• I inherited some of mums quilting and craft supplies which didn’t fit into my already full cupboards
• I needed more storage space
• Deciding what storage was a really big decision, did I want cupboards, drawers, open shelves
• I think mostly the big halt to me not organising this room sooner was the emotional thought that I am adding my mums supplies with mine and the reason why I am doing it.  Wish I didn’t, wish she was still here to use it all with me.

I’m embarrassed to show you the room, but I want to be real with you.  I’m not perfect, but boy this room did get my spirits down, I hated looking in there.  I am so glad we gave this room an overhaul.

Before I left for Ikea I put some of the items in this room on Gumtree, it only took me 10 minutes to list several items using the iPad.  Before I got to Ikea I had messages for enquiries for most of the items, they were picked up the same day !!

I gave my dad our old units which he has used really well in his garage.

Steps to organising my craft room

1. Decide what storage is needed

My craft room originally had one Ikea expedit unit, a few cupboards and drawers. Then I added to it with some plastics drawer systems that mum had.  As I didn’t have much space these were just placed on top of the only tabletop bench space I had in the room, as you can see in the photo above.

Having my supplies out in the open cabinets such as the expedit and the plastic drawers on top of the drawers I felt made the room look untidy.  Being that my craft room is in the front room of the house, in a room with no doors it’s on show, so  I wanted to find storage solutions that I can keep all my supplies behind closed doors. Initially I was going to change the expedit down the track, but as you will read below I changed my mind on day 2 and decided to overhaul the whole room.

I love the expedit (shown above, when the room was tidy), but I knew there was a better solution for this space (I moved this unit into our office)

My girls each have a sewing machine (my mum spoilt them, she was teaching them to quilt) and I have one and an overlocker.  So I wanted cupboards that were deep enough to put them in.

I also wanted drawers to help organise all the little bits and pieces that crafters acquire.

2. Find a unit within budget

I initially found units that would suit at:

• Masters – Module system – was similar to what I initially had
• Bunnings – Bedford range – you can create a unit exactly how you would like, but rather pricey
• Ikea – Pax System – I loved this system, as you can choose from many different combinations, the drawers were deep.  I planned out exactly the units I wanted.  But then my clever husband said I should check the  minimum height needed to install this unit.  It is 244cm, our ceiling height is standard 240cm.  I was devastated, only 4cm shy, but moved on to find something just as great.
• Ikea – Besta system – this is the system I ended up with and I love it.  You can choose from many different size combinations, open shelves, add cupboard doors and drawers.

3. Get your unit

Now I was heading to ikea so I had to have my plan in place before I left, otherwise I would be easily sidetracked with all their goodies.

1. Create a shopping list.  Writing down how many drawer fronts I need, cupboard doors and the width of the unit.  I was able to get all the details of which aisle and section they were in from their website, which saved a lot of time.
2. Ensure you have enough room in the car to bring it all home
3. If you are going by yourself make sure you visit the shop when they have customer service members working to help you load the car (at our Ikea they don’t start till midday).
4. Visit the area that displays the unit you are wanting.  Get the customer service members to confirm the unit and items you are wanting are correct to make the complete unit you desire.  Don’t forget to add little items such as door handles to your shopping list too.
5. When home, if your impatient like me, start installing!

4. Installing unit

Installing the unit took a few days for me, as not all drawer fronts were in stock, so I had to go back the next day to pick them up, only to find  the quantity I needed was not in stock again, despite being told the day before they would, I spoke to the customer service team and they kindly got them all in for me to pick up the following day.  While I was there I purchased a small extendable table for the middle of the room.  So, 3rd trip up I got all the drawer fronts and decided to purchase another unit (to replace the expedit). Day 4 I had to go back to Ikea because the unit I purchased the day before was damaged.  Again customer service was really lovely and looked after me well considering I had been 4 times in 4 days.  All credit given to their service team.

Make sure you have ample space around you to build the units and I recommend doing it all on carpet so you don’t damage the furniture.

5. Move it all in

I removed everything from the old units, then moved the old unit out of the way and move the new units in.  Then the fun part is organising all beloved items onto the new shelves and drawers.

I found it easier to organise without the cupboard doors on as I changed my mind where things went and it was easier to do with no doors.  Installing the doors was the last thing I did.  I did have to move some items from shelves so the hinges could be drilled in, but that wasn’t too much trouble.  We did have some trouble getting the cupboard doors to align.  Hubby googled it and found a solution.

The reveal – I love it!!

I added Besta units on both walls on the left and right of this photo.  I put the expedit unit that was on the wall on the left in the office and put the shelf that was in the office next to the Besta unit on the left.

