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.

Three Steps Forwards, Two Steps Back...

As with anything in life - and any new habit you're starting to do - there will always be a few teething problems.

Like with this blog. 

There's not many people jumping in this place, because they're unsure about what this whole thing is about. 

'A Work In Progress'... it could mean artwork, building a house, the inner workings of somebody's mental state... yep, it could mean anything. But it's about how to go about working on the clutter in your home. And let's face it: I'm not the perfect role model for this either. I have a cluttered home and I'm working on my place as much as you are.

So, when I have a drawback - like I have had recently - it's because I've had personal matters interfere with my life. When this happens, my mindset gets screwed up and so does how my house looks, works and how my decluttering goes on; or doesn't. 

When you do have a week or two where you're wondering exactly how you got to have more crap in your house than you initially thought, sit down with a glass of water or a cup of tea and breath. You're going to be okay. This is what is known as a curve ball - it's a small one compared to what's been tossed in your direction in the past (and what you'll get in the future) and it's one. But breathing through your stress will help in some ways as it'll get your mind to settle down and stop you from panicking.

This week, I'm having a three steps forwards, two steps back kinda week. A neighbour and I had a misunderstanding and she took out her frustrations in such a way, I just don't know where I stand with anyone around my area anymore. And, I feel really out of control of my surroundings right now and so my house has become messy. So, the first thing I have done is fix a few small things around the place that have needed fixing for a long time.
They were the tiniest things, but they needed doing to make my life that much more easier in the tiniest ways. I bought a 1 metre extension cord from Bunnings so my other bedside lamp worked and the rock salt lamp worked too. I find it's the small things that help make the bigger things less important. Sounds a little silly, but for me that kind of thing works so well and helps me get back onto working on me and making myself happy. 

What has been happening around you to make you look to something small to help you stop, breath and get your mind back onto what you feel is the right way of thinking? What was your three steps forward, two steps back moment? 

The Great Pantry Clean-Out!

Over the past two years, I've been working on my kitchen pantry. I think pantries are the biggest places in the kitchen - besides the Tupperware Cupboard - which seem to turn into a complete pit of Hell when it comes to cleaning out. 

And none of us really want to take on the pantry. It's always full of things we don't want to confront. But once you take it on, and get a good part of it done, you'll be more likely to get into the next time it needs a clean-up.

The first thing you need is a clean kitchen counter. Make sure you also have enough room for what's going to come out of the pantry. 
Have a bin next to you with plenty of bin liners - you are going to throw out some things you no longer need.
Then, you'll need cleaning products as well. 

What you need to do first is go shelf by shelf, starting with the very top shelf. Take your time and pull everything out of there, put it on the kitchen counter and - once it's empty - clean the whole shelf, sides and ceiling of that part and then, look at everything on the kitchen counter. If it's out of date, throw it into the bin. Then, organise it so you can find things easily on that top shelf.

Do this with every other shelf in the pantry and make sure to check all the dates and wipe down all your items before putting them back on the shelf. 

If you've bought some new little containers or storage items to make life easier for yourself in your pantry, put them into action now so you can use them over time and see if they work for you. And if over the next month or so, they don't work for you, don't hesitate to find something that does work for you... always try to figure out what works for you in your pantry space.

I do find that if I can't see almost everything in my pantry, it doesn't get used. So, make sure you can see everything you're hoping to use - even if it means installing a small, battery-run light inside each shelf, so you can see what you've got in there.

Have you got any great ideas for cleaning out pantries? If so, drop them in the comments below and let us all in on them. I hope this has helped you out.

A Joint Effort!

Today, Mum and I made a joint effort and went out to The Really Good Bookstore at Browns Plains to hand in the books we didn't want anymore and put up our exchange rates!

It felt good to have over $150 worth I could use at the store; and yet, I left empty-handed until the next time I wanted to buy a good book there for that much (or use a little of it).

We both filled the boot of my car with books! Now that says something about how many books we were parting with. I had two bags and Mum had three. But we came home with only two (Mum had them on order) and I left with none. I'm so darned proud of myself that I didn't have a book in my hands when I left a bookstore! 

Anyway, I returned home with my recyclable bags all ready to use them again for more books to fill them. I can't wait! What a joint effort it was to give away books to a great place and still we got something in return. Do you have a place such as this? What is it like? Tell us all about it? 

Books

I love books - as I've said before - and I find parting with them is just plain awful! But when I really get in and look at my collection of 2,000+ books in my tiny home office, I do find that I might have doubled-up on some and collected others that I will never, ever read.

