Ikea's Ribba Picture Ledge -The Little Shelf That Can!

Disclaimer: I have not been paid to promote any products,  I'm just sharing our journey to organize our home, hugs x

Hi honeys
As promised yesterday, I thought I'd share how we've used the Ribba ledge from Ikea in our bedroom.  Hand on heart, I can't say enough good things about these tiny shelves :) We have one in our living room which is home to our family photos, we have one in our craft room acting as a book nook, and we now have one in our bedroom, which we're using as a "catch-all" to keep things like tablets & e readers (and books) off our bedside cabinets. 

In yesterday's post I shared how we'd found a similar product on the Argos website, to use in our bathroom.  Those tiny ledges are ideal for our bathroom and are in fact very similar to the Ribba ledge but there are differences.  The first of these is price, the Argos ledges cost us £14.99, where two of the smaller Ribba ledges would have cost over a third less.  Another small difference is the width of the "useable surface" of the ledges. The Ribba ledge is slightly bigger in depth, giving more storage space.

Unfortunately, as I explained yesterday, we don't live near enough to Ikea to simply pop over, so, whilst if given the choice I would have preferred the Ribba ledges in our bathroom,  the Argos ledges were a welcome replacement and have proved very useful.

How To Squeeze Extra Storage From A Teeny Tiny Bathroom..

Hi honeys

Today I thought I'd share another of our little home organizing projects. This time we're in the bathroom. We only have one bathroom in our home and it's small. I mean teeny tiny small. We had previously installed additional storage, using a tall cupboard with matching stand alone cupboard and under sink vanity. In spite of that though, our window ledge still ended up cluttered with things used regularly, such as my face wipes, face wash, etc. To be honest, I got fed up with it! We needed to find a way to keep the products I use daily on hand, but off our window ledge. This is what we did.....

We'd all like to win the battle against clutter, right? In our bathroom I've found that the worst offenders are things used every day, several times a day even, such as toothbrushes, mouthwash, moisturiser, face wash (love it love it love it! I'm obsessed :) My ever present baby wipes which are fabulous to remove make up, on the rare occasions I wear it, such as to work, the list goes on....

All of these things tend not to live in your bathroom cabinets. Why? Because they're being used so often it seems silly and, to be honest, a waste of valuable time, to be in & out of cabinets all day.  So, what happens honeys? These much used items end up making a home on any available surface.  Cabinet surfaces, on top of the cistern, and yes, on the long suffering window ledge.

Springtime, Sunny Days & Furbaby Hugs :)

Hi honeys

I hope you're well and enjoying the recent lovely Spring weather :) Spring completely changes my mood, dear ones. Every year we suffer through yet another dreary Winter with grey skies, low temperatures and rain, so, so much rain! I'm convinced that some day, citizens of the west coast of Scotland will evolve and develop webs between our hands and feet to better swim our way to work! Ugh! I am so not a winter person honeys. Although, much as I dislike the cold rain and grey skies of what has become a typical Scottish Winter these past few years, I am always grateful that the rain is not snow! Oh how I hate snow :(

Yesterday was a marvellous day :) It was so sunny, with only the occasional fluffy white cloud to break the expanse of gorgeous blue skies. In the back garden the sun felt so lovely & warm on my face. Jade and I played fetch with her ball in the garden, our furbaby was a rescue, although who rescued who is very much open to debate :) and she suffers from anxiety, bless her. It was wonderful to see her so happy and having so much fun :)

I also managed to hang laundry outside! Yaaaay! I adore laundry! I love it even more when I'm able to dry it outside. The way it smells when it's brought back inside is just heavenly! It's more than worth the pain in my spine from hanging it. 

Sunny blue skies, fun with our furbaby Jade, laundry and a lovely dinner with my soul mate. Yesterday was a perfect day :) Unfortunately, as is often the way, these things seldom last. During the night when Hubby let Jade out he discovered it was snowing!! Seriously!

