Spring Cleaning and Organising your Laundry - my Top Tips and Ideas!

{Post brought to you in conjunction with Vanish}

 

By demand, today I am offering up my tips for Organising and giving your Laundry a bit of a Spring Clean and boy does this room get a workout from me at the moment!! How is it that babies can generate SO much washing? I am just thankful for having a bit of sunny Melbourne weather as of late to get it all dry each day.

 

If you have been reading my blog for a wee while, you may recall that I did a bit of a Laundry feature some time ago (wow I cannot believe that was 3 years ago!). You can read those posts here and here. But it was definitely time in my house for a bit of a laundry refresh and overhaul.

   

Cut Clutter from Laundry Cupboards

  Much to my husbands disbelief, towels and sheets don't last forever. Use your Spring Clean as a good opportunity to go through your towels, sheets and linen and discard any items that are looking a bit worse for wear or that you haven't used in over 12 months. I had a stack of towels in colour schemes that were a bit dated so out they went!   If you completed my Bathroom Spring Clean earlier on this week (you can read that post here), then I reckon you (and I) deserve to treat ourselves with some bright new towels for Spring don't you agree?!  

 

I have been lusting after these towels from Adairs - gorgeous aren't they?!

 

Consider donating any old linen and towels to a local animal shelter, they are always in desperate need of these items.

   

Organise your Laundry Cupboards

  For those new to the blog, this is a little preview as to what my Laundry looked like pre Spring Clean.  

  The basket organising solution that I put in place several years ago is still working brilliantly today and the baskets from Home Storage and Living (sadly no longer available) are still going strong! I was getting a little bit tired of the labels that I created, so I decided to give these a bit of a revamp once I completed my cull and tidy.  

  The little labels have been created by Kate at Pretty Paper Labels and I have stuck these on mini peg blackboards that I purchased from Ebay. I have to say that I love the new clean look of the laundry space.

 

Of course if you liked the old labels, you can still download these from my blog as a free printable here.

 

   

 

I know I sound like a broken record, but baskets really are the BEST thing for sorting out your Laundry/Linen cupboard.

  I also have a basket solution to sorting out my washing (which is never ending at the minute). This has been in place for a few years too (you can read more on that here) and I absolutely love the way it keeps my washing a bit more under control as the number of family members has grown!  

 

The drawer unit was also updated with labels from Pretty Paper Label.

 

 

Under Sink Organising

 

The sink area under washing machine trough is traditionally a bit of a dumping ground. If you have enough room, consider popping a basket in here to contain the washing products and powders.

       

I absolutely think a laundry tin is a great investment to keep powder fresh, neat and looking pretty too!

 

 

Clean Washing Machine and Dryer

Did you know that you should be regularly running your machine at 90 degrees to kill bacteria? Yup I neglect to do this too! Why not incorporate this in to your Spring Clean along with popping in a satchet cleaner designed to clean, sanitise and descale your machine.
 

  I pick this up at my local Supermarket in the cleaning aisle and try to do it a few times a year. Once you have finished this cycle, clean the drawer seals and the detergent drawers.    

Refresh your Whites!

 

As you can see from my pictures, we have quite a bit of white linen in our cupboards. These can tend to get a bit discoloured and flat particularly over the Winter months. Using Vanish Gold for Whites is brilliant for soaking whites that need a bit of refresh as this product can lift up to 3 shades of white. If needed, pre-treat with the Vanish Preen Oxi Action Spray before soaking to lift any stubborn stains such as dirt, grass, coffee etc.

   

My Essential (Budget) Buys for the Laundry

KMART Metal Soak Bucket
Price: $7.00

KMART Laundry Powder Tin
Price: $9.00

Sadly the baskets that I have are no long being sold. Here are a few different alternatives for you....

 

HOWARDS STORAGE WORLD Storage Tote

Price: $21.95 (Medium Size)

 

  IKEA Gles Box  

Price: $2.99

 

 

 

FREEDOM BUCO Basket

Price: $20.89 (on sale at the time of publish)

 

 

KMART Rattan Style Plastic Basket

Price: $8.00 (also in teal and white)

I hope that you have picked up some tips for Organising your own Laundry space and enjoyed a peek at mine. I would love you to share any tips, ideas or pictures with me!

