The Interior DIYer

Uncategorized

My 2 tips for staying organised day to day

As today is the first day of spring [ZOMG, how is it spring already / not complaining], I thought I’d share 2 tools I use every day for keeping organised and on top of the chaos. This isn’t a one-sided thing either. If you have tried and tested ways of staying organised day to day, I’d love to hear it. I am after all, dangerously excitable when it comes to being organised.

The first tool in my ammunition – my agenda. I’ve been using an agenda every year since they started handing them out in high school. Whenever I have a deadline, I immediately write it in my agenda. If someone arranges a date, agenda. A birthday, anniversary, meeting or event? Agenda. Even though a lot of things have gone digital, I think I’ll always use an agenda and I find it pretty rewarding crossing an appointment off and meeting deadlines. Is that sad? Actually, don’t answer that.

Oh! I nearly forgot – for events that you’re not sure of, I usually write them on a post-it and stick it to that day. If you also get hesitant about committing things to the agenda, do this until the event is more certain. I don’t wanna have to cross stuff out. 

My second secret weapon – email organisation. The other week I saw someone’s inbox when I was out. Not being nosy, their screen was right there. But their inbox was FULL. OF. EMAILS. Hundreds of them. And I nearly held them and wept for them. It somewhat prompted the idea for me to write this blog post. 
My second tip to stay organised from day to say is to only keep to-do or reminder emails in your inbox. Everything else gets filed in a folder. Create a folder for everything [I have folders for Co-Bloggers, Projects + specific sub folders for each project, Queries, Subscriptions, Family, Website etc.]. Once I’m finished with an email, I file it in a folder. If I get an email involving something I need to complete, I keep it in my inbox until I’ve finished that task, then once I finish it I file it away. This way I know exactly what I have yet to complete. 
Okay, I hope that wasn’t too wordy or overly boring for you, but these tricks are things I’ve used every day for years now and I can’t picture myself not using them. Yes, even if a paper agenda is a bit old school these days. Do you have tried and tested ways of staying organised every day? I think you know this by now, but I’d really like to know. In the least creepy way possible.

Happy Friday! xx A

Uncategorized

Mother’s Day string art

A couple of weeks ago Woodie’s set me the challenge to create a project for Mother’s Day that was quick, easy, would make a statement and also consisted of supplies found in Woodie’s branches nationwide. Challenge accepted.

A project I had filed neatly away in my brain for such an occasion was a, dare I say old school, string art tutorial. It was perfect as it required only a handful of supplies, all of which could be picked up from your lcoal Woodie’s. And even better, it’s a simple tutorial so you don’t need to be a DIY expert to make it [remember, nothing tugs on heart strings quite like imperfection].

Onto the good stuff! Here are the items from Woodie’s I used for the string art …
– a piece of wood shelf board [800 x 300 x 16mm], cut to a square
– a pack of 20mm masonry nails
– Dulux tester pot in whatever colour you like*
*I originally planned on painting this project in a shade of turquoise, but as we were going to be working with a green screen during filming in parts, green or blue was a no-no. So purple it was! 

Items you’ll also need …
– a saw to cut the wood shelf
– a hammer
– scissors
– a pencil and a piece of paper to draw your template
– tape to hold the template in place
– a paint brush

Now I’ma show you how to make it in 6 seconds. Ready? Prepare your retinas for my stop motion video debut … 

I think JP Prewitt would be proud.

I worked alongside a truly cool and down to earth team at Agtel on this Vine for Woodie’s. It took us just over 3 hours [plus 2 hours prep] to put this little gem together. It was my first stop motion video experience so it was very surreal and exhilarating to see the video come together one frame at a time. I was exhausted by the time I got home, but so excited to see the finished piece. Hats off to Agtel. You guys are magic. 

I showed my parents the Vine as soon as it went live and it turns out my dad used to make and sell string art! Albeit incredibly more complex pieces. I’m assuming before my time because I don’t remember seeing my dad make any. I do remember a couple of pieces over the years, but unless you’re told “that was made by dad!“, you just don’t know. My future children better brace themselves. They about to get schooled.

So there you have it! I hope you enjoy our little video, and to all the mothers out there – both human and fur baby variety – happy Mother’s Day this weekend xx

p.s. I’m now on Vine! I haven’t a clue how to use it, so we’ll see how much I use it. So far I’ve done the equivalent of retweeting. 

Uncategorized

Roundup of spring cleaning and decluttering tips

We had some almost spring weather this weekend so my natural urge to throw out all of the things came into effect, so I thought I’d share a recap today of my favourite spring cleaning and decluttering tips … 
My top 5 tips on how to start reducing the amount of stuff you have. If the thought of decluttering gives you heart palpitations, don’t worry. I’ll take you through it step by step. I got your back. 
To this day, I still do my 10 minute morning tidy every morning. I know this may induce stink-eye, but just trust me and try it out. 

^ HOW TO REPAIR A VERY WORN RUG

If your favourite rug is looking a bit worse for wear after the winter season, check out my blog post / life hack on how to bring it back to nearly new. I promise it’ll blow your mind. 

^ CUT THE CLUTTER

I wrote an article for Image Interiors & Living Magazine about 6 steps you can take to lead you to a cleaner, happier and calmer home [and yes, you can read the full article in the link above! You may need your reading glasses though as the font is small]. 

^ HOW TO REPAIR CAT SCRATCHED LEATHER

I only blogged this tip 2 weeks ago, but I got a huge reaction from it and in keeping with how to repair a very worn rug, this tutorial works on repairing scratched leather, regardless of who has destroyed it – feline, canine, children or the husband kind. 
And if the idea of good organisation makes you geek out, then I’d strongly suggest checking out Sarah’s Organised Chaos blog as well as Maria’s new blog, Exploring Minimalism. Some great ladies with encouraging and creative blog posts on how to cull the crap. Bring on the spring!