So, what do you think? What's an important thing you do for your bedroom which works for you? Is the colour, the curtains? Should it be air-conditioned? Leave your opinions in the comments below.

Hot Weather

We've had weather which is hot enough for me to get in and wash my bedding. The main reason for this is because I've broken out in hives lately - yeah, not a great thing to wake up to in the morning. But, this has given me the opportunity to get into washing my sheets as well as the mattress protector and pillow protectors.

A lot of people don't have any of this on their beddings to protect their mattress from the sweat and dead skin coming off your body.

I know, I know! This sounds gross! But it's something cleaners and hotels put up with all the time.

And now, you have to put up with in your own house. Mattress protectors - good ones - will cost a bit, but the outlay is a good thing for your bed; especially is you've paid a lot of money for your mattress (like I have) and you want to keep it in top condition for a long time.

Washing the protector isn't a big deal... but cleaning your mattress is. You get a sifter and about 2 big boxes of Bi-carb Soda and sift it all over your mattress. Now you wait for around 3 hours for your Soda to do its work. It will soak up any dead skin and disgusting stuff which is hiding in your mattress - how this works? I'm not sure. But after 3 hours, you get your vacuum cleaner and vacuum that stuff up. Take your time and make sure it's all done. Empty the bag a few times (yep, it will fill it up a few times) and then pat the mattress to make sure you got it all. 

At the end of the day, put the protector back on, and make up the bed. When you go to bed that night, you'll smell it'll be so much cleaner and you'll sleep so much better. It's a great way to clean the bedding and mattress - and also to make sure your mattress lasts a long time. 

I've had my current mattress for 5 years, and it looks and feels brand new still because I clean it this way a few times a year. 

Bedroom Wardrobes

Okay! I'm back into the decluttering again this year! And seeing it's been so hot lately, I'm taking it easy too - just like last year.

Last week, I bought myself a 55 litre plastic box - with wheels - from Variety1 at Arndale for just $8.00. And the other day, I sorted all my craft gear into it! I pulled down all of the small boxes, bags and other items I had craft gear crammed into and found that it all fitted into this plastic box! 

How cool is this?

That's not the best news - nope.

When I pushed the new box of goodies up the top, I found it only took up half the space all of that gear used to! 

This left me with a huge amount of space where I could put my spare pillows up there which normally went on the bed during the day! This is a good thing!

So, I've started on working on this room again - my bedroom - in a more permanent way. 

These plastic boxes will make moving house in the future that much more easier; and less messy. I won't be using as many cardboard boxes and when I get into a 3-bedroom house, these boxes will store away into an art room as easily as they do now. 

So, how have the storage boxes helped you sort through your cluttered gear? Or have you found different ways to use them? If you have, share with us all in the comments below.

Re-Organising

A lot of decluttering is reorganising the house. Once you've pulled everything down, given it a good dust and polish, then you have a really good look at what you've got, and realise maybe you don't need some of what you want to put back.

This is the good part of decluttering.

Knowing what you don't need. 

Right now, out on the clothes line are some clothes I've washed and are going to donated to a charity. Yes, I wash the clothes before I donate them, so when the time comes, I tell them that they've been washed only days before; it tells them that I care enough to do that for them.

But they go and send them off to be rewashed anyway.

But I've found that I have a very organised kitchen now. This is because I've spent over three years on decluttering and reorganising it to the point that there's only things in it that I need and will use from day to day - week to week - and it all has a place to be at the end of the day.

My next place in the house is the bedroom. I know that sounds like I'm taking a step back - but you have to remember, I did say I'd go over another place if needs be again; and so I am.

The bedroom does seem to be ignored after it's cleaned out, though - so do other rooms - and so coming back to it keeps it from recluttering into its former cluttered self again.

So, I cleaned up my jewellery section, found all my money boxes and collected them all into one spot where they could all be placed - under the wash table where there's a little piece of timber - and now, there's space around the house where they've been spread out where I can clean up and tidy. I have more space on my duchess (where 3 money boxes had been sitting) and now the jewellery boxes can be seen better. 

To say I'm pleased is an understatement.

The money boxes are in a safe place, I can get in and fill them all up with change and then take that change to the banks in my own time. And now, the bedroom is looking a bit better - but I still have a long way to go with it. 

