I do not follow Mrs Hinchliffe.
I take no pleasure in bleaching tiles or cleaning under stuff.
I mean – I live with three boys.
For background, I have two sisters, a homemaker mum and a dad who works away a lot. I grew up in a girly house, so I’m still adjusting to the noise, mess and destruction of my own (despite being married 12 years and entering motherhood eight years ago).
So although I clean up after my thugs mutinously and remind, cajole and nag them to put stuff away, or in the bin, or outside (“no you may not have a scooter race in the hall”) – I don’t relish it in the least.
What I do enjoy is organising.
Home organisation
My friend Craig wrote a post about sorting out the cupboard under the sink. He made it look so pretty with colour coded cloths and baskets that I wondered if I could do that.
Craig makes things pretty
Jeez, the shit that was under there.
Once I’d ditched the random lids and stained cloths and burst-open dishwasher tablets, I sorted all my cleaning products into two baskets. I found rubber gloves that matched and actually made a pair. I realised I had three cans of oven cleaner. I emptied detergent tabs into a clear tupperware and put all my rolls of bin liners in an old Ariel tub. (I had six; white, black, organic compostable, tie-top, industrial strength and stolen.)
The process was cathartic.
The result was beautiful.
The effect was incredible.
If you have children or pets – think about how often you go into your cleaning cupboard. Is it on the hour, every hour? Now imagine the annoyance of other people’s spillages tempered both by a moment of beauty and an efficient solution. I could always find a cloth. I could even choose between the spray, foam or miracle paste that would best unf*ck the situation. My crazy life got a little bit easier.
Home organisation – advanced
Converted, as I was, I started to notice other cupboards that annoyed me. Of course, I never had a second to do anything about it – until today.
Between my angel Allison and my lovely babysitter Jacqui – the kids are away for a good few hours.
It’s been kind of a shitty week, so I was going to just lie about drinking coffee and watching Netflix. But there was no sugar – or anything else for that matter – so I dragged myself to Tesco. Unloading the shopping made me remember how annoying my cupboards are so look what I did:
And look how pretty it is:
I am ridiculously – and inordinately – pleased about this.
- my kitchen floor no longer goes crunch under my feet because of all the pasta falling through the shelves
- my son and husband can be safely fed (the Wee Man’s epilepsy can be set off by accidentally eating gluten)
- my other son and I can still have pasta that tastes nice (sorry but GF pasta is rubbish)
- lunchbox making is now that tiny bit easier because all the snacks are in one jar
- supermarket shopping is now that tiny bit cheaper because I can see what needs topped up
- I even put all my risotto rice in jars – it’s a bugger when it spills too
- I idiot-proofed the system by using plastic jars for GF and glass jars for regular – and colour-coded the labels
- I enjoyed making the labels
- it’s so pretty
If you’re wondering why I had both glass and plastic jars lying around the house unused – funny story.
Instagram made me want to do a pick’n’mix table at the Wee Man’s 8th birthday party. I ordered jars from Amazon that arrived three days after the event, so Rod shot to B&M and bought glass ones for £1 each. They’ve been lying in my “must return these at some point” corner for a month.
What else can I put in jars?
…to be continued
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