Tuesday, September 22, 2009

The simplicity of yesteryear







I just adore historic towns, so on the weekend we decided to escape Sydney and visit Berrima. It's such a quaint village where shop owners are happy to chat about nothing in particular. The buildings are beautifully restored sandstone and one (Harper's Mansion) is owned by the National Trust. It now acts as a museum of life in the 1800's.

It makes you realise how much simpler life was then. The home was considered a mansion, but is small by today's standards. There are no shelves piled with paperwork, toys or clothes. They merely lived with what they needed for daily life, or items of profound beauty (e.g. hand embroidered linen). Their time was spent keeping house or entertaining guests with tea in the garden.

Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong era...



Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Bye bye baby stuff

I have a little one who recently turned 3 years old. He's now outgrown a lot of clothes and toys and I had the dilema of what to do with this 'stuff'. I realise I can't keep it forever as I need to live in the 'now' and not get stuck in the memories of the baby days (or daze... as some of it was). I decided to sort the items into 4 categories;

1) Items to sell - anything that was brand-name and in great condition. Luckily I have a wonderful second-hand kids clothing store near me.

2) Items to give to friends - I have a friend who is now pregnant so anything unisex I can give to her and in my mothers group there are a couple of women who had second children (boys) and as their firsts were girls, they're grateful for any cute little things.

3) Donate to charity - Any items that are in good condition but not sentimental at all.

4) Keepers - I have allowed a small box of special 'treasures' for keepsakes. I am completely ruthless though, so not much ends up here. I realise the memories are in my heart and some wonderful photos and I'd much prefer someone else's baby enjoying the lovely items than being held captive in a dusty box somewhere.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

The first time...

Welcome to my first blogpost! I've just returned from the AAPO Conference (Australasian Association of Professional Organisers). And no, I didn't just make that association up. I met the most fantastic people. I am so inspired and motivated.

One of the organisers gave a great presentation giving us the "2 Gr8 48s" challenge. Basically, we have to commit to implementing 2 great ideas within 48 hours of returning home. One of my ideas (something I've been thinking about for a while) was to start a blog.

I want the purpose of this blog to be about all things organising and decorating. I truly believe you can have an organised space - at work and at home - that is beautiful and functional.

Let the journey begin!