Front Garden Update!!!

Last year, I completed the 20 Day Challenge with The Organised Housewife and it motivated me so much that I attacked the front garden, which was overgrown with all sorts! It looked messy and didn't give our house the street appeal we wanted, especially as we are putting the house on the market soon.

This is what the front garden looked like BEFORE: See more pics here & here.

After a trip (or two) to Bunnings, and with a bit of help from my partner & Miss B, I finally got stuck in and finished our front garden. I decided to stick with the river stones (as I have two other river stone gardens along the side of the house), bigger rocks and a few plants. It is really basic, however it allows potential buyers to change it to suit them - e.g. replace the big rocks with plants etc, or leave it as it is. 

I am happy with it and it looks so much better than what it was - don't you think? 

Still need to pot these flax

Front Garden: AFTER!

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20 Day Challenge - OVERVIEW

{Clean, De-clutter & Organise Your Home in just 20 Days!} 
Check out what I did to my home in just 20 days...includes before and after photos...See it here.

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{20 Day Challenge} Day 20 - THE LAST DAY

{Day 20}

I can't believe it is Day 20 - the last day of the 20 Days to Organise & Clean Your Home Challenge - although I only need to look at my house and see how clean & organised it is...routines are put in place, new habits & 5 minutes tasks completed regularly...I am feeling fantastic and very proud of myself for completing this challenge!

Today I de-cluttered a few things from the freezer and gave it a good clean... PLUS I have organised a "Baking Day" with my daughter for this weekend - to celebrate my success. 

Looking back... My Goals

When at home I want to feel organised and relaxed

I want to spend more time doing fun activites outside with my family & Blogging 

I want an area of the home where I can set up a desk/area for laptop and stationary

I want to organise my Bedroom & the containers of 'sentimental items' hidden away in the wardrobes

I don't need anymore but can't part with clothes and teacher resources

I always lose motivation

NOW??

• I am definitely feeling more organised and relaxed and so does my partner when he gets home from work.
• I have loved blogging about my journey during the 20 day challenge. I hope you have enjoyed reading about it and seeing the before and after photos.
• Now that the house is sorted I am looking forward to spending more time outside enjoying the sunshine with my kids. BRING ON SUMMER
• I now have a designated area where I work and where I keep my stationary etc.. 
• My bedroom is clean & organised and I make my bed every morning before I leave the room.
• I have culled and organised A LOT of my 'sentimental items' which feels great to FINALLY get it done
• I have donated 3 rubbish bags full of clothes/shoes to op-shop & dumped a rubbish bag full of teacher resources no longer needed.

This is my home. I would be happy if potential buyers walked through my house today and opened my cupboards!!

Hi 5 and a MASSIVE THANK YOU to Katrina & Kate at The Organised Housewife

and to everyone in our AWESOME FB Community!! You are all fantastic - give yourselves a PAT on the BACK for making the first step - SIGNING UP to this CHALLENGE!  There is a light at the end of the tunnel!! You WILL get there!! Believe in yourselves! I believe in you! 

To anyone that is considering doing the challenge! I highly recommend it.

 

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{20 Day Challenge} Day 19 - Kids Bedroom

So this is what happens when Miss B doesn't tidy her room before bed...she really gave me something to clean in todays task - Kids Bedroom...I decided to give it a makeover instead, and clean as I go! 

View from the door

Bright & Beautiful 

View from end of bed

Currently using mini shelf as bedside table (buying a new one is on the to-do list)

Miss B's favourite photo of her and Master M ( he was 3 weeks old) & her notepad take pride next to her bed

TV unit perfect for storing Miss B's Rainbow Loom and Nail Polish/Equipment.
Pink tub  used for dirty washing

Mini-Stereo/CDS & Headphones

DVD storage & Rainbow Loom

I got this awesome organiser from The Warehouse - It's great for storing those little loom bands.
I have also seen them at Mitre 10 & Warehouse Stationary
(Note to self: Make new labels) 

Loved it so much that I got one for Miss B's nail polish.

Bookshelf dusted and de-cluttered

Morning Routine (Made by Me)

Evening Routine (Made by Me)

Nice clean mirrors

Miss B LOVES her new bedroom - she promises to keep it clean and tidy every day. 