It was certainly cold enough last night, but we thought that it was just the clear skies? Well, no snow there this morning, but it's been a properly driech day. Dark grey skies, a chilly northern wind and so much rain :(  Yuk!  Never mind honeys, it will get better I'm sure.  The clocks go forward this weekend so we'll officially be in British Summertime... are ya listening there, weather? :)

I hope you're seeing more sunshine than rain honeys, and I hope that you have a fabulous weekend. Till next time dear ones, keep smiling, be happy and hug more than you have to :) You never know how much that hug will mean to the person receiving it, maybe you can change a right driech day into one with a rainbow :) huggles always xx

Tiny Closet Handbag Storage

Hi Honeys,
I hope wherever you are, you're seeing the gorgeous sunshine this morning. It's so beautiful outside :) I noticed yesterday that our Peonies have started to bud in the back garden & the lavender seems to be waking up after it's long Winter nap,  Spring seems to finally have sprung :)

In my teeny tiny closet post from yesterday, I shared how I've used the inside of the cupboard/closet door for accessory storage.  It's such a joy to be able to chose an outfit, shoes and then jewellery all in the same tiny space :) Today, as promised, I wanted to share how I've stored my "in use" handbags in the same tiny space. I say "in use" because I rotate them :)  

I've had this system for a while now, far longer than I've had the closet technically, since until last night this cupboard/closet was not used for clothes storage at all :)  I just adore this system! I can swap around which handbags I keep to hand and they look pretty in our bedroom too :) Honestly it really has to be the simplest idea ever but it really works :)

I asked Hubby to attach two of those wooden coat hook bars you can find in stores such as Poundland, Home Bargains or the Dollar Store, to the outside of the cupboard/closet door, One on the upper part of the door, although obviously within reach :) I'm not tall so this last point is pretty important :) The other bar was attached a little more than midway down the door.

I then had the fun part of sorting through handbags and deciding which I wanted to have out, ready to use when needed......

The bags I weeded out were taken next door into what will be my little oasis of calm aka craft room :) Remember the closet Hubby decorated for me this week? Since the hanging rail was still in the cupboard/closet,  I've used plastic shower curtain rings and have hung the other handbags from the rail on the "free" unused side of the cupboard. Thank you Pinterest :)

This will allow me to easily change my bags over with the seasons, or with whatever mood takes me :)

How do you store your handbags honeys?  What do you do when storage space for accessories is at a premium? I'd love hints and ideas.  I took laundry upstairs this morning and it felt so good to put it away in my new closet :) 

I hope you have a fabulous weekend honeys, full of fun & smiles. Till next time dear ones, sending heaps of huggles xx

A Little Catch Up & Closet Update.....

Hi honeys
Well this has been quite a week and a half, that's for sure :) When last we spoke I'd said that Hubby had booked this week off from work and that we'd be spending the week finishing off our spare room AKA my little oasis of calm. You might remember Hubby was changing our guest room into a craft room/dressing room for me?  Well, funny thing about that......

I know I've been waffling on and on about my new girly closet for a while now, apologies honeys, I've just been so excited :) The guest room has a two door, reach in cupboard/closet.  You might remember that it looked like this......

Back To Rosie's Oasis Of Calm......

Disclaimer: I haven't been paid to promote any products, I just like to share our journey in our quest for an ordered home, and the solutions we're finding to help us organize, hugs x

Hi Honeys
Happy Friday! I hope you've had a great week and that you're looking forward to a fabulous, fun weekend.  I have to work late tonight (and tomorrow night) but I'm so looking forward to next week! Hubby has booked a few days holiday from work and we're spending the time working on our spare room which we're turning into a dressing room & craft room.  The hope is to get the room finished this week (yaaaay!) but I thought I'd share the latest storage solutions Hubby has installed for me, bless him :)

Do you remember my post on how we made a start on one side of the room, which is to be used as a craft area.  I'll eventually have all of my knitting, crochet & sewing things in this area, and it's starting to look quite good.  Still a little work to do, but I'm hoping we'll get to it at some point this coming week.

Super Easy Chicken & Mediterranean Vegetables

Disclaimer:  I haven't been paid to write this, one of my little kitchen experiments just turned into the most delicious dinner and I wanted to share, hugs x

Hi Honeys

Have you ever found yourself with a really busy day where time just goes by way too fast and before you know it ..... it's time to get dinner on the table?  What about something beyond delicious you can have ready in no time at all, made from three items from your freezer & pantry and best of all it practically cooks itself?

