One of my biggest personal goals is to get my house organised. I get closer every day and am at the point now where our main level is probably about 90% there. The basement is only a part basement for storage and is a scary messy place, that's the final frontier of sorting and I won't broach that subject right now!

Awhile back I was searching our online library system for all the newest books and came across House Works by Cynthia Ewer. When I started reading the book it mentioned Cynthia's website http://organizedhome.com/, which I'd never come across before. There is an amazing resource that is on the website. Downloadable forms! I am a huge addict and advocate of LISTS. I always feel a lot better when I can write down a list of tasks to accomplish, or a to-do list. It gets me out of my head. There is an entire section on the website devoted to these pages - Printable Pages for Your Household Notebook

Yesterday I decided to tackle the pantry. We had a large unused space just past our laundry area by the back door. I asked Matt to build a shelving system back there and it ended up being very deep, which on the one hand means it can store a lot, but on the other hand it's a bit problematic in terms of being able to access everything in it. My plan is to either get some baskets or have him install some kind of pull out shelf or drawer, but for now I'll just have to live with it as is.

I printed out the Pantry Inventory form from OrganizedHome.com and sorted through the entire pantry and wrote down every single thing we have in it. Because of my lack of organisation before there were a few items that had expired or I found too questionable to risk, but thankfully since we have compost bin now most of those things won't go to waste.

Here is my pantry as it is now:

Once we had the pantry to use we decided to get a costco membership. It can make for some expensive shopping trips but ultimately we save money by buying things in bulk. This meant we had to find room for a deep freezer, so we picked up a stacking kit and put the dryer up on top of the washing machine. The deep freezer fits perfectly inbetween the pantry and the washing machine and dryer (and you can see I store the vacuum cleaner beneath the pantry and the ladder behind the freezer).

Here's a closer shot of the pantry contents. Most of the things you see here have a working twin already in the kitchen.

Here's the pantry inventory all filled in. I can admit that I was surprised by some of the things I found hidden in the unsorted pantry. Now I can mark off items as I use them and when it comes to grocery day I can check the list and make sure we're not wasting money by buying another dozen cans of soup!

I've also printed out the freezer inventory for the little freezer over our fridge. It's a big help now that Freya is eating solids, it helps me keep track of how many purees I have and when I'm going to need to make some more. The next step is working on cooking from the pantry and freezer with food we already have to cut back on the grocery bill.

What kind of state is your pantry in?

Depression: Four Months Later

Image source: http://www.scottliddell.net/

It's pretty amazing what a lot of therapy and the right medication can do in just four short months. Though the truth is, I find it almost impossible to believe it's only been four months since I sought help for my depression. But here we are on the other side, a place that at times it felt like I would never ever get to. I can't say that life is perfect, but then nobodies life is perfect and if they say it is then they've got to be lying!

The reality is that the ups and downs I experience now in my day to day life are just that, they are the normal ups and downs of day to day life. Sometimes, as I commented on my earlier depression post, just a few days ago, I will step into the shade but I'm not falling into the depths of despair anymore.

I am struggling to accept that depression is most likely something I will experience on and off for the rest of my life, but now I have some coping tools and ways of recognising when I am struggling. More importantly, I've learnt how to open up to those closest to me and ask for help when I need it.

One of my biggest breakthroughs in therapy was when my psychologist told me that I did not have to have everything all together. More than anything the pressure I was putting on myself to be the perfect mother and the perfect housewife was an high and unachievable standard. I'm not sure why it took someone in a position of 'authority' telling me that for it to finally get through to me, but it has.

I decided to retest myself using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Back in March I scored a 21, and during the course of my treatment and other tests I took my score got as high as 37/40. Today I'm sitting at 8, and anything under 10 is considered 'normal'.

This is good. :) I'm out of therapy but if I ever need to go back, now I have someone to go to and feel no shame in asking for help.

My small piece of shabby chic

Our master bedroom has been a work in progress for over a year now. It is only a few small projects short of being complete, but I find it pretty livable at this point. For my birthday in June I used some money to buy a duvet and two duvet covers with matching pillowcases (from Jysk). Prior to that we were using two big fluffy blankets, one with a wolf and one with a bear. Not at all my style but appropriately warm for Winnipeg winters. I know, it's not winter anymore! I also had no real desire to make my bed every day using either or both of those blankets. Now I'm finding it much more desirable to do so because the end result is a gorgeous looking bed!

The next step for me was getting matching bedside tables. I'd been living without one, until I decided to use one of our tv dinner trays from the living room as a makeshift table in the meantime. Then I spent weeks searching on kijiji for a pair that was either ok looking or looked as if I could slap some paint on them and would like them. You wouldn't believe how difficult it is to find TWO matching bedside tables! Apparently people only really sell one! I also set a budget of $100 for a pair.

Then this appeared and I fell, truly, madly, deeply:

A Lather Creations refurbished table by Lenore over at http://latherwriterepeat.blogspot.com/

I spent two days talking myself into it, and ultimately being talked into purchasing it by my Mum (including a majority portion of paying for it, as I was struggling to justify spending so much on one table) and my best friend who was so generous as to put up with our screaming kids while we drove across town during rush hour to pick it up.