 

If you are feeling all inspired to Spring Clean, please stay tuned to the bog as thanks to Dettol I have some Spring Cleaning packs to give away on the blog tomorrow....

 

Spring Cleaning and Organising your Bathroom - My Top Tips and Ideas!

{Post brought to you in conjunction with Dettol}

 

What is it about Spring that leaves us with the motivation to dust away the cobwebs and get ready for the sunny days ahead? Sure enough as soon as the mercury rises above 14 degrees here in Melbourne (hey that's warm for us!), I too start to get ready to Spring Clean our home, yard and wardrobe (and usually have a bit of  panic about fitting in to my summer clothes after that Winter comfort eating!!).

 

I recently asked you guys over on my Facebook page to nominate the areas you wanted me to focus on with a few ideas and tips for Organising and Spring Cleaning your home, and the response was Laundry and Bathroom. So today I will focus on the Bathroom and later on this week it will be the Laundry...
 

Create a Cleaning Kit

 

Tip number one is an absolute must! The first thing to do before embarking on your big Spring Clean is to make sure you have your cleaning essentials ready. Honestly a popping all of your items in a little kit makes not only Spring Cleaning, but regular house cleaning SO much easier.

You can pop all of your cleaning essentials in the one basket/box or container and it will save you multiple trips back and forth to change cleaning products over as you go around the house.

My cleaning kit contains:

- Dettol Healthy Clean Bathroom Trigger
- Dettol Healthy Clean Kitchen Cleaner
- Dettol Surface Cleanser Wipes
- Dettol Healthy Clean Bathroom Rapid Foam
- Method Window Cleaner
- Aldi Leather Cleaner spray(we have two leather couches)
- Rubber Gloves
- Sponge
- Chamois for Window/Glass Cleaning

 

Having a little cleaning kit also keeps all of your products neat and tidy if you stash all of your cleaning products under the kitchen sink.
 

Tackle the Bathroom Cupboards

Bathroom cupboards can be a source of clutter and disarray - well I know that mine used to be as I LOVE collecting beauty products, shampoos and make up - maybe too much!

Here are a few tips and ideas to tackle these messy cupboards:

1. Empty EVERYTHING
Take absolutely everything out from your cupboards. Sort through what you actually have underneath there and throw away any products that you have not used in the past 12 months or that have expired.

I did warn you that I have a lot of beauty products hiding away... There were so many hair and beauty products that I hadn't touched in so long, so I donated these to my Mum and the bin!

2. Wipe down all cupboard doors and shelves
This is a bit of an area of neglect for me and these can get super grotty if not cleaned down regularly. The Dettol Wipes really do make this job a breeze!  

 

3. Organise your shelves

Baskets, baskets, baskets!! Yes I am the biggest basket addict, but honestly it makes things a heck of a lot easier to keep organised and neat.

 

I used two large plastic baskets from Kmart to organise my 'large items'. 

 

 

Basket 1 is used for my electrical appliances - straightening irons, curling irons etc. 

 

 

 

Basket 2 is used for my shampoo/hair products stash. I like to mix up my shampoos and conditioners, hence why I have a few on rotation!

 

 

See how nice and neat these look in my cupboards. These baskets are also the perfect size to easily slide in and out , whilst being easily accessible to put things away at the top.

 

For my smaller items such as skincare and bodycare products, I have used Ikea Variera baskets which come in the two sizes as used below.

 

 

The Ikea Variera baskets are not only fabulous for organising the bathroom (and cheap too), but you'll find them in my pantry and around the house organising so many different things! Definitely worth looking in to these as a low cost storage solution for the home as these are only $5.99 and $3.99 respectively.

 

 

 Voila - cupboards done and dusted (literally!).

 

Tackle the Bathroom Drawers 

Bathroom drawers are another little source of clutter. Our bathroom vanity unit has narrow drawers which has meant finding an organising solution has been a teeny bit tricky.  I picked up the perfect sized (and priced) little baskets again from Kmart to tackle the job.

 

 

As with the cupboards, the first step to organising your bathroom drawers is to take EVERYTHING out, sort and cull. I use our drawers for make up, hair accessories and brushes, feminne products, spare toiletries (toothpaste and brushes etc) and hubby gets a drawer too!

