Ikea Makeover

A little hello to anyone who may still be popping into Playing in the Attic!

Let's talk storage.  We have major storage issues in our house.  We have kitchen cupboards and that's it!  Over the years we've lived here, we have had to purchase six wardrobes, we've had to convert a CD cabinet into a bathroom cabinet, purchased 4 bookcases and still we have things in boxes ... you getting the idea?  A shopping trip to Ikea was needed to deal with a small storage issue in my artsy/craftsy room.

Drag home two very heavy Ikea boxes, get in touch with our inner flat-pack-maker and off we go.  Now is it just us or do other people make mistakes at Ikea between showroom floor and warehouse aisle?  The cupboard was made up, all looking good, getting excited to be able to create a bit of order, open up the second box, the box that has the doors in it, the solid doors so that the innards of the cupboard can't be seen and what do we have ... glass doors!!  How did that happen?  We photographed the numbers on Girl 1's mobile phone, we went to the right aisle, we saw the cupboard, saw the box for the doors .... whatever!  Not entirely happy with the end result.

Fortunately a little piece of happy inspiration occurred, and under the bed I scurried to my rolled up paper supply.  Yes folks, that's what's under my bed.  And as I've shared this with you, what's under yours?!!!  Here you go, you didn't believe me?  I have Christmas wrapping paper, posters, gift paper for special use, I have Chinese brush paintings (from a course I did years ago) etc. etc., you get the idea.  Excuse the dust!

Found the Ideal Piece of Paper.  This is a piece of wrapping paper purchased at one of my favourite shops in Melbourne.  Il Papiro sits in the heart of Melbourne's laneways, in Degraves Street.  It's a joy simply to walk in the door and take in all the beautiful stationery from Florence.  Take a look, isn't it stunning?!!

So, with brush and jar of Mod Podge at hand, off I went slapping glue happily all over the place and now I love my Ikea cupboard.  Very individual.  Very me.  Very much hiding what's inside.  And just a little bit Italian.

Okay, now where did I put my ...

Ciao Bellas!!  Trudy x

20 minute Day

It was with such purpose that I awoke to start this day.  I had decided to divide my free hours into blocks of 20 minutes, three blocks an hour, between 9.00 am and 3.00 pm.  In other words 18 segments of time in which to get things done!  It wasn't going to be all work and no play ... where's the fun in that?  It was to be a dizzy mix of work and play.  I made a list before I began.

The above photo of my kitchen bench and window sill shows a calm, clean and tidy scene complete with a freshly baked banana loaf (thanks to Girl 1 who started baking at 6.00 am before school, one for her Uncle and one for us!)  But have a look at the scene before I gave it 20 minutes of my day.  A drooping rose, dishes drying, bits and bobs where they shouldn't be ... a general mess.

So the idea is you make a list of what you want to accomplish and then intersperse these jobs with fun things like reading, playing the piano, making a birthday card, having some on-line time, whatever takes your fancy really.  Spend 20 minutes with a chore/task/job, then 20 minutes of fun.

I feel rather reluctant to show the state of my bedside table, complete with a substantial layer of dust, another wilted flower, jewellery not put away etc, but then I couldn't show you what a mere 20 minutes from 10.00 until 10.20 changed it into!

The after photo :

My desk was not useable.  There was not a square inch in which to work on, so 11.20 - 11.40 this mess became a much calmer space.

The after photo :

Are you getting the idea?  Are you thinking you may want to try this some time?  It works a treat if you can keep it up!!  And you can constantly reward yourself with something nice to do.  This is the spot behind my bedroom door.  It was much tidier when I had a little cabinet here but with the recent room shuffle it has found a new home and my things were packed into a box and displayed very badly!

Twenty minutes later, and calmness reigns again.  Ah, deep breath.

I didn't really think I could keep the momentum up for six hours, that was a tall order and when the phone call came through from hubby to go and have a late lunch together, my 20 minute day came to an end.  But I achieved so much, so many pockets of the house are free of clutter and tidied or washed.  And I had the chance to play the piano, read a book and do some things at my lovely cleared desk.

Speaking of books, after almost seven years of living in this house, we have purchased a book case and some of my books have been unpacked.  It's a treasure trove of bookish memories.  Just revisited Catherine Gaskin for a bit of romance and history, and now I'm re-reading "The Photograph".  Sometimes it's good not to have a brilliant memory as this book is very familiar but I can't remember what happens in the end!!

