Renovation Drool - Brooklyn Limestone Kitchen

One day I would love to design my own kitchen - choose the cabinets, handles, appliances, layout.  How much fun!!!!  If I had the opportunity to do all that then this is the inspiration for my dream kitchen:

Image via Brooklyn Limestone

I am a purist so this style would fit in perfectly with our Post-WW1 house (c1924).  I love the floor to ceiling cabinets, the white detailed cabinets, the black limestone benchtops, that tap (faucet), the french door fridge, the pendant lights.... I could go on and on.  If you're intersted you can see the rest of this kitchen and the amazing renovations over at Brooklyn Limestone.  You can also see some other kitchen drool here.

What does your dream kitchen look like?

The Un-Purge!

OKAY, so after some consultation with my husband I decided to hang on to those two tables a little while longer.  I don't know exactly where we are going to keep them but once I saw them out in the house I felt too attached to let go of them.  Moreso the smokers table as it is similar to one my parents owned in the 70's, I suppose it kind of reminds me of my Dad since he smoked for about 45yrs.  Although smoking is not a good thing it was a big part of him and all my memories of my childhood involve him getting on with stuff and having a cigarette hanging out his mouth, or lying in bed watching tellie with a fag, sending me to the corner shop to buy him a pack of Viscount or Winnie Red.... He gave up smoking in his late 50s when he found out he had angina and had to have a triple bypass.  It scared the be-Jesus out him and he just gave up, I think there were a few relapses in the early days but he did it and lived until the ripe age of 81!!

The Bookcase & Lamp seem to have created a lot of interest!

Anyway, back to the Purge - I took some gear to our local Vinnies (charity shop) last week.  I have got a couple of bundles for family, some toys to take to Mum's to update the really old, crappy toys the kids play with when they are visiting.  I also have a dozen items listed on eBay - my old motorbike gear, baby stuff, vintage stuff.... AND there's more that I just haven't had time to list yet.  It is really time consuming!  Can I just say I'm a bit anxious about what these items are going to fetch!!

dxx

The Purge

The great "House Reorganisation Project" has been consuming all of my available time lately.  I am pleased to say that I am nearly finished with the boys' room then I'll post some photos.  It has already been a huge success in waging the war on toys. 

Right now though the most time consuming thing has been listing stuff on eBay.  It has also come with a range of emotions, whilst I will be glad to see things go, I am also a bit torn about parting with things.  Sigh!!

    For instance, I have listed this gorgeous Art Deco smokers table which I have had for about 18yrs.  It used to look fabulous next to my club armchair.  The armchair had to go a few years ago and this table has just been gathering dust and not even on display (kept away from the little people in the house).  I polished up the chrome, boy that was laborious but she's looking like a beauty again.

I have a thing for Art Deco... this one I've had for just as long and is going on eBay tonight.  Another one I am torn about selling.    I don't even know if I could find a use for them once we have renovated  and no garage/storage to put them away just in case.  Anyway, all these museum pieces are just not practical in a family home but it's tugging at my heart strings (especially when they're styled for a photoshoot).  What to do?

 dxx

House Reorganisation

Hello!

I am still here.  Just been very preoccupied with more sick children, a bit of sewing and trying to get on top of reorganising the house.  The latter is a mammoth task which involves every room in this house being decluttered and reorganised and possibly purchasing better storage.  You see, our plans to renovate have not progressed because life has been too busy.  Better organising the house is an interim solution which should make our lives a bit easier to handle (I hope).   I feel like I have finally got the headspace after 2 huge years to get in and tackle it plus Scarlett is getting old enough that we can now get rid of a lot of that baby stuff (YAY!!).

I have made a small start, and I really wanted to post about it last week, the draft post started getting really, really long and detailed so I never go around to finishing it and I think it would've made for boring reading in one hit.  I think a better approach would be to chunk the info down into several posts.  Even that seems overwhelming but I will give it a go.

In the last week we have shifted a large bookcase from Scarlett's bedroom into the lounge room, started making plans for reorganising the dining room/sewing nook, made plans for the boys' bedroom and I have been scouring our local op shops (charity shops) and eBay for a new vintage desk and sewing storage solution.  I already missed out on one piece which I will tell you about in another post.

Cleaning walls and moving furniture is calling me....

Renovation Drool - Craft Room Envy

My craft room is also my kitchen and dining room and study.
Makes setting up and packing away a pain and also having craft stuff lying around the kitchen/dining room is making the place really cluttered. 

Enough was enough, I thought yesterday. 

I asked The Man for shelves above my desk to help ease the burden on our kitchen counter/breakfast bar.  This morning I am wading through the paperwork, there are bills to pay and I can't find them under all the mail, kids drawings, unread magazines, filing, scraps of interfusing, receipts...

Time to clean up!!

Oh well, one day I hope to have a craft room (maybe in 20 something years time when the kids start leaving home).

In the meantime....

I spied this oak vintage sewing caddy in my Reader which was a coincidence because Mum told me I could have hers yesterday (unfort. it's pine and 80s not oak and 50s).

Then I checked out Alissa's crafty quilting space on Apartment Therapy and was impressed with how neat and organised it was.
























And that sewing machine!!!!  Imagine having that for quilting!  I better start saving my pennies.

I love that wall hanging

For more of Alissa's creative space head to Apartment Therapy.

Organisation - An Epiphany

Retro organisation - Woman's Day 1969

So I was browsing the aisles of my local large supermarket this afternoon when I noticed my heart skipped a beat everytime I saw a storage box.  In my mind I was thinking a large storage box might help organise my sewing notions & gadgets, when I had a realisation..... you could have all the boxes, cupboards, storage containers, garages, utility rooms etc but you are never going to be organised if you don't actually put things away! 

Herein lies my biggest hurdle.  Putting stuff away seems to cause some kind of mental block, it's like the mental-too-hard-basket.  I have a few of those baskets lying around the house.  I presume psychologists or organisational experts would tell you that if you have decent storage then putting things away becomes easier... well, that's the theory.  I have a small house considering there's 5 people living here (100sqm / 1076 sqf).  Storage is at a premium and we don't have a garage or basement or decent utility room.  I have many times thought about converting our roof space into attic storage but we have been also thinking about a proper second storey addition.  I have even given a very brief thought to built-in wardrobes (I have been known to loathe them preferring our beautiful-to-look-at-but-not-as-practical-antique-wardrobes)  One day.....

In the meantime, I really need to de-clutter our house.  We are starting to get to the stage where we can start giving up the baby stuff, even though I'm not 100% convinced we are done with babies yet (hubby if you are reading this please don't have a coronary).  I need to let go of those clothes that I might fit back in to one day.... maybe when I do they will be out of fashion!!

How do you organise your house?  Have you got any clever storage solutions you would like to share?