Utensils - Organised kitchen

How-To Organize Your Kitchen EASILY

Is your kitchen well overdue for some re-organizing? No matter how much room you may have (or may not have) in the kitchen – it is do-able to have a lovely, organised kitchen that won’t give you nightmares.

We are always on the hunt for a magic answer or even a cleaning fairy that would come around each day and have everything clean and organised with the flick of the wand before we get home, if you are sick of searching and dreaming of the day this will come – read ahead and get all the exclusive ideas from the professionals (and tricks and tips that ACTUALLY make life 100% easier when keeping the kitchen in pristine condition!)

Step one – start from scratch by pulling everything out of cupboards and drawers, one-by-one otherwise you’ll get lost in amoungst all the food & cooking utensils (this is the part where you can get the kids involved or if you prefer it by yourself, go for gold.)

After everything is pulled out, wipe down the shelves and drawers – you’ll be surprised how much dust builds up over time.

Start by putting the least used utensils in the bottom drawers and things like canned foods at the top of the cabinet as these seem to last longer and aren’t everyday things we may tend to grab for when we open the pantry make sure you remove things that may not belong in the kitchen (we all have the fruit bowl that’s filled with everything BUT fruit) – then as you go down, try placing all the everyday necessities in the middle shelves as you will find it easier going into the cupboard, grabbing what you need and placing it back especially if its right in front of you (we are all human and find this the fastest and least time-taking method) right at the bottom should be a shelf for things like your potato box or even bigger appliances.

***Be sure to check expiry dates on all food before you place it back in cupboards as you may have something dated from 2001 that you never knew was hiding away in there.***

Step two – Put things in the exact same spot after use, this will help keep the organisation in place and will get you familiar where everything is along with your family catching on as well (there will be no excuse for them to not dry and put away dishes anymore!)

Step three – Keep your purchases (unless its food, of course) to a minimum, if you already have all the needed appliances then really think about future purchases, ask yourself “How many times will this actually get used? Is it going to replace any appliance I already have that may do the similar thing? Where will I store this? Etc.” try avoiding purchases that are only going to be used very rarely – ask  your friends and family as they are usually bound to have one you can use.

Step four – Pinterest organisation DIY ideas, this has been my saviour and has some wonderful ideas for storing many different things in your kitchen which makes it look tidy while keeping it all out of the way.

Step five – Always keep up to date with kitchen renovation ideas, kitchen renovations can be costly but they can also be great for a budget, when you slowly renovate the kitchen bit-by-bit you’ll be saving money and time with making the most of what you have with possible DIY ideas to temporarily add on to your kitchen and these ideas can simply be buying a couple of stick on hooks to place inside your cabinet door to hold numerous kitchen utensils – the benefit of exploring these cheap (yet fantastic, budget friendly ideas) is that you will slowly make these more of a permanent add-on and find what works for you as you could then go to Next Edition Kitchen’s or your local cabinetry place and get a hook rack custom made if the stick on hooks are working well for you.

It’s all trial and error but it’s a very good idea to get into.

With doing DIY ideas, you can get the family involved as well and have some fun while also teaching them important skills and encouraging organisation to be up-kept in the kitchen which will pan into all areas of the house.

So, what are you waiting for? be your own cleaning fairy and be the envy of all your friends and family with the cleanest kitchen ever laid eyes on!

Bath

5-Star Spa Treatment in your own home!

It’s almost the end of February and let’s be real, we could all use some pamper time… Imagine having a 5-star spa experience in the comfort of your own home, good news! No need to imagine with our simple guide on how to transform your bathroom into a spa treatment room with no fuss and your wallets will thank you and us on this one.

 

Begin with clearing the clutter lingering around taking up unnecessary space, nothing invades relaxation like a cluttered-up mess with all sorts of bits and bobs you didn’t even know how it made it’s way into the bathroom in the first place.

Spend a reasonable time making sure all the surfaces are wiped down and the cluttered items put in the correct places.

Fold 3x towels and have a nice light-weight dressing gown (or fluffy, depending on mother nature’s decision on the weather that day!) awaiting you on a clear space in your bathroom.

