Tag: home organisation 101

Getting Organised Week Four – Launch Pad

GOUNELLE (1)It’s been a busy week with my volunteering, so although I did my tidy up this week, I haven’t had time to post about it.Getting Organised - Launch Pad Before‘Launch pad’ isn’t a term that I’d heard much about in the UK.   It seems to be something which originated on US organising websites describing where you have everything to get you out of the door in the morning so you aren’t searching for the second glove or trying to remember whether the kids needed their PE kit or their music bags on a Tuesday morning.

We don’t have one launch pad area in our house.   Our school timetable is on a noticeboard in the kitchen. Book bags are in the hallway and shoes and coats are by the back door.   I think I’d like to have a central place where everything goes, and I’ve seen some great ideas at other people’s houses with hooks and files for each child.   I haven’t found anything that suits our space yet though.Getting Organised - Launch Pad AfterI did a good tidy up and sort out.   We’ve acquired new umbrellas and hadn’t ditched the old ones, so they went out first.   I even found the parasol from the baby buggy (youngest is almost 7!) so that went out too.   Extra coats that aren’t being worn at the moment have gone into wardrobes, and everything got a good clean.   Admittedly this photo was taken when the rest of the family was out of the house, but it has remained tidy since.

The living room is next which is mainly my stuff.   Why is it that I can keep everyone else’s belongings organised, but when it comes to my own, it exists in piles?   I haven’t got much further with the dining room which I missed when I was ill.   Onwards and upwards!

Getting Organised

Getting OrganisedThe Christmas decorations are down, the birthday cards are up, the Craftyguidelets are back at school – it must be time to get the house back in order.

There are so many books and websites to trawl through to plan a declutter or instigate a new housework routine.   The Fly Lady will have you shining your sink, tidying to bless your house and “getting dressed to lace up shoes” as part of your new routine.   Marie Kondo has her KonMari Method which gives you “the life changing magic of tidying up” and seems to have you assessing every item for sparks of joy and thanking them for everything they’ve done for you, before donating them to the local charity shop.   Anthea Turner will make you the Perfect Housewife and will have you buying wooden coathangers and folding towels just so.   The different lists, methods and techniques are endless.

Everyone has something that clicks with them, and although I haven’t immersed myself in any of the above methods, I have cherry picked a few ideas which work for me.   To save the last minute rush in the morning, I now get dressed before going down to breakfast, so even if I’m signing reading records or getting lost in an interesting news article, I’m at least decent for the school run.   I have parted with several years of birthday cards and some Craftyguidelet artwork, as although they spark joy, I’d rather have the room for new memories to come.   And if you check my airing cupboard, my towels are all folded beautifully!

My house does need a severe declutter though as living in chaos gets me down.   My life is so busy I need to be able to find things easily without a whole cupboard of stuff falling down on me.   It would also be great for everything to have a home so at Christmas we aren’t stuffing vacuum cleaner parts in the airing cupboard or losing PE kits in the Christmas decoration boxes under the stairs.

I spotted A Bowl Full of Lemons blog when I was sorting out my Bloglovin feed.   She’s written a book which is out in the UK in February, and is running a Home Organisation 101 Challenge.   It’s a 14 week challenge with a printable checklist and it starts on Saturday this week.   Although it looks like she’s into baskets and drawer liners (that ain’t happening in my kitchen!), the basics appeal to me.   First week is the kitchen so I’ll be going in to sort through exactly what is stashed away in the drawers.   If you don’t hear from me by next week, send in a rescue party.   With gin.   And chocolate.

Do you have an organisation ‘guru’?