Now, it's Wednesday, and I missed out on last week's challenge. So, I'll set you all two challenges this time:  Go to your bathroom and look inside your linen closet (if it's not in your bathroom, that's okay... mine is, so that's why I've said this). What you do is go through all your towels and find the ones which aren't matching and good-looking and separate them from the nice, fluffy ones which you're using all time. Grab a large bag and put the old ones inside them and take them to your nearest animal shelter for them to use. This can go for your old sheets too! Any old sheets which are worn through and you no longer us - send them away to the animal shelter near you.

Challenge #2: Everyone who have children... this one is for you and your kids. As children grow, they grow out of toys they no longer wish to play with. Now, go and find a large box and get your kids to put into the box what they no longer want or need. Get your children to help you wash up the toys and take them to the charity of your choice, so they know you're not just throwing them out. Or... if you wish, take the toys to a children's hospital and donate them there. 

10 Days

It's been 10 days since my last post.

Yep, I planned it this way just to see how I went with the house.

I've been cleaning up the living room which was filled with old VCR tapes from my life in the 1990's... and okay, they play, but I can't see what's being played. Damn! So, onto dvds those things go.  Until I find the time to get to do that, those tapes are put away into storage.

Then, I vacuumed the floor, and pulled out the donation box, sub-woofer and one of the cd towers to vacuum the carpet there. So much dirt came out of the carpet! But then, I only put back what was needed.

The tool box was put away until I needed it.

All of my laundry has been done, dried, folded and put away. I also got in and did my folks' laundry too - yep, we've had a few hot days here in Brisbane; so why not?

Then, I've created a couple of new habits:

Making the bed in the morning.
Taking out the rubbish to the wheelie bin every day.
Washing up before going to bed at night.
Cleaning up the living room before heading off to bed at night.

Yep, four new habits which have been difficult to keep up, but I'm working on them. It's been working out well too! It's nice to get out to the living room and kitchen and find there's nothing there from the night before waiting for me to clean up. 

The kitchen table has even been tidied up - and I've worked on making sure it stays that way! It feels so much better to sit down to a tidy table than a messy one. 

In just 10 days, I've worked on the house. In just 10 days, I've formed 4 new habits, which aren't big, but are useful. In just 10 days, I've changed the way the house runs completely... and it feels great! 

Seeing I've worked on cleaning out the house over the past 4 -5 years, I'm glad to say the new habits have worked out so well. And like Peter Walsh has been saying to everyone: it just takes 10 minutes. 

And it does. 

Bedroom Closet

I'm at it again. Yep, I've just jumped right in and decluttered something on a whim and have enjoyed the results. 

This time, it's my scarves - and believe me when I say that I didn't know I had so many of the darned things! I still have a few from when I was working at the RACQ! I had others which really aren't my style and then I thought to move the two boxes which house the Summer scarves and the Winter scarves down a shelf so I can see what's in them. This wasn't a bad idea when you really think about it... seeing I'm not a tall person, and the boxes are lovely, have a handle and hold everything I need in them, it really does neaten up the whole cupboard.

But this did mean moving everything on the bottom shelf to the top shelf... and I didn't mind that either, I found a few things I had been looking for and I could put them away into other places around the room as well. This was great!

The best thing was that I finally got to use the scarf-holder I scored for Christmas years ago and it holds so many scarves! And I have that hanging on the inside of the door - as you can see - and I'm hoping to put one of my belt-holders next to it soon... so I don't have to go rummaging through the wardrobe for belts anymore. 

But that, my friends, is another item for another day! So, how is your decluttering going? All good I hope. Do drop a line below in the comments and let us know how you're going with your place. 

Small Things

I've been busily working away at smaller things lately. There's the entertainment unit - which was filled to the brim with VCR tapes I'd like to see on dvd. And then there was my wardrobe that I worked through again rather successfully.

And now, I'm looking at the smaller things in the house. You know those things around the place, they make the machine of the house work more efficiently, smoothly and easily. I had to only look around for the past week because I had no money to put towards it.

But today was pay day, and I went out and did my grocery shopping and bought the things I needed to make the house run better again. 