This is when it's time to do out the collection. 

I started off with Mt To Be Read next to the door. I found that pile so high it was looking like it was about to take a tumble if I put anymore books onto those piles!

So, I pulled down all the ornaments on the shelves first and then organised the books into categories and figured out what I'd like to read, what I'd donate and what I'll put away for another time.
You see, I have some great books to read, but I can't read them all in one year - or even two! - and so putting some to one side for a little while causes me to read the ones I've put up on the Mt TBR and make myself read those first. Then, I'll move onto the other ones that have been put away.

I know, it makes sense doesn't it?

Anyway, I ended up going through another pile of other books which contained a whole lot of books I thought I was going to read, but haven't gotten around to them. So, I bagged them up as well! 

I ended up getting around 50 books into two bags and finding that I really didn't need so many books to start with. Okay, I've got under 2,000 books now, but really, it's good to declutter the books I just won't read.... like all those vampire romance novels I've had for 3 years. If I'm not going to read them within the first 2 years, I'm simply not going to read them now, right? I also sorted through another 20 or so Bookcrossing books that I have to Wild Release around Brisbane and Logan City (Wild Releasing is where you leave a book for somebody to pick up and read. Then, they journal it and do the same; and the book begins to travel around the world. It's a great way to share a book). 

So, if you've got a big book collection, how have you stablised it? Or has it gotten bigger - as mine tends to do? And speaking of book collections getting bigger: Mum did give me about 20 books to add to my collection. I mean, how could I say no? Yes, silly me, I'm trying to get my clutter down; and I end up adding to it. 

A Day Off...

I'd love to say I jumped right in and have been decluttering my home office since 9am this morning.

I wish I could say that.

But I haven't. 

It's just too bloody hot!

Today, around Queensland - and Australia - it's supposed to be record-breaking temperatures up to and over 40C (that's 104F for you guys overseas). And so, we've been advised to not to anything strenuous, to stay inside, drink plenty of water and pretty much hibernate. 

And you know? That's exactly what I'm going to be doing.

But I have an art piece I have on the go on my work bench - and that work bench is right next to the back door - so in the next hour or so, I'll be there working on that for a bit. Then, I'll see if I can stomach lunch... I might be just drinking some water instead.

So, this is the day off for me, because of the heat. If you're sweltering in the heat anywhere in Australia - or somewhere else in the world right now - don't push yourself. Take the day off and relax. Watch a bit of television and stay cool and drink plenty of water. 

Tackling My Home Office

Yesterday, I jumped off the computer, went to the kitchen and grabbed another bottle of cold water (after refilling the empty bottle from the water urn and replacing it) and came back upstairs into the cool air-conditioning.

I looked around this home office and realised I really needed to tackle this place ... and do it now! So, I did. 

I emptied out 4 bags of rubbish, receipts and things, sorted them into their respective piles and threw out what needed to be thrown out, what I needed to keep and what was to be looked at later; then I moved onto the next bag.

Then, I put away what I had to put away before I moved on. But seeing I had mess everywhere I found this hard to do. I still have a few Christmas decorations around and stuff I haven't put away from other times - like birthday cards. I also found some letters from friends and get well cards from 2015 and last year (when I was really sick).

So, I changed the jobs in the room. I looked at my Mt TBR and pulled down all the decorations from the shelves first, and put them somewhere so they didn't get broken. 
Then, I pulled all the books off the Mt TBR pile next to the door and put them into categories and figured out what I wanted to read and what needed to be put back on the big shelves, and what I really wouldn't be reading at all - aka: what I'll be giving away.

This turned out to be easier than I thought.

You see, books are my passion. I love the written word, and I find that I get really possessive and obsessive with it. Sometimes, I'll become so clingy with books, that my emotions will take over; and like I said in a previous post, I have to be in the right state of mind to get rid of books. 

Yesterday was that right state of mind. I pulled out my folding ladder/chair and pulled down almost all the books off my saggy brown bookcase (from Officeworks - it sagged when I put the first book on it - not my fault, it was how it was made) and sorted through about 50 books and then there were an additional 20 Bookcrossing books I'll have to Wild Release. 

This all took about 4 hours to get done. 

I still have a lot to do here; as this is just the very tip of the iceberg in here. There are still books to look through, papers to sort through, things to put away. But, I've started and that's the main thing. I'm so pleased with myself. So, have you started on a big clean-out and gotten further than you thought? Let us in on it in the comments below.