This post is sponsored by Target.

Um, yes, so this attractive display is my seen-better-days handbag and its contents in all their glory.

It was a bit of a lucky dip. You might find ten pens/lipsticks/hairties or you might find none! Plus tissues (used? unused? can’t tell), earrings, loose change, shopping lists on scraps of paper, receipts from a year ago…

Yikes, no wonder I couldn’t find anything in there.

I had been wanting to replace a couple of my existing handbags – including the one above – because they were totally worn out (it doesn’t look that bad in the pic but trust me, it was looking very daggy in the flesh leather vinyl).

What I didn’t want was for it to end up in the same mess, so I went and picked up a nifty handbag organiser from the storage department at Target. I also picked out this gorgeous red handbag (totally loving their range of women’s accessories that are on sale right now).

It’s a bit hard to see inside the depths of the black organiser, so here’s what’s in there now:

A few changes I made to keep things neat:

• I switched the loose tissues for a packet (no more scrunched-up questionable looking new tissues).
• I use a notebook to list errands to run / things to buy and tear out the page when I’m done (paper scraps be gone!).
• I’ve since started using this so I only need to carry a tiny stash of emergency lady things (can’t believe I’m sharing this on the internet).
• I’ve been better about taking out receipts (and either discarding them or saving a photo of it to Evernote).

Apart from keeping everything compartmentalised, the other obvious benefit is being able to simply plonk the insert into another handbag. Because I am way too lazy to transfer all of my daily essentials between bags for the sake of fashion.

The bag itself is super roomy; I’ve even thrown my camera in there when I didn’t want to take my whole camera bag. Plus I’ve had heaps of compliments on it which is a bonus!

What are your tips for an organised handbag?

This post is in partnership with Stockland.

Adore Home via Decor8

While we do love our little home, let’s be honest: it’s not our dream house.

For the most part it suits our needs, but there are some less-than-ideal aspects, such as the lack of space for my growing business, the closed-off kitchen and the transition spaces that are so tiny they can only accommodate one person at a time. (Seriously, sometimes it feels as if we live in one of those puzzles where you can only move one piece at a time.)

Made By Girl’s kitchen on Apartment Therapy

Our next home is likely to be a ’stepping-stone’ house so our dream home is still some years away, but in true Type A style I already have it planned out (to a scary level of detail) in my head.

Architectural details, dark timber floorboards, open-plan kitchen/living, backyard studio, a garden – sigh!

Emily Henderson (photo by Lauren Pieri)

Aesthetics aside, what I’m mostly looking forward to about our eventual home upgrade is to do with family and lifestyle: being able to host parties without people falling over each other, accommodating overnight guests and having space for a family and pets. Basically, a larger house and land to give us room to grow.

Jess Lively

Til then, I will have to be content with browsing my favourite inspiration sources such as magazines Real Living and Adore and blogs like Design*Sponge, Young House Love and Making It Lovely (to name but a few!). And of course, keeping all my dream home ideas on Pinterest.

Jessica McKay & Christopher Van Buskirk’s home on Design*Sponge

How about you: are you dreaming of your forever home or are you lucky enough to be living in it?

And would you like to buy a land package and create the perfect home from scratch or would you prefer to make an existing home your own?

This post is sponsored by Target.

Waaaay back when, The Man and I ripped out the doors and interior fit-out of the closet in the office. I never showed you the ‘after’ because, while the walls and shelves might have been all fresh and new, the storage was just as ugly a mess as before.

(By the way, don’t ask me why we have a Nintendo 64, I have no idea.)

I did get some Ikea boxes to stash all of the small things (much of my inventory of greeting cards, for example), but the bulky storage was still a problem.

We were still using boxes I had purchased while living at home ten years ago. When The Man and I moved in together, I painted over most of the girly pink and purple boxes in my favourite greeny-yellow colour – this was only ever intended to be a stopgap measure and a permanent solution was desperately needed as the paint was chipped and horrible and the cardboard was damaged.

I also wanted to switch from cardboard boxes to plastic ones, so they would be more durable and better protect the contents.

Trouble is, it can be tricky finding the perfect storage (especially if you’re on a budget). For the longest time, I had been looking for some opaque white plastic tubs (so I won’t get sick of the colour and I can hide the messy-looking contents unlike with clear boxes). I’d found a couple of options but they either had yukky coloured handles or were the wrong size for the space.

Then last week when Target asked me to put together my wishlist of favourite home decor items from their Home Sale, I finally found it: the elusive perfect white box!

After double-checking the measurements and whipped into my local store at Newton and picked up six of them. They were only $8.50ea down from $15 which is amazing value for such a versatile set of storage that will last for years and years. (Note: it says sold out on the online shop but I called my local store and they had some in stock.)

Of course, I excitedly brought them home and The Man was like, ‘yeah… they’re boxes.’ Ugh!

Anyway, I transferred all of my Christmas decorations, craft supplies etc into the new boxes and printed out some quick labels. I might make some more colourful labels later but for now I am so pleased at how neat it all looks!

GIVEAWAY WINNER

I know, what you really want to know is, who won the Target gift card giveaway?!

Our winner, selected at random, is JADE WILLIAMS! Congratulations Jade, I will email you shortly to sort out delivery. Then you’ll be able to get those frames you’re wishing for.

Thanks again to all who entered my first ever giveaway and of course big thanks to Target for sharing the love!