I bought two of these work caddies to use around the house. One is for the upstairs bathroom, and the other is for the downstairs area. I think they'll work really well! And them being both red will make them stand out too. I'll be able to put them away in the same place every time and they'll work out for the house each time too. 

Then there was the garden hose connections I had to buy new ones of because the old ones were broken by people stuffing around with them too much. So, I bought good, expensive ones and I just hope nobody screws with them. I hate to use profanity on here, but really I just don't need somebody stuffing with my property when I'm not here. And disconnecting my own hose when I need it there to use to wash my car or water my lawn isn't a choice. If everyone else around me can have their hoses connected without a worry, why can't I? 

Anyway, I hope nobody breaks these ones. 

But the house is coming along so well! 

I've begun knitting a throw for my bed; using all my yarn that I have in the suitcase up the top of my wardrobe. This will get rid of the yarn stocked up in there... and make something nice and colourful. Otherwise, I've been getting rid of crappy yarn I no longer need and can't use or want to give away either into the bin.

I scored a new iron through my Fly-Buys and it's a Panasonic... it's lovely, light and I could iron with it forever! I used it the other day and didn't want to put it away. Now, that's a first for me!

Anyway, I'm still going through my bedroom and looking at things to see if I need them. My money box collection is bigger than I first thought; and yet most of them are empty. And I'm looking at what clothes I really do wear compared to the ones I just love to have because they look good.

Yep, it's the small things that I'm looking into this time around... really, isn't it the devil in the details that keep things going? Of course it is.

The Bedroom

I'm going to tackle the next hardest thing to the home office today - my bedroom.

Yep, I've been struggling with my bedroom for a long time; and now I have the living room and kitchen just as I like it, I'm going to have to have my bedroom the same way - tidy, easy to get into and easier to work with.

Now, just recently, I grabbed my Winter sheets - as the temperature dropped into the colder numbers - and I pulled out some sheets which were for my old double bed. Before you ask why I still have them, they were for the sofa-bed, just in case somebody slept over. So, they are the first to be put into a bag for the donation box; along with the Summer sheets of the same size. 

What I do next is make my bed. This makes a platform for me to work out my clothes on - a big one - and I can dump all my clothes onto it and sort through them as I put them away, or donate them. 

I've already sorted out a few dresses to give to my niece - as they're too small for me (I'm a size 12 Aust. and the dresses are size 10 Aust.) and they're lovely dresses I thought she'd like to try out before they head off to an op-shop. 

So, this is a start.

I don't like letting go of dresses that I love, but if they're not going to fit, it's best to let them go if they're in good condition. 
Then, there's the clothes I've been given, but have never worn. I know that sounds bad, but these outfits are lovely, are too big and are never going to be worn by me at any stage in my life. My Mum gave them to me and I don't see myself wearing them at all. So, they'll be going to a charity. 

I know what I said in the last post about charities - being fussy about what they receive (and they are) but really, if we don't give our clothes and bits and pieces to them, it all ends up in landfill. My sofa-bed is going to a place called Smart-Tip - not landfill. This place will sell it at a heavily discounted price and somebody out there will be able to afford a lounge with a nice cover and throw pillows; and it will have another life for a while. 

But I digress.

I'm hoping to get a few pairs of jeans out of my wardrobe as I've lost 4kg and have gone down one dress size. So, this means I have to go out and buy a few pairs of jeans at Stones Corner (where they have a huge store filled with jeans, skirts, jackets and basically anything made from denim) and I'm going to look at anything that will fit me, looks great and makes me feel good, okay, not a problem. I've had great deals from there. 

Other things I'm hoping to get rid of are shoes I don't need, underwear I don't want (which will go straight in the bin - because if I don't want it, well nobody else will either) and anything that doesn't fit me anymore. After that, I'll vacuum and dust my room and then, it'll be all done... bagged up and ready for donation (or the bin). So, which room was the worst for you in decluttering? How did you get the clutter busted? Do share your ideas and secrets with us all.

Replacing Things Is Good, But...

I've recently had a really bad bout of allergies sprout up around me lately. First it was a Bambillo Pillow that caused huge allergies; and now it's feather pillows. Today, I returned the feather pillows and bought a new mattress protector (as my old one was starting to look pretty bad).

