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The autumn cleanse | Growing Spaces

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

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DIY jewellery stand with Sugru | Growing Spaces

Gosh it feels like a while since I got my craft on. Seems that heading back to almost-full-time work takes a toll on the craft mojo, or maybe it’s just that I need to make more effort to carve out some time. I feel like I have lots of projects sort of on the go, but rarely actually get to finish anything, let alone get it photographed to share here. Anyway, this DIY jewellery stand (or jewellery tree?) is something I started way back at the start of the year, but had to shelve when I couldn’t get the individual… View Post

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Getting organised for 2017 | Growing Spaces

2017 sees a big change for our household, as I have a new job and will go back to work full-time after seven years freelancing from home. It feels like the right time – the twins are happy and settled at school, I’m keen to get my teeth into a new challenge, and the job I’m starting is flexible in terms of my hours and working from home. While I’m excited about this new chapter, I’m under no illusions that full-time working is going to be a bit of a shock to the system for all of us. I juggle… View Post

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7 golden rules for an organised home office | Growing Spaces

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

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DIY kit bags for hallway storage | Growing Spaces

A very old post of mine about our hallway storage solutions is still one of my most popular (go figure!). Of course our hallway doesn’t actually looks like that anymore (it was four years ago after all), but the coat hooks and old pew are still key elements in the space. One thing that was causing constant mess and irritation was all the hats, gloves, scarves that ended up strewn across the bench. Apparently a family of four can have rather a large collection of accessories, and when they’re all mixed up together it’s all but impossible to find what… View Post