 

I may have mentioned once or twice that I love beauty products and make up, and in fact have a HUGE case full of the stuff. This is a bit of a pain to lug out each day for a bit of lip gloss or tinted moisturiser, which is about all I manage to slap on (on a good day that is). So I have converted the top drawer (and the most accessible) in to a little organised make up stash for me.

 

 

Using little drawer inserts from Kmart, I have placed my most frequently used items neatly in here. These are the items that are on high rotation for everyday use.

 

 

These little baskets have also been perfect for my hair ties and accessories too. 

 

 

Shower Detox

Now that your drawers and cupboards are organised (and sparkling clean), it is time to give your shower a little love. The Dettol Healthy Clean Rapid Foam makes giving the shower a deep clean a cinch! You simply spray the foam on, leave for a few minutes and scrub.

$9 shower curtain from Kmart

If you have a shower curtain, consider replacing with a fresh and bright print to match the sunny weather ahead. This is such an inexpensive way to refresh and brighten a bathroom.

While you are at it, remove the shower vent and give this a good scrub. This is another little job often neglected and this can get very grotty with soap, shampoo and scum build up over time.

 

Spread some love to Neglected areas

Though I frequently clean our bathroom, there are certain areas of the room that don't get as much attention - skirting boards, windows and exhaust fans I am talking to you! Give these a bit of elbow grease.

 

My Essential Buys for the Bathroom

Like most projects I tackle, I always look for organising solutions on a budget. Kmart and Ikea always seem to be my saviours and yet again they haven't disappointed with providing low cost (yet gorgeous) little organising solutions.

 

 

KMART Bits and Bobs Tin

Price: $9.00

KMART Clean Tin

Price: $9.00

IKEA Variera Baskets (two sizes available)

Price: $5.99 large size

$3.99 small size

KMART Rattan Style Storage Tub (also in yellow and white)

Price: $8.00

KMART 4 Pack Small Baskets

Price: $2.25 

KMART 2 Pack Medium Baskets

Price: $2.25

 

Thanks to Dettol, I am going to have 2 x Spring Cleaning kits that you can use to help you get started on your clean at home. Stay tuned to the blog later on this week for your chance to win this amazing little prize and for my tips on organising the Laundry too!  

 

If you have any Bathroom organising tips, photos or ideas I would love to hear from you!

Collette Dinnigan Comes to Aldi with a Limited Edition Girls Range....

As soon as I saw the Aldi Catalogue with Collette Dinnigan splashed across the cover, my heart literally skipped a beat! To say I was excited was an extreme understatement...

 

 

The Aldi range is a limited edition and you can bet your bottom dollar that it is going to be popular (set your alarms for this one!). Prices start at just $14.99 - so cheap!!!

 

The divine little range consists of Day Dresses, Party Dresses, Special Occasion Dresses, Sets and Separates, Hats, Sleepwear and Swimwear too. In fact the only thing they seem to be missing is my size - my goodness I would love some of these things for me!!!

 

Here are a few of the things on my list...

 

A lot of the range starts at size 3 onwards, so I plan to pop some goodies away (if I get any!!) for next summer for Miss C who is in size 2 at the moment.

 

You can view the rest of the range and the catalogue here.

 

The range goes on sale this Wednesday 14th of October and I think that there will be people queuing up first thing - will you be? What is on your list? Love you to share what you do end up with over on my Facebook page.

 

Fashion Lane Australia - Easier way to Shop Sales - My Review...

{Post brought to you in conjunction with Fashion Lane}

 

I am not going to deny that I am a teeny, tiny bit of a shopaholic, because if you have been following this blog for a while you may have noticed...

But I an definitely a very specific shopaholic and absolutely adore nothing more than a bargain and very, very rarely pay full price for anything! Shopping outlets (DFO I am talking about you!), Facebook Buy and Sell pages (so darn addictive) and Ebay are all my 'go to' sources for my clothing fixes. But now that I have three bambinos, I have to say that visiting shops is a rare treat for me these days. It seems that almost 90% of my clothes shopping is done from the comfort of my laptop where I don't have to wrangle 3 kids and deal with multiple tantrums!!