Happy Weekend,
Trudy

Shoe Dilemma

At the bottom of my wardrobe I keep all my shoes in shoe boxes.  Makes sense, right?  I thought I knew what was in every box (there isn't many) but recently I needed to remind myself because we went to a wedding and I needed *shoes*.

To my horror and dismay one box was empty and three pairs of shoes no longer fit.  Yes, three pairs!  Do you know what happens to your feet as you get older?  Have you heard?  They get wider.  Brilliant.  That it should happen just now ...

So my not-so-amazing shoe collection is *kapow* just like that, three pairs of shoes down.  This is not good.  And what I'm left with is work shoes, runners (which hardly see the light of day), slippers, boots, jazz shoes (I still have my jazz shoes?! from that time in my far away past when I went to jazz classes, which was at least a million years ago), my *always got a pair of red* shoes and summer Birkenstocks.  Not a dress shoe in sight.

I confess, while I adore this type of shoe ...

A part of me is mourning the loss of this particular pair of shoes ...

Check out those heels.  Heels use to be an everyday affair.  Heels and short skirts and off to work I'd go!!  Anyway, enough with the shoes, we went to a wedding;  you wanna see the bride and groom?  My gorgeous nephew and his beautiful wife.

Wedding Part I - Melbourne, Part II - Hanoi, and yes, we're going!!  There will be stories to tell, soon, not just yet.

Happy day!
Trudy

The Great Room Juggle

There has been a juggling of rooms at No. 16.  Girl 1 and Girl 2 thought it would be really, really special (in fact, awesome) to have their own bedrooms now that they are thirteen and eleven, and to decorate their rooms themselves.  So off we went to make it happen.  Not an easy task.  Not an overnight change, but indeed weeks and weeks in the making.

As a result, we now have a very green room.   

And we have a very pink room. 

To say the girls have enjoyed decorating their rooms is an understatement.  They've had an absolute ball.  We even had a shopping trip to Ikea during the holidays to pick up some bits and bobs to complete their rooms.  The most amazing outcome has been the constant tidying and vacuuming of their rooms!!!  Witness the Happy Mum doing the Happy Dance!!

And I've packed up my *make and do room* and gone into their old bedroom and now need to start all over again with making a room look like a creative space and not a bedroom.  It was rather nice to relocate my special books.

To hang a special little piece of mine next to two little girls who were left behind as a reminder of whose room it once was.

To finally hang an old school map that has lived under a bed for at least a year or more (or even more?) waiting for the perfect place to hang it.  And to turn an ordinary, everyday bed into a day bed.  A place to think, dream or drift off when the sun shines through the window.

But what I still have to do is deal with all the things that don't fit anywhere yet.  Yikes, I need a magic cupboard!  One that looks like a normal sized cupboard on the outside but has unlimited space inside, because just look at what I'm still dealing with here.  I need to de-clutter.  I need to let go.  I need to let go.  I need to let go!

But the important things have been done.  My baskets of crochet squares and unfinished blankets are looking very pretty!!

It's a skill to be able to focus on the tiny details and block out the major mess surrounding those tiny, perfectly ordered details!!  A skill I have in very limited amount.  Any storage hints and tips gratefully accepted.


Have a fabulous day and a wonderful weekend.
Trudy

A Bunch of Daffs

Don't you just love a bunch of Daffs?  They are such happy, happy, sunny flowers.  They make you want to throw open the windows and let the sun stream in.

They make you want to lay on the soft grass looking up at the sky and look for animals and palaces in the clouds.  Or pack a picnic and find the perfect shady tree to sit under. Heck, they even make you want to read poetry out loud.

They definitely make you want to throw off your cardy and get some sun on your shoulders.  And pack your boots away and get your sandals out of the far corner of the cupboard.  Time for painting toe nails!

Daffodils are such a symbol of nice days ahead, filled with salads and strawberries, the beach and barbecues.  They say "Winter is finished with for this year".  Yeah!!!  We made it through another cold, grey Winter and here we are on the outskirts of Summer.

Daffodils are simply bloomin' marvellous, don't you think?

Bye, Trudy

Today

Today has been hot.  The type of hot that makes you feel that heat right through to your bones as soon as you step out the door.  The type of hot that makes you want to drink long, tall glasses of lemonade.  The type of hot that makes you squint when you go outside.  The type of hot that slows down your pace.  And the type of hot that draws you like a magnet to the nearest air-conditioning unit.