I've always loved creating dishes by combining what I have on hand, or I'll see something while shopping and think "that looks amazing... wonder what I can do with it?"  During a recent shopping trip in Asda (Walmart) I spotted a bag of  Mediterranean Vegetables with Cherry Tomatoes from their new "Good & Balanced" range.  I've already tried a few items from this range, intended to make it easier to include healthy choices at meal times, and I was really impressed by the quality and the value since prices are great too.  Having really liked the few purchases from this range we've already tried, including their steam in the bag veggies which are a dream,  I picked up a bag of the Mediterranean Vegetables to give them a try :)  

Lower Hall Command Centre Gets A Makeover!

Disclaimer: I have not been paid to promote any products, just another update on our ever on-going attempt to create order in our home.


Hi Honeys
I hope you're having a fabulous weekend and that all is well.  I'm having a personal countdown here till the clocks roll forward on the 29th :) Spring is such a wonderful time of year. Evenings (and mornings for us in Scotland) get lighter, temperatures start to creep up a little and sunshine causes the gardens to gently yawn, stretch and wake up again after their long Winter sleep.

I love to watch our garden change, the lavender start to bloom again and the roses start to bud.  Of course it also means (hopefully) it won't be long till I can pin my laundry outside to dry. Joy! Laundry really is my favourite household task, I adore it!  For now though, I can enjoy the first signs of Spring, dream of long Summer days (and lots of laundry) and continue with the work in our home.  Which brings us to......

Do you remember how excited I was when we managed to finish setting up our little organizational nook in our lower hall?  This wee spot in our home has been a blessing, keeping us on track with mail sorting, recycling (mail gets sifted through as soon as it arrives and we have a recycling bin right there to drop unwanted stuff into) meal planning (you can still download the menu planner here) appointment making and even giving us somewhere to store things like paper hankies, ready to grab on the way out the door.

How Some Clever Ikea Systems Are Keeping Our Kitchen Counters Clear! Part Two

Disclaimer: I have not been paid to promote any products, just my opinions & wanted to share how our kitchen makeover is going, hugs xx

Hi Honeys
Back, as promised, with a look at how we've cleared our counter/worktops in our kitchen, all from a trip to Ikea :) In my last post I shared how I'd tidied up our longest counter/worktop & a couple of the products we'd used. In this post I'll show you one of my new favourites in the Ikea range :) It's called FINTORP and it's helped us clear the work surface near our cooker. 

First though, let's see how it looked after our recent kitchen makeover.....

We loved it like this, it's certainly its far less cluttered than it had been before our kitchen re-do, but I still wasn't completely happy with it.  I had a definite picture in my head of what I wanted from the kitchen, and of course from the counters/worktops and we've been working towards, using lots of wall storage. 

Mostly so far we've used items from the BYGEL range, using rails and hooks to suspend utensils, as well as the Bygel containers (which also hang on the rails) for things like straws & stock cubes.

How A Trip To Ikea Is Helping Us Keep Our Kitchen Counters Clear

Disclaimer: I haven't been paid to write this post, nor provided with any products. Anyone who knows me will know I adore Ikea, and I just wanted to share our continuing work to organize & de-clutter our home, and how a few cool products are helping us to do just that, hugs x

Hi honeys
I hope you're having a fabulous week, can you believe we're into March already?  Spring is just around the corner, the clocks go forward here in the UK at 2am on 29th of March, although for our American cousins I believe it's this weekend? on the 8th?  I just can't wait to cast off Winter and welcome Spring.  We've had snow & hail this past few days and I so long for warmth & sunshine.

Speaking of out with the old and in with the new :) As I was saying in my last post, Hubby and I managed a quick trip to Ikea recently armed with our shopping list.  We only really get to visit Ikea maybe twice a year so we always have a list. It really does feel like forever that we've been trying to create some order in our home and I can honestly say that our visits to Ikea, however rare they may be, have really helped us to achieve what we have so far.  On then to the subject of todays post.....

Do you remember honeys I wrote about the cute, and very useful ALGOT system we'd used to organise & store our kitchen linens such as dish towels & microfibre dusters?  Having bought an ALGOT upright wall bar, used to "click" the accessories onto, and two of the pretty little mesh baskets, we discovered there was actually room for a third (and possibly fourth) basket on the generously sized small upright bar.