21 Day Challenge - Day 17 The mail.

I don't have anywhere or anything fancy to store my incoming/outgoing mail, as cute as the mail storage centres are, I found it doesn't work for our family.

We have a simple system which works for us.

• Bills - They're paid straight away as we put bill money aside each pay day. If a big one arrives such as Home and contents insurance that we don't quite have the money for yet, we stick it up on the hutch part of the computer desk in plain view so it isn't forgotten about.
• Junk Mail - Is sorted before it comes in the house. We only keep what we're interested in and recycle the rest.
• Outgoing Mail - Very rare to have outgoing, usually we just phone or email, but any and all goes straight in my handbag ready to be posted when I'm out and about.
• Other Mail - Is sorted straight away.

The hardest part is keeping up with the filing once the bills have been paid/mail seen to, but we're in the process of setting up a better filing system, so hopefully that'll be easier for us soon.

21 Day Challenge - Completion and Revisit

Following the threat of pre term labour last year, I was unable to complete A Bowl full of Lemon's 21 Day Challenge. So I have decided to continue and complete where I left off, and to also revisit what I've previously accomplished.

I'm yet to do:

Day 17 - The Mail  done
Day 18 - Keepsakes
Day 19 - Master Closet
Day 20 - Photo's
Day 21 - You Pick!

I will post as I go :)

21 Day Challenge - Day 16 The Fridge

Day 16 of A Bowl full of Lemon's 21 Day Challenge, is the Fridge.

WARNING: These before pics are horrid, and I almost wasn't going to post them, but I need to, to keep myself accountable...

Everything was removed. I purged everything that was out of date or just gross (like the lettuce yuck).

I pulled it all apart and scrubbed everything with hot soapy water.

Everything was returned neatly, and here's the end result :)

                        It makes me smile every time I open the door :)



21 Day Challenge - Day 15 Medicine/Vitamin Storage

Day 15 of A Bowl full of Lemon's 21 Day Challenge is the Medicine/Vitamin Storage.

Both the meds and vitamins are stored in the medicine cupboard which was done recently, so I decided to do the last of the bathroom drawers which needed some love.

This was a very quick job as the drawer is tiny, but it has definitely made a difference.

Here's the before pic:

Some store had a sale on toothbrushes for a dollar so I stocked up :)

I took everything out, gave it a good clean, relocated my breast pads to my bedroom, Through out old razors and all other rubbish, Removed things that definitely weren't meant to be in there, such as

• a paint scraper
• an Alan key
• a screw
• and some other weird thing

The husband tends to leaves his stuff EVERYWHERE.

Everything was returned neatly and here's how it looks now:

I'm starting to really feel the difference in our house now :)

21 Day Challenge - Day 14 Under Bathroom Sink

Day 14 of A Bowl full of Lemon's 21 Day Challenge is under the bathroom sink.

This also was done not long ago, and even though it's messy, I'm surprised it's not worse lol.

Here's the before pic:

I pulled everything out, gave it a good wipe over. and sorted through everything.

Anything not being used, out of date, empty or broken was chucked.

(I don't really use those 3 bottles filled with red stuff, but I've had them for years and I can't bear to part with them or use them :) )

Everything was put back neatly.

Here's the after pic:

I unfortunately didn't get a purge pic, but at least it looks better :)

21 Day Challenge - Day 13 Medicine Cupboard

Day 13 of A Bowl full of Lemon's 21 Day Challenge is the Medicine Cupboard.

I did this cupboard not that long ago, but it's no surprise it's a mess again.

Here's the before pic:

Last time I organised it, I placed all cotton balls, band aids and bandages in an old wipes boxes. This has worked extremely well.

I pulled everything out, and purged anything out of date, ripped up old forgotten about prescriptions, left out sunblocks and repellents (will be transferring to the laundry cupboard) and sorted through the many medicine cups.

Everything was wiped over and returned neatly.

Here's the after pic:

And here's whats not going back in there...

To the left is being relocated to the laundry and to the right is rubbish.

21 Day Challenge - Day 12 Spice Cabinet

Day 12 of A Bowl full of Lemon's 21 Day Challenge is the Spice Cabinet.

I don't really have a spice cabinet, I have more of a spice tray so I decided to do the whole cupboard :)

Here's the before pic:

And the after pic:

Wow!! I can't believe my eyes. I think out of all the challenges I've done, personally, this would have to be the best outcome. I don't know why, maybe because this cupboard always seemed hard to organise because of its mostly non related contents.

