Under the kitchen sink.

Sometimes you find just the right thing, for just the right place, even though you weren't really looking for it in the first place. I found such a thing when doing our grocery shopping at Aldi recently and I shouldn't have been suprised, as this often occurs at Aldi. What with their interesting weekly specials on anything from tools, to ski wear (in Brisbane why?), to office supplies and home decor, I often find myself picking up the most fabulous little soap holder, or 1000 thread count sheets that I have been hunting for at a reasonable price in other stores for months. Unfortunately you never know what they're going to have until the catalogue is released a week before, so I have occasionally wanted to kick my own head in for having just bought something Aldi is about to stock at a better price, in better quality.

This particular purchase is not going to be one of the more exciting finds I've had, but it is very useful and was the perfect solution for under our kitchen sink.

Pretty much everything under here made the cut when I decluttered this area a few months ago, but we all know I like things to be 'aesthetically pleasing' (close friends and family can attest to me using this phrase far too frequently). This is NOT pleasing me aesthetically at all. I don't care that no one else but Hubs, B4 and I see under here, I make things pretty and/or organised for my own pleasure! Considering that this is where our bin is (which I love by the way, I will never again own a kitchen bin that is out on display), I see this area at least 20 times a day, so I was happy to be improving it!

On the inside of the door, I had been storing these oven mitts, but since finding some fantastic silicone ones....

....at Aldi in fact, I wasn't really using the cloth ones, so out they went. I really can't rave enough about silicone mits; they are deceptively effective in protecting your hands from heat, they stack into each other and hang or sit neatly, and they wash SO easily in hot soapy water with the rest of the dishes after dinner. Goodbye cloth oven mitts with your easily stained fabric and limited heat protection! I am also slowly replacing/purchasing all of my bake wear with silicone. It's a revolution!

Anyway here it is, my new Aldi purchase, nothing special eh? But special enough for me!

Of course I couldn't leave well enough alone, so off came the dodgy sticker.

I had better things in mind....

Now while some may think it would be pretty obvious what's in the basket by looking at the bottles, you have to remember that BOYS will be using the things in here. This way, fingers crossed, Hubs will remember to put the fly spray back in here after he goes on a mass murdering spree of our local insects, and I can do a quick inventory for shopping lists in the future. In a perfect world.......

Ta da! Perfect fit for the door, perfect hanger for our floor and dish cloths, and perfect size for all of the bottles I keep handy to the sink. Happy girl. Well...........until two minutes later when this happened....

Hmmph! Apparently the suction caps were not up to the strain, so it looks like we'll have to screw it in. And if I'm completely honest, it is still sitting under the sink now, waiting for hubs to put it back. Rome wasn't built in a day and all that.

Anyway, I'll pretend not to notice and show you how tidy the bin area is now :o)

Oh, and over on the other door you'll find these two containers that I thrifted from the Ikea As-Is section over a year ago. They hold our shopping bags which we recycle to use in our bins.

The handle bags are a perfect fit for the kitchen bins, and the produce bags are perfect for the little bins we have in the bathroom and bedroom. It's a thrifty and slightly more eco-friendly option because we aren't purchasing bin liners!

So keep your eye out at your local Aldi for great affordable products, even if you do have to put up with 'lazy' checkout operators. I mean seriously, they get to sit in a chair, and you have to pack your own bags! I wouldn't have such a problem with this if they didn't give you a dirty look when you can't manage to get your groceries off their bench in time for the next customer coming through. Grumble over.

xo Cassie

* Amendment - Hubs screwed it in last night, hoorah!

Media {Organising} Frenzy!

I'm back. Sorry about that. Sometimes a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do, and what I had to do did not involve blogging. But I'm back, and we can all pretend that that ginormous gap in proceedings didn't really happen, right? Good. Just don't check the dates on my posts.

Now, I do have a few little posts up my sleeve after a serious day of catching up, but I didn't think it was fair to welcome you back with a little drawer overhaul, or quick thrift. So instead I'm going to share a project I'm rather proud of, and I'm even going to break my personal rule of not showing a project until it's finished, because I can't wait any longer really.

Some time ago now, I read Jen's Media Mania post over at I Heart Organizing where she showed us how she stores her discs. I was inspired to do something about our cumbersome black media folders, and although it took a little time to find the right solution just for us, once I found it I was excited to start!

On a trip to the Reject Shop (the same time and place I found my fabulous birdcages!) I scored these disc sleeves and storage boxes. All up, $18! Pretty sweet when you consider some media storage would set you back at least that per box.