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{20 Day Challenge} Day 16: Wardrobe & Day 17: Medicine Cabinet

***FAMILY DAY OUT***

We had a Family Day Out yesterday, visiting family and friends. It was nice to get away for the day, especially after spending two days giving our front garden a Garden Makeover, however it puts me a day behind in the 20 Day Challenge! So I decided to tackle Day 16 and Day 17 today. 

Day 16 - Wardrobe

How do you store your clothes? Wardrobe? Walk-in Wardrobe? Drawers? Both? 

At the moment, I don't have the luxury of using my wardrobe, as we have converted the area into Master M's nursery (see it here). Every time I had the motivation to get in there and sort it out, Master M was due for his nap - well, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it lol...so it is now on my to-do list tomorrow (after 1st nap). Most of the stuff in there is more sentimental items so I will sort through them after giving the wardrobe a good clean. Watch this space. 

So, onto the next task...De-clutter & Organise Clothes

Aaargggghhhhh!

I love op-shopping and at the beginning of this challenge I could have easily opened my own op-shop with the amount of clothes that I owned. Thankfully, I tackled and de-cluttered a massive pile of clothes during the Main Bedroom challenge because there were piles in almost every corner of the room and it was frustrating me. 

I am happy to report that all my clothes were actually in the drawers (laundry up to date YAY!), just not organised (Doh!), I got a bit slack about putting clothes away properly (Oops!). I went through each drawer, asking myself - Does it fit? Have I worn it in the last few months? Will I actually wear it? I am getting better at answering these questions honestly and got rid of some items today, putting them straight into a bag and in the car to drop off to the op-shop the next morning. 

I am a new liker of filing your clothes or rolling them in the drawers - 1) It gives you more space, 2) You are able to see what you have, and 3) It looks more organised. What do you think? 

Do you HANG, FOLD, FILE or ROLL your clothes? 

I love opening my drawers now, and I can open them with ease. 

New rule though - {One In - One Out} (that's going to be hard, but I will TRY)

This is how I organise my bracelets & necklaces. I found this funky mug tree at the op-shop for a couple of dollars - Perfect for displaying jewellery. How do you organise your jewellery?

Day 17 - Medicine Cabinet

Our cleaning task for today was to clean light switches & door handles! I really feel for those that have more than 3 bedrooms in their houses! We have a 2 bedroom house, and there are quite a lot of light switches and door handles...so I can only imagine that there will be two, maybe three times more in a bigger house (Good luck!).

My favourite task today was De-clutter and Organise Medicine Cabinet. This is an area I definitely needed to improve on. I keep Pamol & antibiotics in the fridge and First Aid items are kind of all over the house - bathroom cupboard, junk drawer & on the fridge. NOW...it is all in the one container that I keep on the top shelf in the pantry. I made my own label, filled out the Emergency Contacts form and popped it in, then put our 'First Aid' items/Medicine in this tub.

It's such a great feeling to know that everything is in the one place - so when I have a headache or the kids need a plaster, it's right there - in the First Aid Kit.

Miss B has her own Asthma Kit. It holds spare Spacers, Masks and Inhalers. Every 2-3 months, I check her inhalers and top up if I need to.

What do you have in your First Aid Kit? 

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Long Weekend - Part 2

We were blessed with another beautiful day in the North and I am still buzzing from yesterdays achievement in the front garden that I wanted to continue today - to attack the other half. 

The Garden Makeover continues...

Okay, so this is the before photo - what I call total chaos in a garden...it is overgrown with all sorts...two big cabbage trees, a yucca and some agaves hidden amongst some random plants. I honestly did not know where to start! 

Front Garden BEFORE

Front Garden BEFORE (close up)

More rocks found amongst the chaos

Coming along...

It's all about TEAM WORK 

Miss B and her "tree"

AND NOW FOR THE AFTER PHOTOS!!

Ta da!!!

Our Front Entrance Garden AFTER

View from front of house

View from driveway

 We also decided to re-plant the potted yucca that we had on the deck. It was choking in the pot, so we have given it a new lease of life! I can't wait for it to thrive in it's new home!

Bird of Paradise - Couldn't resist taking a photo!

Miss B after the hose shower! 

What do you think about our Garden Makeover? This is only Stage 1, like yesterday, we are still on the hunt for ideas of what to put in this front garden.

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