Happiness is.........

organization. Well for me it is! I have mentioned a few times now that I'm an organizational freak, but this wasn't always the case. When I was growing up I never had to do anything at home. It wasn't that I wouldn't have helped out, it's just that things seemed to be magically done! Now as much as I would like to believe that there are cleaning fairies...........I sadly know that there are not. lol By the time I got home from school each day, everything would be done. My Dad died when I was a baby, and my Mum had to go back to full time work then, so my Nana moved in with us to help out. We had a man come to mow the yard and tidy the gardens once a fortnight, we had a lady come to clean the house and do the ironing once a week. My Nana would have a beautiful dinner on the table every night, and my Mum and Nana would do the dishes together, chatting about their day. It never even occurred to me to think about how these things got done around our home, it was just the way it was.

Now fast forward a few years........can you imagine a young woman, not long married (a year), and a brand new baby, and she doesn't really have any home making skills AT ALL! Let me just tell you, I have the most patient husband on earth. Thank goodness! Life was pretty chaotic. I seemed to run in circles a lot. Tail chasing really. Then one day I just decided that enough was enough. I was determined to learn how to be a better home maker. I had to teach myself to cook (I had never even boiled an egg growing up!), how to clean properly, and I had many lessons learned the hard way in the laundry........Each time there was a disaster I would try to learn from it so it wasn't repeated. I have found over the years that this love of organizing has surfaced from somewhere down inside. It makes me happy to look at things here and see things neat, clean and tidy. It makes me happy to know that the bills are paid, the freezer and cupboard are full of delicious home made things to eat. It makes me happy to open the wardrobe each morning and see our clothes clean & ironed.

So the point I'm trying to make is that if I can do it, then anyone can. I wrote this post in the hopes of inspiring and encouraging anyone who feels over whelmed by disorganization. I think the key to being organized is discipline. You have to commit to it, then slowly it just becomes second nature. I have found some wonderful ideas at IKEA for organizing on a budget. Today I thought I'd share some great ideas I got from IKEA for the laundry. I love it, it gets everything up off the floor and everything has it's own place. Makes it so much easier to keep it neat if things have a home of their own. The last photo is the inside of our wardrobe. I change it out for each season. Right now we're coming into Summer, so all the Winter clothes have been stored away til next year. That way we have room for just the Summer things. I put this chest of drawers in the closet because it doesn't go with the decor of the room, but it's great for holding so much, so all of One True Love's clothes are in here. I have another large chest of drawers to hold my clothes, that does match the decor. Then I was able to fit a small shoe rack on top of the chest to hold some of my most often worn shoes. I love wearing Crocs, they're so comfortable, and their bright colours make me happy (rest assured, I do have other shoes besides Crocs!).

Now 15 years later, I look back on that season of my life and can't believe how little I knew, and I wonder how I got through any of it! I just know that I'm happy to be where I am now.........