The Interior DIYer
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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

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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!
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Hanging accents for small spaces

I’ve written about our spare bedroom a good few times before. It’s a tough little room as the bed pretty much takes up the whole space, so adding things like accessories, can be challenging.

A couple of months ago I was struggling to get our spare bedroom ready for a guest coming over. I had some magazines, a little vase of flowers and some knick-knacks on the bedside table to make it feel a bit more welcome. Not to mention the lamp as well. Once I was finished, I realised there wasn’t enough room for said guest to even put their phone on the bedside table.

Insert obvious pun relating to being driven up the walls here. And then it clicked – the only way was up!

I bought these velvet hangers from Dunnes Stores (€5 for a set of 10), perfect for hanging up magazines and the likes above the bedside table. I didn’t put much thought into the placement of the hangers, just somewhere easily within reach from the bed, and stacked them to add a bit of variety.

I spied the glass hanging vase from Tiger just before Christmas and thought it was perfect for the spare bedroom wall. That’s the thing with Tiger – if you see something you like, you have to grab it with both hands, hold on tight and lock it down, because chances are the next time you stop in, the stock will have changed and it will be GONE. Like that girl in that GONE GIRL movie*. So I grabbed it with both hands [and paid for it, obv].

Also, don’t always believe what you see in online (and magazine) features. The rest of the room is chaos …

Just keeping it real. Bloggers are humans too.
And don’t worry Kimberly and Maria, it’ll be tidy for April. Promise. xx A

Also featured – bedside table and lamp – rescue kit for unexpected guests

*I have not seen Gone Girl so I don’t know if this is a reference that makes sense. It sounded like it would fit at the time of this being published. It’s tough trying to be a lyrical genius.