Show Packaging Clutter The Door!

Disclaimer: I am not being paid to promote any products. I use these bags on a daily basis and adore them, just wanted to share how they help in our home x

Hi Honeys
I hope everyone is well and staying warm.  Tonight has been Guy Fawkes night here in the UK so I'm typing this with various explosions, courtesy of assorted fireworks, still going on outside.  This time of year stresses me out. Our furbaby Jade gets very frightened by all of the noise, she's a very nervous wee dog so this time of year, for days before today and for many days after, Hubby and I are on almost constant cuddle duty, bless her.

Today I was in the kitchen sorting and tidying our pantry cupboard and thought I'd share a system we started a while ago.  You might remember a post where I showed you how we make recycling so easy in our kitchen?  If you missed it you can read it here honeys.  Since we now had a designated recycle bin handy, we began recycling the assorted packaging from our grocery shop as soon as we got home, when we were unpacking the groceries.  This is how we do it.....  

I can clearly remember the visit to my happy place, the organizing heaven that is Ikea, when I first discovered the Istad range of bags. We popped a box of each size into our trolley and took them home with a vague idea that they'd be useful.  Oh my, they have been :)


These wonderful bags can be spotted now, if you look hard enough, in just about every room in our home.  In the kitchen, as soon as we come home with groceries we immediately decant cereals, pastas, rice and even spare stock cubes into these bags. All of the packaging clutter then goes straight into the recycling bin :) We have huge plastic pull out trays on two shelves of our pantry cupboard which are home to all of our bags so they're not just lying loose in the cupboard and each bag has a double "zip seal" fastening which keeps everything fresh.

Upstairs in our guest/craft room I use the smaller Istad bags to corral threads, beads, buttons appliques and other small accessories. I use the medium bags to store lace edging and ribbons and the large bags are perfect for fabric quarters or for A4 card for card making :)  Speaking of our guest/craft room, most of the craft things have now been moved into the cupboard into a set of plastic drawers which sit neatly alongside the red metal shelving unit which was already there.  I'm hoping to soon have all (or most) of the crafting supplies neatly organized inside this large cupboard.  I'll try to write a post on the cupboard soon honeys, I'd love to share it with you.

In our tiny mudroom/front entrance, on the shelf unit Hubby fitted, we each have a basket which is home to our hats, scarves and gloves.  These outdoor accessories are now stored safely in Istad bags to keep them clean and dust free when not in use, during warmer months for instance. 

We've found so many uses for these wonderful bags and I'm sure we'll find many more in our quest for a more organized home.  You can find details (including sizes, prices etc) of the Istad bags here honeys:

Small Istad bags (green) are supplied in a box of 60. There are 30 bags each of 0.4 litre & 1 litre in size.

Medium Istad bags (purple) are supplied in a box of 50. There are 25 bags each of 1.2 litres & 2.5 litres in size.

Large Istad bags (blue) are supplied in a box of 30 bags. There are 15 bags each of 4.5 litres & 6 litres in size.

So, over to you honeys. What's your favourite way to corral things? Do you decant groceries out of their packaging right away?  Well, it seems to have finally quietened down a little outside, I think we're going to let Jade out into her garden while it's (hopefully) safe.  Till next time dear ones, stay warm and safe, huggles always xxx