 

Now that your bathroom is spick and span – lets move on to setting the scene of your very own 5-star spa setting, get some tealight candles (or even scented candles.) scatter them safely around the bathroom where they won’t cause a hazard and light them when ready.

Leave the lighting on low if you can and if you have some incense or room fragrance, give your room a spritz to help set the spa-like scene.

 

Make a playlist of soft, contemporary music – or whichever music relaxes you best or even have a nice book handy.

Start the process by running a nice, warm bath while adding in your favorite bath salts, bubble bath etc. Exfoliate your body with a salt scrub or loofah. Use circular motions towards your heart all over your body to increase circulation and reduce cellulite.

Once you’re all scrubbed make sure to apply a nourishing lotion. Use a towel to pat your skin dry, then seal in the moisture by applying a lotion or body cream, a lavender scented one would be very relaxing! Pour yourself a glass of fresh, ice cold lemon water (or whatever taste of drink you love) and let your troubles melt away.

 

Now that your body is relaxed – the pampering can begin. Start by washing your face with luke warm water and your desired face wash, gently exfoliate your skin with some exfoliator (this step is optional, but it will really treat your skin to a 5-star spa experience.) rinse off with COLD water and now’s the fun part… FACE MASK! Being a previous qualified Beauty Therapist I have undergone studies to suit different skin types but there is one face mask you can make from home to refresh, soothe and smooth and suit ALL SKIN TYPES and as follows:

 

  • Combine 1/2 cup hot—not boiling—water and 1/3 cup oatmeal.
  • After the water and oatmeal have settled for two or three minutes, mix in 2 tablespoons plain yogurt, 2 tablespoons honey, and 1 small egg white.
  • Apply a thin layer of the mask to your face, and let it sit for 10 to 15 minutes gently wash off and moisturise.

 

Feel free to treat yourself to other treatments like a manicure, eye mask or hair mask, whatever you need to do to feel pampered. Relax for as long as you wish and enjoy the peace and quiet.

Kitchen

Old kitchen trends that have made a comeback

We all knew this would happen at some point, lets just say living in the 70’s and beyond looked to be a creative era and in this aspect it’s making a huge comeback that everyone just loves, look no further than the kitchen, where a variety of once relived kitchen trends are stealing the spotlight again and leaving us in question as to why they ever left.

1. Pull out chopping boards – We’ve all been in an older kitchen and noticed a little drawer which pulls out to be a chopping board, reason why we love this is firstly, it has it’s very own storage sorted out (no excuses for misplacing it in the wrong cupboard/drawer) it’s got many uses for different design ideas –  one that i like is having one above your pull-out bins as you can have a hole cut into the edge of the chopping board so when you finish cutting food up there’s a little long-drop for your scraps, how easy would cleaning that up be!?

2. Colorful Cabinetry –  Once upon a few years ago (we’re talking 50’s, 60’s and 70’s) kitchens would be in a range of colours – red, green, blue, yellow, pink, orange, purple you name it, these where the normal. Venturing in to the coming years a lot of wood finishes came into trend pushing the colours aside and then the whites an your more natural colours shined upon our designs and was the most common colours (still is to this date) but now….. colour has made a fast approached comeback and the colours aren’t so bad, they are more subtler than the ones from the 50’s, 60’s & 70’s (we promise)

3. Shiny kickboards and handles – I’m not saying every kitchen had this feature but some of them did, the handles would come in many different, antique looking styles which we still have a few around today so this comeback wasn’t much of a surprise BUT we love the look so we thought we’d mention this one too.

4. Tiled Splashbacks – Tiled splashbacks were a more DIY job for making your kitchen look a bit unique and spruced up, there’s no denying how cost efficient this was and the outcome had everyone blown away as it was seen as “creative” and “quirky” – this has made an extravagant comeback as it was slowly introduced by the textures glass splashbacks are offered in.

 

So now we come to an old but new era yet again, it’s one we’ve all been waiting for so we can shine our true colours with creativity and bring back some good old childhood memories.

Whats your thoughts?