This is where everything was being stored; two huge disc folders that I couldn't really find a place to hide, and one media box for the photo discs we've accumulated. I was pretty happy back in the day when I got ruthless and turfed all of the plastic cases and put them into the folders, but after years of lugging the folders around, I was ready for something far better!

Disc 1, done (He is such a funny man).

Only a couple of hundred left to go...

The process started off slow, fiddly and confusing.

But before long, I picked up the pace and was able to start making alphabetic piles.

And then, all of the movies were done! Hoorah! Looking so neat, and far less cumbersome.

But, to be honest, I got bored of it all pretty quickly. So after another week or two, I got my supplies back out of the garage and picked up where I left off with the music and photos. With all of the sorting finally done, I got to move onto to 'prettying' it all up, as you I do.

Enter my super cheap, super yummy Easter Egg packaging. Well, I mean, the egg was yummy, duh. *Thrifty Tip Come Easter time, just buy enough chocolate to get you through an Easter Egg hunt with the littlies if you have them, and then save the gorging for the post Easter mark downs!

The box for my egg was just too lovely to discard, and I love to thrift packaging. They spent all the time and money making it pretty, why chuck it out?!

So I salvaged the bits worth keeping, and planned my attack.

Pretty patterned paper....

Ugly stock standard label.....do you see where I'm going with this?

Yeah you do. Template it up baby!

Perfectly pretty.

Now, I am lucky enough to have a super talented mother (check out her blog here, she's got lots of that talent that she's willing to share), who was a super talented Graphic Artist at one point and still has a few of the old supplies laying around. Being an only child, I scored her rare Letraset collection when she was ready to part with it, and it just happened to be perfect for this project (and for a girl who doesn't own a printer).

If you aren't familiar with Letraset, basically, you rub/transfer each letter on piece by piece. Some might say, tedious? But I really love the effect, and if you've read my Laundry Makeover post, you already know that I prefer hand stitching to machine sewing! Some things in life are best kept simple :o)

Fabulous fit!

 Don't those little labels just pop!

Very chuffed with myself, as if you didn't know.

All so neat and tidy. Now I have got the option of filling out the great Movie Inventory list I downloaded during Jen's free printables month, to organise these discs even more, but for now I am perfectly happy to flip through at my leisure and save inventory for another rainy day...

xo Cassie

Sunny Side Up Please!

I suppose I should stop adding images to my Pinterest  long enough to do a little post! I just created a new board, 'My Personalised Ikea Catalogue' where I am adding all of the items I plan to acquire for our home, such fun to shop without spending any money ;o)

I love posting my projects, but it is always so time consuming and I get frustrated with time-sucking-technology more frequently everyday!

But today, I want to show you the new colour creeping into my home (and threatening to take over my penchant for Turquoise!).

I picked up this little birdie at Typo on my last visit. At $2, he was a steal!

But he needed some colour, and after rifling through my paint collection, I settled on this yellow :o)

I instantly feel happy looking at my little yellow birdie, and he was just the beginning of a new love affair with sunny tones!

Who doesn't love ornate frames?

I had filled these two frames with prints off an old surf tee. I'd held on to the tee for years because of the print, but not the style. One day I got somewhat ruthless, and decided the top had to go. But not before I salvaged the whimsical deers! I love that they have a soft texture to contrast with the cold metal frame, but with sunshine on the mind, I thought I could warm the frames up a bit too!

I like to keep the price on some of my thrifts, because even though it might seem strange or tacky to some, I like to remember where I got them and for how much. I protected the deers by shoving some paper into the frame, and got started...

Now while I am sure that some primer and spray paint would have been far more suitable for these metal frames, I didn't really want to head out and spend any money, so I went with the acrylic paint I already had, keeping in mind that if soaked in water, I can remove this paint fairly easily for future projects.

Already looking bright and cheerful!

It took quite a few coats after this to get the finish to an acceptable standard, but imperfection is a price I'm willing to pay!

Oops. B4 really shouldn't leave his toys grey goat lying around, tsk tsk!

Ta Da! I'm in sunshiney love! I heart that the deers stand out even more now, and the frames certainly POP out from the brickwork wall.

Also, inspired by my lovely new blogworld friend Johanna (she actually inspired me to paint everything in sight after I saw some of her home projects) , I painted this little jar for a unique candle holder :o) I may have painted it because it was the only other thing I could get my hands on at the time...

