TOH 20 day challenge – Week 3

3 weeks down, and 1 week to go, of what has been a great organising, de-cluttering and cleaning challenge thus far.

Missed my earlier recaps?

• Week 1
• Week 2

I must admit, this week feels as if it has been a little easier than the last two, probably because many of the tasks were already done or didn’t really apply to me.

But now – it is onto Week 3!

Day 11 – Linen Cupboard

To kick start the week, we were tasked with de-cluttering and organising our linen cupboard.

Ours is located in the back of the house near our spare bedrooms, which admittedly is a space that is not used all that often (well until we fill it with bambinos that is!).

The cupboard is currently used to house all our spare towels and sheets etc, and I was pleased when I opened it up to find it already pretty organised.

Towels on the left, and picnic items, ironing board etc on the right.

  

I imagine this is one of those spaces that is manageable at the moment with just the three of us, but may explode with items as our family grows!

Day 12 – Dishwasher & Bathroom cupboards

Today started with giving the dishwasher a good clean (something that I rarely do). I used TOH’s method for cleaning it, using vinegar and bicarb, and was pleased with the sparkly results.

As for the bathroom cupboards, the drawers in our ensuite were not too bad (given I tidied them last week).

I did, however, re-organise the cupboards in our main bathroom, which had become a haven for all sorts of things.

Before…

After…

As well as the drawers.

Before…

 

After…

 

Day 13 – Cornices & Kids Artwork Filing

Today was all about cleaning the cornices, and organising and de-cluttering the kid’s artwork.

Confession: I did not clean the cornices, but to be honest, they are not looking too bad at the moment.

And, while I am sure that in a few short years I will have a tonne of Charlotte’s artwork to organise and store, at the moment I have none. Rather than rest on my laurels, however, I decided to tackle a growing pile of filing that has been cluttering one of the shelves in our library for a while.

This pile was filled with user manuals, receipts, warranty cards (and similar ‘junk’), that I had always meant to file but somehow never got around to it.

Well today was the day!

I threw out what I could, then sorted the remainder into two piles – user manuals / warranties in one, receipts in the other.  Under the ever watchful eye of the little Miss, of course.

I made a label and used a spare basket for the manuals, which I then placed in our study shelving (more on that space below).

And the receipts I placed in a ring binder. Too easy.

My ‘shelf’ soon went from this…

To this!

Much more respectable! And I am kicking myself that I didn’t do this sooner.

Day 14 – Home Office

This is one space that I like to keep clean and tidy given I am in here for hours everyday. The door is also always open, and you walk straight past the room when you enter our house. However, after a rather hectic work day yesterday, it was looking rather untidy on this particular morning.

Before…

Thankfully, however, it didn’t take too long to get it back in order. Mainly because I have worked to give everything in the room a place.

After…

You might remember me mentioning this room a little while ago, when we were setting it up shortly before Charlotte was born. Knowing that I would be working from home in the not too distant future, I wanted a nice, organised space. I realise that I never did a ‘room reveal’, so here it  is – from start to finish!

When we moved in our new house, the home office looked something like this…

Big ugly desk, uncomfortable chair, no storage space, blank walls.

Not the creative space I had been hoping for.

So we decided to get moving, and with the help of a joinery company, we built in a long desk running down one wall, including drawers and cupboards – a much better use of the space.

It still, however, was far from the home office I had in my head…

Lacking in character, organisation and storage space.

Then I came across these ‘clever’ cubes at Bunnings which seemed to be the perfect storage solution. 

And the rest of the room came together from there. Finished with some bright artwork, matching chairs and other stationery / storage items.

Now that is a work space I can be proud of!

And just for comparison’s sake – here is the before…

And after!

As you enter the room, we have our desk and computers along the right hand wall.  Our personal computer is near the window, and my work computer and phone are near the door.

Along the other wall, and directly behind me as I sit at the desk, are 3 clever cube units that contain all our home and work folders, papers etc.

I found cane baskets at Officeworks, that fit just perfectly into the cubes. These hold all the odds and ends that we inevitably accumulate but never seem to know where to put – camera equipment, manuals, miscellaneous stationery etc

Finished with some labels I printed using picmonkey so that we know exactly what is in them!

On top of the smaller shelves are two of my most used trays – our “in tray” (for unpaid bills etc), and our “filing tray” for completed tasks(looking a little full at the moment).

Overall, I am really proud of this space – and it has been working well to accommodate both our personal computer and work office needs.

All that is left to do is to hang some more frames – which contain our certificates, degrees etc. You can see that I started these (on the left wall), but we still have more to do! Oh and I am pretty sure that I killed the pot plant – so perhaps an artificial one would be better?

Day 15 – Patio / Outdoor Area

The final day of week 3 saw us move outdoors – to clean the patio / outdoor area. The challenge also called for weeding, however given our garden is still void of plants, I was able to pass on that task.

With the cold Canberra winter, our outdoor deck and BBQ have not been used in a long time. They were, as a result, covered in dust and dirt.

So under the supervision of my trusty sidekick, I got to work.

(haha looking not so impressed!)

I cleaned the tables and chairs (and they sure thanked me for it) and gave the area a general tidy up.

Before..

After…

I do need to give the deck a good wash – but I’ll save that for another day.

Mr BBB will surely be pleased when he sees his clean BBQ!

Before…

After…

So sparkly!

And so wraps another week of this challenge. I’m looking forward to next week – but who knows what that will bring!