Dream holiday

18 months ago Mr Homespun and I took the girls on our dream family holiday. We spent one week on Queensland's Gold Coast, visiting Movieworld, Dreamworld and Seaworld (twice, we were staying the Seaworld Resort), and then a few days on Daydream Island. And it was. A daydream. That is seriously the loveliest place I have ever visited. And we all had a great time, so much so that we decided we would return. So far we haven't, but we definitely will.

Last year Mr Homespun had a big birthday and we had a lovely party to celebrate. But I am not the party holder type. I worry that no one will turn up and when they do I worry they aren't having a good time. I know, I know, any lack of a good time is entirely their problem not mine, but still I worry. And I don't like worrying. So this year it is my time for a big birthday (I'm not telling which birthday it is, but I will tell you it is not my 30th!!) we are not having a party, instead we are heading off for what is my dream holiday, or at least the version we can afford, ha ha ha.

Can you guess where??

                                  photo courtesy of Paris Apartments

It's been a little quiet on the blogging front here at Homespun Headquarters, but I'm still here! I have been plodding away at the housework and have made very little progress on any of my current projects but I shall post some finished ones shortly.

I have also been awfully distracted by Pinterest. Have you checked it out? It is definitely my new favourite site. I am not a member, I am wasting too much time just looking as it is! But such a lovely way to waste time...

Kitchen Challenge

I have been inspired by the April Challenge over at IHeart Organising (albeit a little late) and have zealously attacked my kitchen this week. With the exception of under the sink and the medicine cupboard, I have reorganised every cupboard in the kitchen. And they look amazing! I have also rearranged the layout of the cupboards, changing the contents of almost all of them instead of going along with what each cupboard has contained for the past 12 years or so.  One of the biggest changes has been the move of all the plasticware to the cupboard that formerly housed our glassware. The contents are now very neat, but more importantly, easier to see what I have and to get at it.

Before: the dark corner cupboard where my plasticware used to reside, now a very neat bakeware cupboard.

After: The plasticware's new home. I can see!

The feeling of satisfaction is great!

The New Pantry Cupboard

My house doesn't have a pantry cupboard and this has frustrated me for a long time. And I don't just mean a walk in pantry, I mean it doesn't have a pantry at all, just above and below bench cupboards. As a result I have dreamed of having a pantry for a long time. And since I have no intention of moving anytime soon I have had to think outside the box to resolve this. And this is what I have come up with:

Pretty, yes? And even though it is not yet finished, I am in love with it already. It has freed up an incredible amount of space in the cupboards and I can finally see what I have and what I am running low on. I am a little confused as to why I haven't done this before now...

Household Routines

I have unsuccessfully tried many household routines over the years and the only thing I have learnt is that you can't use someone else's routine for your own. You definitely need to make your own.

The first step is to identify those tasks that you must have done every day, without fail. And there is no point being too detailed in identifying that list, that will just cause you to lose all motivation. Housework is something that unfortunately requires motivation for most of us so making your list too big to start off with is just asking to be disappointed. This doesn't mean the chores you need to get done aren't so very few, it just means you need to find a way of referring to them that doesn't scare you off before you begin.

For example my basic daily list comprises of only four things - the kitchen, the laundry, sweeping the floors and a general tidy up. Simple right? But deep down we know this list isn't so very small. The kitchen for goodness sake! This can take anywhere between 10 minutes and several hours, but listing every task in the kitchen does absolutely nothing for my motivation. So 'kitchen' is all that is written in my daily plan. How much I get done of this is then entirely up to me, after a point. The dishes must absolutely be done, so must the countertops. And if I have been doing this consistently that is all that usually needs to be done. Anything else is optional.

The laundry - a peek in there will quickly let me know whether anything needs to be done. I try to do one load everyday. Between the two girls, myself and a husband with a very dirty job, there isn't usually a day go by when there isn't a load to do, but it happens. Still this written on my list isn't intimidating either.

Sweeping the floors - need I elaborate? 10 minutes tops.

General tidy up - again this can take two minutes or it can take an hour. But it is one of those tasks that if let go, will take me a lot longer to recover from, but done consistently is relatively easy to manage.

After this there is all the other tasks that need to be done regularly, but not necessarily every day. I'll post on that subject another day.

So, what's on your list?

The Great To Do List

I have a To Do list for task and projects around the home that is pages long. It contains things as simple as cleaning out and organising a particular drawer or two, to tasks that will take several weeks, like rebuilding the front retaining wall. Two things stop me from achieving everything on this list, time and money. I'm sure these are the two things that stop almost all of us from getting everything done.

The great To Do List, and yes, tidying up my desk is on the list!

A couple of weeks from now and the time problem should be solved, but unfortunately that means the money part becomes more of an issue. With one less income in the family the budget will need to be more carefully scrutinised. That's if I had one. A budget that is.

So that becomes another thing on the To Do list, but one that moves immediately to the top of the list. So this week I will be trying to set a budget for the Homespun family, and no doubt checking out some budgeting sites online.

I Heart Housework

Yes, it's true, I do. I love the feeling of satisfaction I get when I have cleaned until a room shines. Mind you it's not often enough that I do this, clean a room until it is completely done, usually it is just a 'lick and a promise', but when I get around to it the results are wonderful.

With my work finishing in a few weeks doing this should become the norm. It's been a while since I have been able to finish a morning's housework, put my feet up with a nice cup of tea and know that the entire house is sparkling, so I am looking forward to the opportunity to do it again. This week I did attack the kitchen, though it was entirely the exterior that got the treatment, the insides of the cupboards will have to wait. But three days later I still get a kick out of walking into the kitchen and seeing the results.

Now if only it would stay that way...