Anyway, to make sure I didn't get mites from the feather pillows back into the bedding, I've had to clean the bed again with bi-carb soda and vacuum again. Then, I washed all my bedding again! This included the pillow protectors. 

If I still have a problem, I'll have to head off to the doctors, because it'll be time to look at what my skin is doing. 

But when it does come time to replace things - like bedding and pillows - you have to be careful how you go about it. If, like me, you don't know you're allergic to feathers, it's going to be a painful lesson to learn. I didn't mind washing everything and vacuuming my bed off - but it's time-consuming. It's also a costly thing as well. I had to return the feather pillows to K-Mart and let them know I was allergic to them (this means they'd return them to where they go them from) and I'll have to wait a few weeks before I go to Spotlight and find some hyper-allergenic pillows to use. I've just checked out their website and found they supply hospital grade pillows, but they are pricey. 

It all depends on what you'd like for your bedding and how bad you're allergic to things. For me? I'm currently trying not to scratch the rash from the pillows I've had to return and have cleaned my bed, bedding and replaced the mattress protector... yep, I've seriously made sure the bed is back to its normal way of feeling and being. If my allergy doesn't improve in a few days, I'm off to the doctors. So much for replacing things that I thought was a good thing!

March Madness

I've taken some time off to get in and work on a piece of artwork for an exhibition and a tapestry.

But I'm back into the decluttering throws again, and I'm looking forward to being able to move around the house better soon.

So far, I've got around 5 empty 'Green Bags'. These are synthetic bags that are reusable and have a hardy bottom inset inside them. I'll be taking them to my local community centre because I don't have a use for them anymore. The less I have them around, the less I'll fill them with crap - that's my story and I'm stickin' to it. 

Last week, I took two bags of unwanted things from a clean-out of my bathroom to the Logan East Community Centre at Springwood and some books and left them out on the table for anyone to have a look at. I made sure they were cleaned up and usable. Anything which wasn't hygienic, I tossed in the bin. 
This coming Monday, I'll be taking a Bamillo Pillow with me to give to anyone who wants it - as I'm allergic to it - and some other things I'm hoping to get rid of. It's going to a good place and I know I've taken care of these things.

My next place to clean out completely is the wardrobe. I've been getting stuck on this a few times; but if I don't do something about my clothes, it's going to turn into something I hate. I have clothes that are too big for me, and clothes which are too small in amongst clothes which fit. So, one day next week, I'll be working through all of them and seeing which ones do fit, which ones don't and going out to a second-hand store and finding some clothes that do fit me; mainly jeans, because Winter is coming and I'd like a few pairs to wear around Brisbane. 

So, what are your plans for the next month? You know mine are to give away as much as possible with my decluttering. I'm also going to save up to buy a shredder from OfficeWorks and shred what I don't need in the filing cabinet from banks and other official paperwork. Just leave a comment below and let us all know about your plans on decluttering you home little by little this month. Until next time! 

Beds and Mattresses

Beds are the most important things in our lives; and keeping them clean are just as important. I've been working on the Peter Walsh Facebook page - and through his page - to keep my house tidy and my mind focused on what I need to do around my place.

And you know? Over the past few years, I've learned a lot about beds and mattresses - and none of it pretty.

Beds hold onto our dead skin cells - a lot of it from when we sleep. No matter if we sleep in pajamas, underwear or in the nude, our skin cells still end up on our sheets, mattress protectors and on the mattress itself. This is why it's very important to wash our sheets every week - as well as the mattress protector every month - along with cleaning the mattress once a month. 

To clean a mattress you get Bi-Carb Soda, sift it over your mattress and leave it alone for 2 hours. then, get your vacuum cleaner (one which is bagless is good, so you can see how much dirt has been collected) and go over your mattress with it. You'll be surprised how much dirt comes up with your bi-carb soda. I've been doing this for a few months now and it's been great addition to my housework; and it makes your mattress last longer and it's not a chemical either.

Another good thing I've been doing when I change the sheets is to leave my bed alone for the whole day instead of remaking it immediately. The indirect light from the sun helps kill off germs from what's on the mattress and in the room - especially if I haven't been well with a cold. Also, if I've been sick, I go and Glen-20 the bed itself once I know I'm getting better.

So, what have you found works for you in the way of caring for your most important investment: your bed? Leave a comment below and let us all know.