Fortunately I was able to achieve a few good things before the slothfulness set in, but now that I'm on the couch, feeling hot and sipping my long, tall drink I think I may just need to stay here for a while longer.

It's on days like this, feeling too hot like this, that you should never tackle anything above a very basic level of comprehension and skill, but did I think of that when I took to my new shirt with a quick unpick?  No.  I thought, I need to do something and not just sit and keep thinking it's hot, it's hot, it's hot.  So out came that little alteration job on the shirt.  Just a couple of buttons to remove because it had a weird flappy buttony feature that I didn't quite like ... oh-uh, now sporting a hole not just on one sleeve but on both.  That little alteration job has become a major mending job that requires Creativity and Skill.  I'm thinking a patched-look could be quite the thing.

And so I sit, welcoming any amount of cool to float through the front door;  deciding that take-away is the order of the day, because I don't want to make the house any hotter by turning the oven on.  Trying not to overthink the fact that my twelve year old daughter is volunteering to have her head shaved next week as she wants to raise money for the Leukemia Foundation.

Not wanting to go to bed because I know it will be far too hot to slip off to the Land of Nod.

Hope you're having some cool breezes where you are.
Trudy

p.s.  Sorry I've had to add the Word Verification to my blog - I know how annoying it is - but I'm being bombarded with spam messages constantly and it's driving me bonkers!

Teeny Tiny Flowers

Before you know it, Easter is going to be upon us, so I'm attempting to be just a little bit organised with a spot of Easter decorating in the form of a garland.  No standing on the dais shouting out that I've finished, that I'm in the lead, no no because this is the very beginning of a very small project.  But a Very Small Project is definitely all I can manage just at the moment.

So I gathered around me a collection of Easter coloured wool and found the easiest of patterns to make a wee small flower.  I soon had the attention of my ten year old girl who offered to help and we were on our way.

I'm thinking this will be soft and floaty, maybe with a little gingham bow tied on every here and there, but we'll see as it goes along.  As I said, the very beginning, but I did want to share with you my crochet love of these teeny tiny flowers.  Maybe you would like to make a crochet garland too?

Have a lovely day.
Trudy

Barn Sale

Girl 2 and I had some time to ourselves recently and headed out the door, jumped in the car, and drove down a dirt road to go to an advertised Barn Sale.  I was full of excitement for what that little barn in the bush might hold and I wasn't disappointed.

When we pulled up outside the given address, I even found the barn to be enticing.  Just imagine what fun could be had if we had a barn like that to play and craft in.  And just have a look at the beautifully peaceful view.  *Sigh*

Inside were goodies in every direction I looked!  Some I wanted to bring home, others were fun just to look at.  A little corner of kitsch Australiana, tall and slender coffee pots, some earthy '80's ware which was all too familiar ...

... and there was one item that simply jumped out at me, wanting and needing to be taken home (with the perfect place already in mind).  Fortunately I had a little bit of pocket money with me, and we beamed, did Girl 2 and I, as we skipped out of that barn and home to put our new-old globe on top of the piano.

 

It had to be really, didn't it?  Look at that lovely teal colour!!  You know how much I love teal.  I think globes could become a serious collector's item in this house (this is the second globe we have now) as I simply adore them, for their roundness, for their colours, for their dream potential, for their learning.  And a centrepiece on a table - gorgeous!

 

Photo by Natasha www.beautifullysuddenly.blogspot.com.au, via Pinterest

And now to Reverb 12 and today's question :  What was your most significant expenditure in 2012?

 

That's an easy one!  Our piano.  We had such fun all year saving up as a family for this major purchase.  And we love it.  We all have a bit of a play, by ourselves or crazy duets.  Next year we may consider lessons, but at the moment it is all about the fun of it, and having music *of a different kind* fill the house.  And I'm finding the joy of playing far more than I ever did as a child.

 

What about you, what was your most significant expenditure?

Do you have a love of old globes too?

 

Trudy

 

Vintage Love

 

from my childhood

found wrapped in tissue paper

in a little old suitcase

on top of a wardrobe

 

 

have formed a little Christmas scene

with a sparkly little baubled tree

recently purchased

but with a vintagey feel to it

 

 

how sweet are they?

I think they are comet and cupid

has Christmas started appearing at your house yet?

 

Wishing you a happy day.

Trudy