The steriliser is out of it's box, which is top shelf up the back, as that is holding all newborn size bottles.

Anyway enough rambling :) Here's my purge pile:

The pile consists of:

• Old falling apart potato box
• Bottle steriliser (I have two, plus the dishwasher, and personally we prefer the microwave one)
• The Steriliser box
• 2 bottle lids (Not sure if the other one is in the pic)
• A bag of all girlie coloured bottles
• A small round tin which now houses my elastic bands
• A snack oven - I think I've used this 4 times in the 6.5 yrs we've had it.



21 Day Challenge - Day 11, The freezer

I love this one, it was so quick. If only I realised a lot sooner just how quick most things are, I wouldn't have put them off for so long... hmm nah I probably still would have, lol.


I actually did this one the other day when I had a spare 5er...it doesn't look like that now, as I've since been shopping, and as we're trying out a fortnightly or maybe even monthly shop, if we can stretch it that far, our freezer is chockers :)

Here's the before pics:

Everything was pulled out and gone through. I gave the whole thing a good clean and put everything back in nicely.



Here's what it looked like afterwards.

I'll show a pic of what it looks like now :D

hehehe :D

We'll have to turn the freezer on in the garage soon, as we've just purchased a 1/4 cow... 36kg of meat.... Hubby's in heaven lol

21 Day Challenge - Day 10, Laundry

This is probably the worst room in the house, as it is an external laundry so unfortunately seems to store all the muddy shoes and dirty bits that quickly get picked up before it rains. My husband has recently excavated the backyard, and with all the rain we've had, equates to a lot of mud...and a lot of mess...

This whole cleaning challenge took about 20 minutes (I still have to vac and mop, but will do that once it stops raining and can get the vac out there)

Before pics:

Lovely white Dryer top there...

This is the artist who decorated my Dryer top. Isn't she cute :) :)

The other artist isn't in the pic, he's too good for us apparantly (He's a Russian Blue and a total snob, but he's cute too :))

First off I started with the cupboard. I pulled everything out, gave it a clean and organised all that was to be put back in.

• The drop sheets for painting will be stored with the painting stuff in the garage.
• I organised all animal bits, like Shampoo, brush, Flea and heartworm treatments altogether in that little yellow tub which originally stored many empty paint pots and playdough pots, so I turfed the lot and reused the tub.
• Gave the cat and dog heart worm tablet and a flea treatment each
• Put Hair Clipping sets together in a plastic bag (we have 2, one doesn't work but hubby won't part with it...why? who knows lol)

Then I took that extension cord out to the garage, along with toys that went in the cubby.

Wiped over the Dryer, Washing Machine and top of sink (will give it a good Flylady clean tomorrow)

Here it is now:

Washing related stuff, Hair Clippers, then Pet stuff on the bottom shelf

Top shelf is. Cleaning supplies, Fish food which I'm giving to my cousin, Bath hose and a bag of bags

Much better :) I've shut the door so the critters don't get back in and decorate.

Will update once I've vac'd, mopped and shined the sink

21 Day Challenge - Day 9, Toy Organisation

Ok.... This one I did not want to do... The thought of organising ALL their toys freaked me out.

When I did make a start on it, I'd only have so long before Mr 1 would come along and undo literally everything I'd done, some one would come over unannounced, the dog would get into the laundry and attack its food bag... There was always something stopping me from finishing. So I decided to tweak it a bit to make it a tad easier in accomplishing this task. I decided I would focus on Miss 4's toys only for now, as sorting through the boys wardrobes has been an ongoing process anyway (I'm almost done yay :))...

At first I felt like I hadn't completed the task as I hadn't organised every single toy, but isn't this whole journey about finding your own way on the road to organisation and simplicity? So if that means I have to tweak the challenge a bit in order to have some organisation then bring it on :) lol

As I finish the boys room and the toys in the lounge room I'll update this post :)

I did a post a few weeks back about tidying up my daughters room, which you can find here
I knew this room wouldn't stay tidy for long, esp. without a system in place for the toys. So that's exactly what we did today.

Before:

Why she has Mr 2.5's baby toy is beyond me...

Absolute chaos... I honestly can't remember the last time I went through this side of the cupboard. I feel so ashamed saying that, but it's the truth...and it's kinda obvious anyway lol

I've got to grab some labels next time I'm out, but I've showed and told Miss 4 what's where, and I made her tell me where things were so I knew she understood.

