Folding a Fitted Sheet

Fitted sheets are nigh on impossible to fold - or are they? Have a look at this clever lady from livingonadime.com and you will know how to do it with a little practice. It will save time, space and look ever so neat and tidy in your cupboard, especially if you are using my top tip to store matching sheet sets!

Additionally, if you can master this technique, I imagine it will save massive amounts of frustration time...!

Jewellery Organiser

I've done a post about organising, storing and displaying earrings, but what about the rest of one's jewellery? A great idea is to find some old cutlery trays and paint them; I think wooden would be best but you could try it with a plastic one too. Then stand it on one end and fix hooks to the end of the inside of each compartment.* Then fix the tray wherever you would like it - inside a cupboard door, on a wall for display, on a shelf etc.

* Thinking about it, it doesn't have to be just at the end - you could have several hooks in a compartment for eg. dangly earrings.

Remembering to do things in the middle of the night...

Have you ever had this happen?

My top tip is to keep a notepad by the side of the bed.  That way, you can write down whatever it is you think of at, say 3am, and know that it will be recorded for the morning.  And it will help you sleep as you won't be worrying that it will be forgotten!

Cleaning out the closet

I imagine a lot of us have loads of clothing that we simply don't wear any more. I am loathe to get rid of anything but, with space being minimal, it's time to get a but more ruthless.

A simple trick is to hang up clothes with the hanger backwards.  If something gets worn, it can then be hung back up with the hanger the right way round.  After a period of time - six months, a year - you can then easily see which clothes have not been worn and therefore, are in scope to give or throw away.

Forgotten something?

How many times have I gone out and, half way to my destination, I start panicking about whether I have switched off the iron or my straighteners or something else that may set the house on fire?  A lot; certainly more often than I would hope!

I spotted these personalised mats on Ebay which I think are quite brilliant!  You can get any message you want, but I like this one...

A great way to remember to turn everything off before you leave the house!

Storing shoes

I have quite a few pairs of shoes* and I know I need to think of neater ways to store them than thrown to the bottom of the cupboard, plonked in the hall or just dropped wherever I decide to remove them. So I've found two ways that may work, but they both will take a little time and investment.

The first is to store them in cardboard shoe boxes, with a photo of the shoes on the front of the box.

The second is to invest in some clear plastic boxes, so you can see which shoes are in which box.

With both methods, the boxes can then be stacked neatly in a cupboard or a shelf for easy access!

* Slight understatement.....

Hanging clothes without slippage

It's really annoying when I am hanging clothes and they keep slipping off the hangers. No matter what I do or how I wrap them round, nothing seemed to work - until I found this simple top tip! Wrap a rubber band around each end of the hanger and this provides a simple ridge to stop the slippage.  Problem solved!

Keeping track of matching sheet sets

Sick of searching through the airing cupboard, looking for matching sheet sets?  Why not store all the different sheets - the fitted sheet, flat sheet, duvet cover and pillowcases all in one pillowcase?  Then all you need to do is grab the 'bag' of sheets and you're ready to go!

Recycling Cardboard Boxes to make Drawer Organisers

My underwear drawer was a mess.  But then I discovered a way to utilise all of those old shoe boxes I had hanging around, waiting for me to do something with them - use them as drawer dividers to create a cheap and easy way to organise my stuff!

Literally, all I did was to cut the boxes in half, either along the length or width to fit the space and fill each section with my socks, underwear and bras.  Quick, easy and cheap - and I can now find what I need without rummaging around every morning!  And if you want to make it pretty, it's easy to do with some lovely craft paper and glue.

You can do this with any drawer - it doesn't have to be underwear!  And I imagine any box will do - think cereal boxes as well....

Earring Organiser

I've got a couple of great ways to recycle old bits and bobs to create a lovely earring organiser.

The first way is so super simple!  Just get an old cooling rack for cakes and voilá.  An earring organiser!  Just make sure it's criss-crossed to hook the earrings on, like this one from Amazon.  If you want, you can paint it, but I quite like the silver.  It's basic but it works.

A second, more project-based and potentially pretty one is to use an old photo frame and some wire.  Remove any backing and glass, so you're just left with the frame.  Attach the wire to the frame with some eyelet hooks, decorate the frame as you see fit and hang the earrings from the wires.  Or - even easier - attach some chicken wire or similar!

With both, you can attach it to the wall or just place on your dressing table or chest of drawers.