Stow it...

It's an endless search... finding the right bag, basket, bench, bucket for all the things you want stashed neatly away. You might have gathered that I am not naturally tidy but I do rather like a tidy home.

We have cleaning frenzies which are actually really just races to tidy the house - mostly in the evening when I have had ENOUGH of tripping over lego, cars, puzzles and race tracks. Or sometimes about fifteen minutes before guests arrive - yes I'm trying but Flylady's CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome) still rules some days. My sink is clear though.

Of course  most of our guests have children so an even bigger frenzy is required when they leave. Then I use the I MEAN BUSINESS kind of tone and my five year old jumps to it.

But he has to have a place to jump to... and we're getting there. We have a drawer for paper and sticker books, a lidded box for the growing collection of big boy lego, a car basket, lots of snap lock boxes for small things and I've just bought a couple of these.

Not the kid, the bucket. They hold the lego and the Thomas train set... but they're also good for lots of other things. Tubtrugs are cheap, strong, green (100% recycled plastic) and come in all colours. We are right into red.

I also bought these at Ikea on my last trip to Melbourne... and lots of other equally useful stuff of course!

I didn't quite see they'd be used like this...

But apparently a sword (or plastic Star Wars light saber) and one of these and you are quite the Knight in Shining Armour. Might give one to my husband...

Snowed under?

My whole spring clean in autumn push is stretching on through winter and I have finally woken up today feeling as though I have more of a grip on my life. A nice feeling for a Monday morning.

There is a pile of stuff at the front door to be given away, my floors are clean, the washing is out and thanks to my flirtation with flylady I am still washing up a lot and it's amazing how much more I love my kitchen.

I've even tackled the paperwork. When we moved in I gave over a drawer to my paperwork but with no plan of attack look what happened.

I only ever opened the darn thing to throw another piece of paper in. Half an hour of work (and ten months of thinking about it) and I have an empty drawer and a new plan of attack.

Now some of you may chuckle smugly into your hand when you read these simple tips. People like me who are by nature NOT NEAT need help.

1. Deal with the paper you have in your hand immediately. Toss it, file it, or put it in a 'do' zone.  If the doing is quick and easy - do it now.

The old me would have said a 'do pile' but we have a problem with piles in our house. My husband and I fight over them. 'His' and 'Hers' piles build up and before we've dealt with them they merge, then we re-sort them, get rid of them and within days new ones start.

I am keeping my black in and out boxes in the dreaded drawer. It eliminates the pile problem and as long as I file weekly and act on the stuff that's in there all will be well.

2. Filing. We have around ten white plastic ring binder files containing all our paperwork from the last five homes we have lived in. That's two house purchases, three leases, final bills, insurance etc etc etc...  Not to mention all the other stuff to do with careers, cars, banks and health.
The moral of the story is don't move so much and when you do don't move interstate or overseas. BUT anyway, I am chucking out the stuff we don't need anymore, re-labelling the spines on the files with a printed contents list and putting them in a kitchen cupboard where they are easily accessible.

3. Receipts
I now have a clear plastic pocket to keep them all together in the drawer  - you never know if you might need it to return a shirt if it falls apart after the second wash. Clear the pocket out every few months. File receipts for larger items that have a longer guarantee period.

5. School stuff
It's amazing how much paper one schoolboy can generate. Event dates now go straight onto the family calendar and the endless certificates to the inside of his cupboard doors - his glory wall. All that other coloured-in paper/homework/stuff that he just has to keep go in the craft drawer in his room.

And lastly? 

Buy yourself some cool stationery.  Like the Kikki.K bulldog clips above or their fabulous folders. Not that you can't get just as much organisational joy in the bargain stationery stores but hell there has to be joy in all this somewhere!!

My useful box

The useful box is a very very useful idea. I have had one for a long time in various spots around the house. I bought this battered but much loved builder's chest at a London antique market.

I keep all sorts of things in it, useful things. It has a sliding drawer on the top and the bottom is divided into two halves - perfect for stashing stuff.  Like that drawer in your kitchen but bigger and easier to access.

It holds rolls of wrapping paper, ribbon, scissor, sticky tape, stickers, rubber bands, envelopes and thank you cards.

My sewing kit, which is not terribly big, lives in it - a packet of needles, hemming tape (marvellous stuff for the non-sewer) and cotton. Plus a jar of buttons.

There are also hose attachments, puncture kits, phone chargers, blue tack and a host of stuff which was useful and now isn't - why does Nokia make phones that no longer fit the charger on last year's model?

So as part of the spring clean I sorted it out. Interesting. I discovered that just like my habit of buying cans of tomatoes eight at a time I seem to have over invested in Ikea wrapping ribbon.

I found nine boxes. That's 180 metres of ribbon. 

See? Useful.

Spring cleaning

I know, I know, I live in New Zealand and it is not actually spring but I need to sort out my life and I need something to spur me on.

Today it is unseasonably warm  - actually what would I know?! I haven't lived here long enough to know what the weather should be like!  Anyway it's warm, sunny and feels like spring. And in spring you de-clutter, tidy and clean. And that is me in the month of May 2010.

First the overflowing paperwork drawer, and the tangle of spoons and other crap paraphernalia that lives in my second kitchen drawer. Then it is drawer by drawer, cupboard by cupboard, room by room through the whole house. We've only been in it for nine months but boy is it a mess.

Along the way I am going to test out all the advice I can find on blogs and self help sites and let you know what I think works and what doesn't.  I am a messy, lazy, domestically challenged, busy mother who actually hates clutter and mess - the perfect crash test dummy.

By the way the photograph was taken a few years ago in London's beautiful Richmond Park - in spring. When spring sprang in the UK it really was the most wonderful feeling that you never get in NZ or Australia. That first day in March or April when you can feel the sun's warmth after months of weak, watery sunlight is magical.