Once I figured out that Matt really didn't care that much about having 'matching' tables, and I realised just how in love with it I was there really only was one choice to make.

Here it is in it's new home, by my bedside.

Isn't it gorgeous?

It has a perfect little spot for all the books I always have on the go, and just enough surface space on top for the book of the moment and a couple of loved items.

Now I'm highly motivated to keep our room clutter free and truly the relaxing sanctuary it should be.

What do you need in your space to make it your haven at the end of the day?

The Girls Bedroom (Before)

After being a mother for two and a half years I'm finally getting around to working on the 'nursery'. We live in a small two bedroom bungalow with a very small second bedroom. We co-slept with our first until 15 months, and have been co-sleeping with our second for 6 months but we're now working on transitioning her to the crib. Right now our girls are 2 and a half and 6 months old. Desana is in a toddler bed and Freya is in a crib. Since the room is so small it's really hard to get good pictures of the four walls, but here's a vague idea of what I've got to work with and you can see what everything looks like right now.

This is basically the first thing you see coming into the room. I'd like to paint the room a nice bright purple, currently it's the same color it was when we moved in. The dresser was a freebie from Matt's Aunt & Uncle. I want to paint it a white or cream and replace the handles. I have three boxes on top that I bought at a yard sale a few years ago, I use them to store socks and hair things. I'm contemplating painting them as well!

The window is very tiny so there's not great natural lighting in the room except in the late afternoon. I'd like to get a new shorter blackout curtain, probably white or cream in color. I've considered painting the crib as well to match the toddler bed but I'm not sure how safe that is as far as a teething baby potentially munching on it - something to look into!

I'm generally not a fan of commercialised stuff but Desana loves the Disney princesses right now and I found this table with two stools and the rug for $35 on kijiji. Desana loves taking the stools from room to room which is why you don't see them in this picture! Although it's a tiny space I'm planning on purchasing a reclining chair in the next couple of days so I have somewhere in the room to nurse Freya when she wakes up for night time feedings. I'm hoping that will help with the transition from co-sleeping so I won't have to bring her into bed to nurse anymore. I know this will seriously restrict the amount of space in the room, but I think it's worth it for now.

Desana's toddler bed and mattress were both kijiji purchases as well, I think I paid about $80 for them.

Just inside the bedroom door I have a little bookcase with all of Desana's books and her coloring things, also the makeshift toybox (rubbermaid) for most of her stuffed toys. I have serious issues with toys and clutter so this is one solution. I would like to cut back on how much she has but she goes through stages of playing with all of her toys. The solution might be to get a couple of different containers to divide the toys up in and bring them out on different days.

Right now I have a 'chalkdot' up on the wall which is a reuseable sticky chalkboard that I got from one of the bargains at greenbabybargains.com. I also have a matching one on the front of the fridge to track leftovers or the meal of the day. I have a couple of http://uppercaseliving.com/ quotes that I plan to put in this room, one will replace the chalkdot.

A few days ago I spent a couple of hours sorting through the girls closet to make it more functional, putting aside the items I can sell and store. It has a very interesting design that has potential but is also quite awkward. It is very deep and tall. I'd like to put some kind of shelving system in it that can be pulled out to access the items at the back. But for now I have two rubbermaids with Freya's next two stages of clothes stored in the very back, the four drawer storage for socks and bibs and other baby things, and all the linen and blankets folded up on the side.

The closet is over the staircase for our part basement, so it has this odd little rise in it. My friend suggested installing small strips of wood across it that can be used to hold the kids shoes... so that's the plan!

On the otherside there's a little amount of space just inside the closet. I'd like to add a couple of low shelves in there to take advantage of having a little bit more storage space for kid stuff, books or toys.

The only change I've really made in the room so far has been to hang these lovely curtains up in the closet. I was exploring in our basement (long story that deserves another post!) and found some curtain rods the previous owners had left behind, also with some brackets to hang them. My Mum who lives back in Australia had sent me these lovely curtains, so basically I got the curtain rod, brackets and curtains for free.

Right now that's the only real finished element of the room, but it's nice to be able to walk in there and see that. The rest is all still just being visualised. :)

What are your storage solutions for small spaces?

Mother

Image source: Charlotte Morrall

I found this little poem in the front of Shabby Chic Interiors by Rachel Ashwell.

Mother

Mother is a little girl who trod my path before me;
Just a bigger, wiser little girl who ran ahead-
Bigger, wiser, stronger girl who always watches o'ver me,
One who knows the pitfalls in the rugged road I tread.

Mother is a playmate who will always treat me kindly-
Playmate who will yield me what true happiness demands.
She will never let my feet stray into brambles blindly-
Mother's just a bigger little girl who understands.

Mother is an older little playmate who'll befriend me-
Yesteryear she traveled in the path that's mine today.
Never need I fear a foe from which she might defend me-
Faithful little pal who ran ahead and learned the way.