The unit on the left is 2 Besta units (1 single and 1 double), with a half cupboard and standard cupboard on the bottom of each.

Below are 2 Besta units together, total of 16 drawers and 4 large cupboard doors

I wanted some open shelves in this unit to display a few of my mums treasures some books (which I am yet to add).  Unfortunately my Scrapbooking albums don’t fit in the cupboards so they will have to live on the shelf.  

I got this small extendable dining table for the room.  Prior to this I was using a trellis table, which was uncomfortable to sit at.  I chose an extendable table for when the girls have friends over or when we start to work on their quilts so there will be plenty of room.

These are my scrapbooking supplies inside the cupboard.  I love that doors can hide all this away now.

Still on my to-do list:

1. I’d like to paint over the green wall.
2. I share this room with my husband, the other half is his man cave.  He is a big kid at heart and loves his Xbox, TV and V8 racing car models.  I’d like to overhaul this part of the room too and put Besta units all around.  Besta have glass doors which would be perfect to keep the dust off the model cars.  But this is a dream….. maybe in another few years.
3. I still have more sorting, time got the better of me and I haven’t been able to add everything into the drawers yet, but I’ll get there!

 Units – Ikea Besta System

Dining table – Bjursta from Ikea

Dining chairs – Borje from Ikea

Scrapbook albums – We R Memory Keepers

Carousel on table – no longer available for sale

Scrapbooking paper storage – Cropper Hopper Paper Holder

White boxes in cupboard, from Ikea and Woolworths

Clear containers in cupboard, from Bunnings and Kmart

Disclosure:  This is not a sponsored post, I purchased all items myself

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I have managed to get my house back into order.  There will always be an empty place in my heart, however I am feeling so much better because I feel calmer and less stressed with a the house tidy, clean and organised.

Please join me in the ’20 Days to Organise and Clean your home’  Challenge so you too can find calm and happiness at home.  

Challenge Starts: Monday 3rd September, you will need to check the blog each weekday for challenge tasks, yes we get weekends off!!

Pre-challenge tasks start: Monday 27th August, these are tasks to ensure you will then be ready to start the challenge!

I hope you can join in the fun! 

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This is a guest post by Kate, from the blog Puddles and Gumboots.

“Help! My house is an absolute chaos, I feel completely overwhelmed and I don’t know where to start.” These were the words a friend said to me recently when she rang me in tears.

I think this happens to nearly all of us at some stage or another, whether we like to admit it or not. Life happens. Someone gets sick, or the whole family does. You have to work overtime for two weeks straight, or there is seemingly an endless round of social engagements that you have to attend this month. Whatever it is, your normal routine and methods of getting things done went out the window and now your home resembles a disaster zone. As I cheered my friend up, I realised that sometimes when there is so much to be done, so much mess everywhere, that overcoming the feeling of being overwhelmed by all the mess is the biggest roadblock in the way of getting back on top of things.

So here is my step by step guide to getting back in control of your home, tackling the mess and beating the feeling of being overwhelmed by it all.

Step 1 – Open up all your windows and blinds. Let that fresh air and sunlight in! Enlist helpers if you can; your partner, kids, mum, sister or your best friend. You absolutely can do this by yourself but teamwork does make everything go quicker! Put on some cheerful energetic music that you like and now you are ready to get started!

Step 2 – Gather all dirty clothes and laundry, sort into loads (if you have more than one to do) and get the first wash going. Laundry has to be first on the list because if you’ve fallen behind with it, it is the thing that takes the longest to get back in control of, simply due to the time it takes to wash and dry.

Step 3 – Empty all rubbish bins and take out the recycling. Even that rubbish bin in the study that only has two pieces of paper in it. This is part of beating that feeling of being overwhelmed by the mess. There is something in knowing your home is completely rubbish free.

Step 4 – Load your dishwasher or wash the dishes, put away anything that doesn’t belong on the kitchen benches and wipe them down. If you have things on your benches that shouldn’t be there but don’t have a spot where they go then put them in a “clutter” box/basket (an empty laundry basket is good for this) to deal with later.

Step 5 – Pick up anything that is on the floor and shouldn’t be, such as toys, an abandoned pair of shoes etc. If these things can be quickly and easily put back where they belong then do so. If not pop them in your clutter basket to deal with later.

Step 6 – Clear off any clutter that has collected on surfaces. Such as your dining table, hall table, bathroom benches etc. Wipe them all done. Put any clutter away that has a home and pop the rest in the “clutter basket”.

Step 7 – Clean the toilets.

Step 8 – Give the floor a quick vacuum or sweep.