You'll have to wait a little while to see how the floating shelves look now, with this fresh splash of colour, but while you're waiting why not pick up some paint and give something in your home a fresh coat. You'll be amazed at the difference it makes, and like me, you might find yourself falling in love with a new hue!

xo Cassie

A productive little day!

I was absolutely pumped for some decluttering today. There is nothing like the refreshed feeling you get after tackling a hot mess zone, and B4's room (though improved from early days) was screaming out for another purge.

He's at the age now where his clothes seem to be shrinking at an alarming rate, and the toys he actually plays with only make up 50% of what he owns! All of this means there are things taking up space in his room that really needn't be there anymore.

I had already bagged up most of the tiny clothes and passed them onto my gorgeous little nephews, and donated some of the toys that were no longer age appropriate. But I was SURE there was more I could do! Okay, so maybe this was more about my organising urges, and not really about B4's room needing organising. I did just recently do all of this, but it was just one of those days....I HAD to organise SOMETHING!

Welcome to B4's room...

Colourful and fun is the general theme! And behind those robe doors is where the real fun begins...

 A few months ago, I tackled the mess of books, so we'll take a look at that first.

Visually hectic!

But in less than 5 minutes, everything is feeling much better! No DIY, no decluttering, no major changes, just plain old-fashioned organising!

 Now let's get into the big project!

Here's the robe stripped of it's doors. You can see where we have made improvements with tubs to hold the toys, and an assortment of different organisers to corall all of the other 'stuff'. But it's a kids room, and a multi-purpose space, so things don't stay in place for long.

In the circular shelves were boardshorts and swimwear, but it's Winter here, so I was able to tuck them away into a tub, ready for the warmer weather.

These shelves are great for a space like this, and were a super thrifty find at $25 on the local news board a couple of years ago, but they weren't really being used effectively.

This side was just random.

Not exactly the picture of organistion huh?

 So, the tricky thing about this robe is that it has to neatly house clothes AND toys, and that's where things get out of control all too quickly. I needed to improve the clothes area, and tidy up the toys.

So I took down hanger above the shelf unit, as it was basically useless there...

...and installed it under the other hanger. This was so simple, and I wish I had done it when we first moved in! All it took was a screw driver and a pencil to get it in the right spot, and now the space can be utilised effectively :o)

Then I tidied up the rest! The games got moved next to the books, and some of B4's less 'messy' toys, like his trucks, got put down the bottom where he could easily reach them (and perhaps be less tempted to go for a whole box of little tiny toys to throw around!).

I put back the shoe shelf, but shortened it a little by pinning it up. Partly because I had to, and partly as a reminder that one little boy only needs so many pairs of shoes! I also found that the red and white shelves could sit atop the hanger which freed up some floor space and made it more accessible for me and Hubs.

So, without further ado.......

Before...

After!

I'm super happy with results, and managed to satisfy my organising urges for the day :o) It would have been great to have some more shelves for the right hand side, but I'm far to happy with the rest of it to worry!

The best advice I can give you for tackling a project like this is always the same: Take everything out of the space first. I had stood in front of the 'before' robe for about 5 minutes just wondering where to start. I eventually reminded myself to take everything out and only then did I have the light-bulb moment about moving the hanger over. I wouldn't have been able to see that solution through the clutter.

I was also worried that doing this project would create another 'list' of things to buy to improve the space, but I worked with what there was and didn't feel the need to buy anything for the space!  As an added bonus, I have been able to look at all of the toys B4 has and re assess what he actually needs in the future. 

Jen over at I Heart Organising has a great post on their old playroom, and it was here that I read some really great advice:

"A: When family and friends are inquiring on gift ideas, I ask that they expand upon current play sets that the kiddos already enjoy vs receiving a ton of random things that may or may not get touched.  B:  We must clean out our toy bins and areas every single birthday party and Christmas holiday, and donate old toys when replacing with new.  Sometimes it's hard for the kids to understand or let go, but they are learning some very valuable life lessons.  It also ensures that we don't need to build an addition onto our home just for toys, because that is just crazy talk."

I'll be making sure we do this in the future so that Ky can really appreciate what he has, without ending up overwhelmed and a little spoiled for choice when it comes to his toys :o)

Being the kid's room that it is, I will no doubt be back here again in 6 2 months re-organising the chaos that will have ensued, but that's just the way it goes *shrug. I don't ever want to run out of places to declutter, organise and improve, so that's just fine with me!

Now all I need to do is replace some of the cosy clothes that have 'shrunk' since last Winter!

xo Cassie