Category Archives: Organising

Wedding Outfit

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I have been meandering along with sewing an outfit for a family wedding on Saturday but in the past few days I have put my head down and it is now finished and ready to wear.

The dress and jacket are both made from existing patterns which I modified. In the case of the dress, the pattern was originally for a button up shirt.

It went from this.

To this.

The jacket looks pretty much as per the pattern apart from being shortened to a more cropped style, 3/4 sleeves instead of full length and some discreet shaping in the back and side seams to create a slightly less boxy silhouette.

Here are the 2 pieces together.

The dress fabric had been given to me some months ago and I had added it to my stash with no real idea of how I would use it. I did buy the linen for the jacket and by using the dress fabric for the bands on the jacket I think I have created a cohesive look. I am happy with the overall result. The best part is that I am not hemming it on the morning of the wedding!

Last Boxes

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We unpacked almost all of the removalist boxes within the first week or two that we were here. However, there were nine boxes of books which remained. They were stacked in the lounge room as we were not 100% sure of where we actually wanted them and there is nothing worse than packing and unpacking books.

After living here for a few months and with the impending arrival of the new lounge furniture, we decided to unpack the books into the shelving units in the office. Office is probably slightly too grand a description as it is essentially a walkway through from the hall to the laundry.

The books take up all of the glassed-in upper shelves and about half of the lower ones. The remainder is storage for some stationery items and other miscellaneous bits and pieces.

Finally, this is the view from the family room through the opening to the office.

Worth the Wait

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Some things just take time.

We moved into this house 4 months ago and one of the first things we did was to order some furniture for our large loungeroom. We were advised that the wait time would be over 3 months as it is all custom-made.

There was great excitement on Thursday when the furniture was delivered. There is a 3 seater sofa and two super-comfortable armchairs and footstools. The chairs are able to both swivel and recline for maximum comfort.

Although it is somewhat dictated by the placement of the television, we have yet to decide on the exact configuration of the furniture in the room. There are also pictures to be hung and decisions to be made about other pieces of furniture it is definitely a work in progress.

Meanwhile, we are making some adjustments to the location and positioning of other items and furniture. Watch for more details in upcoming posts.

Easily Distracted

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Today was one of those days where one thing led to another.

After putting a load of washing in the machine I decided to put the recently delivered carton of wine away in the wardrobe in the third bedroom. Yes, that is our wine cellar at the moment.

One thing led to another and I put away the deflated air mattress from when we had houseguests several weeks ago. I put the folded blankets away in the drawers in the base of the guest bed and discovered some curtains I had stashed in there. They are the semi-sheer ones which were previously in the family room. I replaced them when we first arrived as provide neither privacy nor thermal comfort.

There are 8 narrow drops and I decided that I should probably give them away rather than hoarding them, however, GMan suggested that they could possibly be used in the 2 guest bedrooms. They are really a decorative addition as there are already honeycomb blinds. The rods were already in place as the previous owners had taken their curtains with them and just left the blinds.

So, I unpicked the hems and one side seam of each drop, sewed two drops together and rehemmed them to the correct length. I have finished the set for one spare room and am working on the ones for the other room. By sewing two drops together they are wide enough to draw across if desired but in the meantime they definitely create a more finished look to the room.

Ready For Guests

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You have probably seen photos of the guest room and it has been used once when friends stayed overnight last month. However, the other room has been a bit of a dumping ground for empty boxes and other items yet to be sorted.

This morning I spent getting both spare rooms ready as we have family coming to visit from interstate and they will be here for a week. I have even hung some artwork in the empty room.

The designated guest room is fully furnished.

The spare room is slightly more sparse but comfortable. The QS air mattress is made up with plenty of warm bedding.

We will be picking up our daughter and 2 granddaughters tomorrow morning when they arrive from Queensland. I am really looking forward to their visit.

Hung Up

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One of the things we have spent time doing is hanging things up. Whether it is pictures, other ornaments or various storage solutions, I am a fan of using vertical spaces.

Here are a few of the things we have hung in the past few days.

Hooks in the broom cupboard helps to keep various items tidy and organised.

There was nowhere to hang a handtowel in the bathroom but we have remedied that now.

We hung this terracotta ornament on the fence above the pond. It is about the only sun I saw today as today is the winter solstice here in Australia and it was very cold and overcast.

GMan is keen to get some more hooks to help in his quest to organise the stuff in the shed. We spent most of the day working on that project yesterday and there is still more to do. I think ‘a work in progress’ is the best description.

Sewing Stuff Sorted

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It is over 2 weeks since I posted this photo of some shelving I repurposed from our walk-in wardrobe to my sewing room.

I knew that there some new IKEA flat packs which had been left by the previous owners but I had not investigated exactly what they were until yesterday. In what I would describe as a massive win, I discovered that there were 4 cupboards, a set of 2 drawers and 2 glass shelves – all designed for the above-mentioned shelving units.

So, I set to work and this is the result.

While there is still some fine-tuning to be done, I am pretty happy with the set-up and mostly know where everything is.

Now to get on with some sewing before too long……………

An Extra Shelf

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I do not have a large collection of linen and I had a relatively small linen cupboard in our previous home. You can see details of it here. However, the space allocated as a linen cupboard is a bit smaller here. The shelves are not adjustable which limits the usefulness of some of the space.

So, I searched online and found a suitable addition at Howard’s Storage World. We went to Melbourne yesterday and one of my goals was to buy this piece which I felt would maximise the effectiveness of the available space.

It came flat packed and was relatively easy to assemble.

It was then a simple matter of adding it to the existing shelving. This adds an extra shelf for smaller items such as handtowels and serviettes.

Joining In

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Organisation and settling in to a new home is much more than simply unpacking possessions and arranging furniture.

Last week we joined the local library. It is not a Council-run public library, but rather, an independent community library which is run entirely by volunteers. Membership is $30/year. The opening hours are limited – 2pm to 4pm on Monday, Wednesday and Friday as well as a few hours on Saturday morning.

The Maldon Athenaeum Library is located in the Mechanic’s Institute building in High Street.

This photo of the exterior is not mine as there are no leaves on the trees at this time of the year but the rest is entirely accurate.

Likewise, this photo of part of the interior.

I borrowed this book by Michelle Obama last week and finished reading it this morning. It had been on my ‘to read’ list for some time and I found it most interesting and illuminating.

Of course, borrowing books is not the only service offered by the library. I discovered that there is a small group of Scrabble players who play at the long table in the front room. I played on Saturday and am looking forward to making this a regular event.

We are planning to get involved and volunteer with this great organisation.

More Marketplace

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One of the few pieces of furniture that we did bring with us when we moved was our dining table and chairs. However, we soon realised that due to the space available that a round table was not the best option.

We bought another setting from Marketplace a couple of weeks ago and you can read about it here. The next step was to sell our existing one. After a few unsuccessful enquiries it has now gone to a new home.

The lady who bought it has downsized to a retirement unit and was very excited to find what she wanted. I also gave her several tablecloths which fit the round table and are no longer any use to me.

We had been using a couple of the dining chairs at the office desk and also my sewing table so it was time to find some suitable replacements. So, it was back to Marketplace where I found these 2 from different sellers.

They are perfect for our needs and we picked them up yesterday.

I am currently looking for a suitable floor rug for the family room so stay tuned.