There! You’ve now done the worst things that will make a house seem messy. I bet you’re feeling a lot less overwhelmed by it all now can see what other things you might need to do next. Sit down and relax for a bit and have a look through the clutter basket. Put away anything that does have a home but you couldn’t easily put away while cleaning quickly. For anything left in the basket ask yourself these questions:

• Do I need this for something?
• Does it get used?
• Do I really want to keep it?

If you didn’t answer yes to all these questions then throw away or donate the item. If you do want to keep it then try to find a good place for it to permanently go.

So the worst is all done and you’re no longer feeling overwhelmed, but you now need to ask yourself was this build up of mess an aberration due to illness, work or something else or does this keep happening regularly? If it keeps happening regularly then perhaps you need to develop a new routine or system so that it doesn’t. Do your children need to start taking more responsibility and help out around the home more? Do you need to re-organise some areas of your home? You can find heaps of organising inspiration here on The Organised Housewife to help you get started.   {image credit}

About Guest  Kate blogs at Puddles and Gumboots about her life with five children. She makes no claims of being a domestic goddess, but more describes her home as a happy organised chaos. 

Find our guest: Blog | Facebook | Twitter

This post was written by a guest contributor. If you are interested in ‘being my guest’ please visit Be my Guest page for more details.

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I have shown you where i store our gift wrapping.  It’s convenient to have it all stored together, making wrapping presents less time-consuming.  Today I thought I would share with you some more Gift Wrapping Station ideas, now yes some of these maybe extreme, but the reason I post my ‘Inspirational Saturday’ is to help inspire you to create an area that will suit you and your needs.  Take a bit from each and make something you will enjoy.

Gift Wrapping Station

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Pottery Barn Wall Mounted Craft Organiser

How to create a gift wrapping station by Lowes

How do you store your gift wrapping supplies?

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I love meeting people who read my blog and hearing their stories of how I have managed to help them, however some say “I wish I could be as organised as you” or “your house must be perfect”.  I want to let you all know you can be organised too… just find YOUR WAY, adapt my ideas to suit you.  I have my short cuts in being organised, I am a perfectionist however these short cuts are give me more time to enjoy my family, home and find time to relax.  

My Top 5 Perfectly Imperfect Organising Tips

1.  Let your dishes air dry over night

2.  Bundle kids face washers in drawer, don’t fold

3. Don’t pair socks, bundle together and the owner can take the time to do it

4.  As much as I would love to straighten the kids beds after they have made them, I resist because a) They have put in the effort, for that I am grateful, and b) I don’t have time.

 5. I don’t like dusting.  It’s on my weekly cleaning plan but it usually isn’t completed when I’m doing my other chores.  However, I do manage to get it done while chatting on the phone. 

Do you have any perfectly imperfect organising tips?

Another imperfection:

A few readers recently have picked up on my ‘imperfect’ use of the apostrophe.  I want to say that whilst I appreciate and don’t mind people pointing out my errors, please do so kindly.  I put a lot of work into this blog and the facebook page to help, motivate and inspire all my readers.  I am ‘one’ person running The Organised Housewife plus my household, please be nice.

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The next time we wash our cars I’m going to wash down the front door, move the pot and mat to give it a good clean.  Have to make a start on some spring cleaning.

I found these flowers at our local bunnings (sorry can’t remember the name) but they look like little roses.  Meet our cat, Millee, she’s so cuddly.

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Goodbye August, hello September!  This is going to be a great month on the Organised Housewife blog. This month I will be posting about clutter, what is clutter and how to manage your clutter.   So lets say GOODBYE CLUTTER, HELLO ORGANISATION!!  

We will revisit the kitchen during this month as there are a few areas we still need to complete.  Then it’s onto another room. Are you up for the journey, the challenges that lie ahead?

Daily Routines:

At the bottom of each post I am going to start listing daily routines.  I will only list the routines after I have posted about them.  Eg, we have spoken about making your bed daily or doing the dishes.  But I haven’t posted about maintaining a clean bathroom.  That will come and will be added to the list, everything gradually.  The daily routines are based around my days, eg, create meal plan on Sunday as I grocery shop on mondays etc.  However, maybe you can create a master list for yourself if you like to do tasks on different days.  I have attached a Daily Routine List for you to print and use.

TODAY’S DAILY ROUTINE:

Morning

• Shower and dress yourself
• Make your bed
• Prepare lunches for family
• Put away clean dishes and empty dishwasher
• Make your bench and sink sparkle
• Check the kids have completed their tasks.

Evening

• Wash dishes
• Pack dishwasher
• Make your bench and sink sparkle

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