I don’t think I’ve ever shown you inside our kitchen cupboards. Probably because it’s not very exciting. I don’t have beautiful floor-to-ceiling cabinetry with chevron lining and rows of matching labelled Tupperware.

Nope, it’s all very average-bordering-on-messy. With only this small overhead cupboard to store our pantry goods, it gets crowded easily and things just get shoved in wherever they can. (By the way, sometimes my camera produces photos with lens distortion – this is not happennig here, the shelf is in fact bowing under the weight of no less than six types of rice and more icing sugar than I will use in a lifetime.)

Every now and again I will declare it time for a Pantry Challenge (feel free to chime in with a more creative name!). Which means we buy as little new food as possible in order to clear out the pantry and freezer (I already do this weekly with fresh produce in the fridge). Sometimes it’s motivated by a money-saving goal, other times because I’m sick of pork chops falling on my head when I open the freezer.

Either way, it always ends up with a few culinary experiments (seriously, you’ll be amazed at the variety of dishes you can make with what you already have on hand), a slashed grocery bill and a nice uncluttered kitchen.

Have you tried anything similar in your household before?

I apologise for the title. I really do. Hearing people say ‘totes’ is like nails on a blackboard for me.

In this case, however, I am taking about actual totes.

Camera totes to be precise.

(Apologies for the horrid grainy photos – I obviously had to dust off the ol’ point and shoot to take these photos.)

I’m not sure if I’ve even told you this but The Man and I are heading off overseas for five weeks this summer (HOORAY!).

I love travel photography, but I’m a bit of a princess and find all the paraphenalia frankly a bit annoying. I have a second lens but I never use it because I hate lugging it around, so I take the compact camera bag instead of the bigger one with room for the extra lens (then I’ll be taking a snap and go ‘Ugh, I wish I had my telephoto with me’). I also find it inconvenient to carry around a camera bag as well as a backpack or handbag.

Plus – you know me – I’m all about the functional but there’s no reason why it can’t look good too!

Enter Jo Totes.

I had been coveting this baby for awhile now so I was very excited to unwrap it on my birthday recently (thanks to my parents and in-laws).

I looove how I can fit my camera and spare lens(es) all safe and sound between the padded dividers and there’s still room for my wallet/sunnies/cardi/whatever. There’s even a secret pocket at the back for my iPad as well as pockets at the front for the usual out-and-about essentials. I also like how it doesn’t scream ‘I AM A TOURIST AND I AM CARRYING LOTS OF VALUABLE EQUIPMENT’.

OK now I just sound like an ad I know, but seriously Betsy is going to be my new best travel buddy. The Man also gave me an iPad camera connector so I will be able to upload photos on the go.

Now I’m all set for blogging anywhere in the world!

I think you’ll all agree when I say that paperwork is one of the biggest clutter culprits in most homes. ‘Going paperless’ is a semi-regular series on eliminating paper from your home in order to save time, reduce clutter and benefit the environment.

Step 1: Prevention

OK so it might not be as annoying as junk mail or bills, but even mail that you have signed up for can add to the paper clutter in your home. Here are some tactics to keep your subscriptions under control:

Cancel everything you don’t actually read
An obvious one, but worth repeating. We can easily fall into the trap of keeping receiving subscriptions out of habit or because to stop them would require some effort. Are there newspapers that you simply don’t have time to read? Or perhaps magazines that sit around for the whole month before you get around to having a quick flip through? Sounds like you wouldn’t miss them.

Go digital
Most newspapers (and an ever increasing amount of magazines) now offer digital subscriptions in addition to the traditional print options. Personally I like curling up on the couch with a fresh glossy or the day’s crossword, so this option is not going to suit everyone. But if you’ve ever had to wrangle a broadsheet newspaper on a crowded bus then I’m sure you could certainly see the appeal of switching to a news app on your iPad!

Get off mailing lists
Despite zero involvement, I was receiving letters from my university alumni for a good five years beyond my graduation before I finally got around to removing myself from their mailing list. Come on, you know you’ve got those too: that professional association you never go to, that theatre you went to once, your old hairdresser, the junior basketball league and now your kids are in their twenties… Yep, those. Cancel them.

I’m embarrassed to admit that it’s not uncommon for my dresser to look something like this:

Putting away clothes has always been my organising ‘weakest link’. But I find that it becomes so much more of a challenge I avoid it like the plague as soon as there is no room to actually put things away. I certainly haven’t been on any sprees but  the gradual build up of clothes that occurs when you don’t regularly go through them meant that I literally could not fit all of my clothes away at once.

I spotted an ad for a community clothes swap at a nearby library which gave me the motivation to do a big purge. Without much effort, I quickly filled three garbage bags with unwanted clothes, shoes, jewellery and bags. Add to that a couple of binfuls of items that were too worn to donate.