 

I was recently introduced to a new website called Fashion Lane Australia. This site is a bargain hunters paradise that brings you the latest sales from over 100 retailers. So no more trawling through hundreds of individual sites and stores to snap up a bargain, you can now find these all in the one spot!

 

The site is super easy to navigate your way to bargains, simply use the drop down menu and select from the categories what you are after.

 

 

Once you are in your chosen category (eg dresses) the results are sorted by the highest discounts. And oh my goodness - there are some HUGE discounts with items reduced by hundreds of dollars to crazy ridiculous prices!

 

The website allows you to filter further in each category. For example, under dresses you can sort by dress style and type (eg. cocktail dresses)

     

   

Or you can also sort by your favourite clothing label or brand - there are SO many there!

 

 

   

If there is an item that you love, but you are holding out for an even bigger discount on, you can set up a 'price alert'. This allows you to even set up the price that you want to be notified at when (or if) the price falls that low.

 

 

The site also features a coupons and discounts section and you can even subscribe to a newsletter to be notified by email with some amazing deals you won't want to miss!!

 

The only thing I would love to see the site incorporate is filtering items by sizes. There are so many exciting bargains that it is a little bit disappointing when you click on a dress that you have fallen in love with, only to find that it is only available in every other size apart than yours. By allowing you to filter buys by your size, this would save this disappointment and heartbreak!

 

If you love a bargain just as much as me, definitely pop over and check out Fashion Lane - love you to share what bargains you find. I am trying to purchase a few post baby summer buys for myself...

 

 

Win!! My Favourite Things - Miss C's Nursery Giveaway!

Firstly thank you so much for the amazing feedback on Miss C's nursery space. If you missed the posts you can view all of the pictures right here and all of the stockist details and answers to reader questions here.

 

Without a doubt one of the most asked questions is where I purchased the gorgeous Sequined Cushion from...

 

Well folks if you missed the Stockist Post, it is from the amazing Tamsyn at Max and Me Homewears and today I have one up for grabs for one lucky reader (squeal!!).

This very divine personalised cushion cover is valued at $65.00 (cushion insert not included) and the super, super lucky reader can choose between the silver sequins (which I have) or the amazing gold.

 

 

 

And of course you can have it personalised with your choice of name for your little one...

 

Another one of my very favourite items in Miss C's room, is the super cute sequin hanger created by Natalie over at by Each Day with Jay.  

 

We have ours hanging on the front of Miss C's nursery door and for the longest time it was used to display her Christening dress. I now rotate it with tutus and other pretty little outfits - it is very special and far too pretty to hide behind her closet doors! One lucky reader will get to win their choice of hanger in silver, gold, black or pink (subject to availability).

 

 

Entry is very simple, all you need to do is follow the Rafflecopter prompts below on the widget. Please ensure that you leave a comment below the blog post telling me what you would do with your sequin goodies if you won... All entries/comments must contain your full name next to your comment  so that entries can be verified. Pretty please don't forget to do this, as entries with no name will be ineligible to win!
 

Enter Here

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Terms and Conditions 

• The giveaway will be hosted by Rafflecopter and is open to Australian residents only
• There are two prizes and two separate winners
• The first prize is a personalised cushion cover (insert not included) by Max and Me. The winner will get to select the colour (gold or silver) and name to be personalised with (most names can be accommodated dependent upon length)
• The second prize is a baby sized sequin hanger by Each Day with Jay. The winner will get to select the colour - gold, silver, pink and black (subject to availability)
• Entrant must comment below this blog post as to what they plan to do with their sequined goodies if they won
• Failure to comment as required above will result in the entrant being ineligible to win and entries will be verified
• Entrant must include their full name with their comment below, so that entries can be verified
• The announcement of the lucky winner will be made on the Utterly Organised Facebook Page and displayed on the Rafflecopter widget above
• The lucky winner will have 5 days to contact Utterly Organised and claim their prize so that the prize can be finalised
• Failure to claim prize within designated period will result in another winner being drawn
• Any questions on the competition can be directed to utterlyorganised@gmail.com

Good luck everyone, I know that the fortunate winners will love these beautiful items as much as I do!