I’m calling it – the autumn cleanse beats the spring clean hands down for me. In spring, all I want to do is get outside, but in autumn I go into full home declutter mode. For some reason this always takes me by surprise, but having looked back in my blog archive it seems I get this urge every September. It’s my seasonal reset button, with its promise of a new start (remember the joy of all that new stationary for the brand new school year?), and the reintroduction of routine and structure after the summer break. So I’ve gone into… View Post

Getting my desk organised last week after the arrival of my new super-compact HP DeskJet 3720 printer prompted a massive sort out of the rest of my home office. I went through old files, binned bags of obsolete paperwork, moved furniture and generally tackled my problem areas – paperwork, reference material and office stationery – so that I could enjoy the benefits of a more ordered workspace. Just moving furniture gave the room an instant refresh – it’s almost like hitting a reset button. Other things I did: Finally let go of a load of magazines. They were all titles… View Post

It’s all about the She Shed on my YouTube channel this week, as I give my humble potting shed a desperately-needed update to turn it from a dingy dumping ground into a usable shed that will hopefully encourage me to get creative in the garden. My shed was piled high with junk – old buggies, kids’ garden toys, old bags of compost and even craft bits that I couldn’t fit into my craft cupboard indoors. So I had a whole heap of stuff to clear out, most of which is now sat in a pile on my lawn, covered with… View Post

Last week I had an extremely rare weekend on my own. No husband, no kids and no plans whatsoever. Coming at the end of a manic few months of work, I didn’t want to tackle anything too strenuous as basically I’m a walking zombie at the moment. I started out well, with a nice lie-in and some time re-aquainting myself with my much-neglected tapestry. And then I got up and had the bright idea to declutter and reorganise the cupboards and wardrobes. And in just over an hour, most of my house pretty much looked like this… It was too… View Post