Before you say, ‘What’s the point of swapping your clothes because you’ll still end up with an overflowing closet?’ I was never intending to come home with as many items as I left with. Anything that was left over was donated to charity, which is where my unwanted clothes normally wind up anyway.

Along with the pleasure of being able to close my drawers again, I now have a new winter jacket, pretty pink dress, cute cardi, a couple of versatile basic tees, a cosy knitted jumper and even a perfect pair of jeans… all without spending a cent!

Do you have anything like this in your area? I admit it was a little odd seeing other girls looking through and talking about my clothes, but all in all I think it’s a great idea and it worked out well for me.

I think you’ll all agree when I say that paperwork is one of the biggest clutter culprits in most homes. ‘Going paperless’ is a semi-regular series on eliminating paper from your home in order to save time, reduce clutter and benefit the environment.

Step 1: Prevention

Last time we talked about junk mail, which is really easy to eliminate. But what about that personally addressed mail? Bills and statements may seem like a necessary evil but there are still some ways to reduce it.

Eliminate unnecessary accounts
A few months ago The Man and I switched banks but the old account is still sitting there, so we get sent a pointless zero dollar statement every month. Time to close that account! There might also be accounts you can consolidate, for example bundling your landline, mobile phone and internet so you only receive one bill, saving you time and money.

Auto-pay bills
Many of our regular payments (mortgage, insurance, phone and internet bills) are paid automatically out of our account which is not only time- and hassle-saving, but it also prevents the influx of bills every month.

Get bills and statements online
Most billers and financial institutions these days offer online statements so take advantage of that and instantly reduce the amount of paperwork coming in. Some companies, like our electricity supplier, will even give you a discount for going digital.

Now, happy mail (that is, invitations, cards and letters from loved ones) on the other hand, falls firmly in the category of ‘More, please!’.

Next time: dealing with subscriptions

Our tea and coffee making things were shoved in various cupboards wherever they would fit – plunger in the crockery cupboard, sugar in the servingware cupboard, tea bags shoved at the back of the pantry. You don’t have to be a storage junkie to realise this was clearly not the most efficient setup.

I recently bought this shelf (actually a dish drainer from Ikea) and The Man installed it in the dead space next to the microwave. It now houses the plunger, sugar , tea leaves, instant coffee and plunger coffee. I had been saving up old coffee jars in preparation (yes, I am the only one who drinks instant coffee at home so it took me a long time to empty those three jars!) but I did buy the cute tin new from Brown Button Trading.

It’s so handy having everything right there above the kettle and I love how it creates useful space from previously wasted space. Yes, I still have to wait around while the kettle boils, but now instead of having to spend the time putting everything back in the various cupboards, I can do something useful like take out the recycling or put away some dishes.

I think you’ll all agree when I say that paperwork is one of the biggest clutter culprits in most homes. ‘Going paperless’ is a semi-regular series on eliminating paper from your home in order to save time, reduce clutter and benefit the environment.

I’m so looking forward to diving into this new series with you, because I truly believe that reducing the amount of paper in your home can make your daily life a whole lot easier.

Step 1: Prevention

The first step is to stop more paper coming into your home. Does this scene look familiar to you?

Every day we were receiving a ton of mail that ended up in a dumping ground on the kitchen table. It was a daily struggle to keep on top of it.

Most of it was catalogues, many of which were immediately tossed and therefore a complete waste and others we gave only a cursory flip through.

A couple of dollars later, I had a ‘No junk mail’ sign attached to our (really attractive 1970s) letterbox and the constant stream of unwanted advertising material is gone, leaving us with only a few letters to deal with each day. As a bonus we’re not bombarded with temptation to buy things we don’t really need.

What about the catalogues you do want to receive, I hear you ask? The only catalogue I regularly used was for my supermarket, so now when I’m planning our weekly meals I simply hop onto their website and take a squizz through the specials. If I’m in the market for a particular item such as furniture or electronics I go to Lasoo and read only the relevant catalogues (this is Australian; perhaps some overseas readers can chime in with your local equivalent).

I’d love to know, how do you deal with your junk mail?

Next time: Dealing with other types of mail

I’ve decided to do a semi-regular series on how to reuse your wedding decorations in your home decor – I hope you like it!

I collected various oil lamps to use as centrepieces at our wedding reception. I’ve now got an instant collection that looks so pretty catching the light on a window ledge.

First image by Luke Simon Photography

We ran out of storage space for books and magazines (again). The house is pretty chockers with furniture and the only real option was to use the sliver of space between our entertainment unit and the wall.

Even if the space was large enough for a proper bookcase, I didn’t want it to feel any more boxy and closed in that it already is. Enter the stack bookcase! I’ve wanted something like it for ages but didn’t have the budget for it, so when The Man spotted it at Milan Direct for just $70 we snapped it up straight away. Instant order for the reading material piled up around the house.

BHG

Organise anything that can be handy while out and about into clear zippered pouches. Store them near the door so you can grab the relevant bags as you rush out the door and you’ll always be ready for the day’s activities.