Bottom shelf is her Dress up shelf... Dress up shoes are at the back in their little box and costumes are in the little pig bag. I couldn't part with it so I put it to use lol.

Middle shelf is all things Barbie

and

Top shelf is all things doll related

Right up the top I've stolen and that's where I store baby things for the time being, like the nappy bag, bassinette mattress etc etc

This one isn't the neatest but I asked Miss 4 what she would like in there and she told me her big doll set (too big to fit in with the others) and her two fluffy white dogs. I asked her later on what was in the main part and she remembered :)

Ohh and the little child is Mr 1 :) He's walking now and so much happier :) :)

Here we have:

• Dora the explorer things.
• Kitchen stuff minus food that's kept in their trolley.
• Her ball
• Horses/unicorns
• Leap Frog thing
• Medical Kit
• Skipping Rope
• That one I think will be reserved for stray stuff
• Same as this one where ever it is

I have a pic from a couple of weeks back at an attempt to organise the lounge room toys, we did separate and put away a few things but the next day it looked as though we didn't touch it

Watching My Kitchen Rules Grand Final lol

Sorting through the mess.. Most of that was returned to their rightful home... A lot has been brought back... some how...by some one... I wonder who??? lol

21 Day Challenge - Day 8, Coat Closet

Another one I couldn't wait to get started on :)

It was jam packed with clothes, shoes and other junk. I didn't touch hubbys section, even though I could go crazy purging his clothes (he's worse then a girl when it comes to his clothes lol) He would not be impressed, so I'm leaving that up to him.

I pulled out all my jackets and was met with this...

I pulled everything out, gave it a vac and placed my shoes back in... Ummm I have a lot of my thongs missing... I'm slowly finding them as I'm cleaning my room lol (Hubbys shoes are in another section and that'll be posted in the main closet challenge)

Much better :)

21 Day Challenge - Day 7 Pantry

Day 7 of A Bowl full of lemon's 21 Day Challenge is the Pantry.

I have gone through and organised all but the bottom shelf which is where we dump store our filing. This will be done on Day 17 which is the Mail.

Here's my before pic:

Very umm...unorganised lol

again so sorry for the blurry pics

• Everything was removed from the pantry and I wiped the inside.

• I then went through and chucked out any rubbish and put aside anything that did not belong in there.

• I had so many packs of things for baking that I placed in a little plastic tray I found. All little baking things like vanilla essence or food colouring etc was placed in a little box. I emptied opened packets into containers and then organised them all.

• I did the same with the other shelves and here's the end result:

Yaaayyy I free'd up a shelf :)

Top shelf is for the electric mixer, slender mixer, yoghurt maker and fondue set

Second shelf down is all baking goods

Next is savoury stuff

Then it's brekky/drinks and the lolly jar in the back lol

Here is what I thought was all the junk...

...Until I realised I missed a shelf...

I have no idea what any of that was doing in there but I'm happy it's gone lol

And here's my umm... filing ...*ahem*

 I'm not looking forward to this one lol

21 Day Challenge - Day 6 Dresser Drawers

Day 6 of A Bowl full of Lemon's 21 Day Challenge, is the Dresser Drawers.

Now with this challenge, I've only gone through and organised 3 out of the 4 main drawers, and here is why;

• The small top right drawer was my first draw I decluttered in Day 1 of the challenge - the junk drawer. As this was the most junkiest drawer, I chose this one.
• The small top left drawer I'll do at a later date, as it is supposed to be a stationary draw, but as I'm decluttering other areas, I'm finding many pens, pencils and other stationary in which I want to go through and will eventually be stored in this drawer. So I might make this drawer my challenge for Day 21 - Pick your own.
• The bottom drawer is where we store all our photos/albums, so this drawer will be gone through on Day 20, which is photo day.
• The top of the dresser drawers at the moment is my storage for DVDs, CD's and computer games which'll be going on the garage sale Saturday Week.

So what I could actually complete out of this challenge I'm very pleased with. I even free'd up a whole draw :) (which was quickly filled up with Mr 1's winter PJ's, that poor kid's clothes are spread over 2 rooms and through 3 different Chest of drawers)

Anyways here's the before pics :

Please excuse all the blurry pics, my battery charger for my digital camera is broken, so I've been having to use my phone and it's not very good lol

I pulled everything out of the drawers.

Purged a whole drawers worth.

And put everything back in nice and neat :)