Autumn Wardrobe Overhaul!!!

If there's one thing I love it's organising!

I think if I could spend my days organising then I would be one very happy bunny.

 

Recently though my wardrobe has been a little unloved and I must admit it had become a little bit of a dumping ground. Trying to find some of my clothes had become a bit of a problem so I decided a couple of days ago as It is now Cold in the UK, it's a good time to sort it out so I could re organise my cold weather clothes.

 

My wardrobe its self  is slightly difficult to work with as it's a built in wardrobe which goes over our stairs and has a very odd shape. I have limited hanging space as you'll see from the photos.

 



Weird Wardrobe!!!



 

The first step I took was to completely strip out my entire wardrobe so I could start completely from scratch which resulted in the photo bellow!

 



Where's the bed???



Once I'd pulled everything out I gave it a complete clean so I had a nice dust, cobweb free wardrobe to organise my clothes back into. I also looked at what storage I'd been using in the wardrobe and decided to ditch it as it was just causing more clutter and using up valuable space. You can see from the above photo I had a canvas hanging shelf which Is supposed to be for shoes but I use it for odd bits and bobs such as belts, hats, gloves etc... This was the only storage that I kept.

 

Empty and Clean!!!

Next step.....Organise all your stuff.

 

This step is the hardest as you have to be tough deciding what to keep and what you haven't worn in a while and really don't need any more. I go by the rule that if I haven't worn something in the last Year then I obviously don't need it any more. I discovered whilst doing this process I was still holding on to quite a few dresses and skirts that I haven't worn since Uni (6 years ago!)

 

This brings us to the next step.......Sell, Pass On or Donate.

I sort anything I no longer want into three piles,

Sell - Anything of value i.e. Designer items can generally be sold on Ebay.

Pass On - Sometimes there may be something a friend has had their eye on.

Donate - Anything else you can donate to charity shops, as long as it's sellable. If you have any textiles that don't meet that criteria H&M have a great scheme where, if you’ve got something worn, torn or hopelessly out of style or any home textiles, take it to them and for each bag you hand in, they will give you a £5 voucher to redeem off your next purchase of £30 or more in store.

The scheme is to help decrease the amount of fashion and textiles being wasted. Every year, tons of textiles end up in landfills. But as much as 95% of these textiles and clothes could be used again. That’s why H&M are now collecting clothes and home textiles of any brand, in any quality and any condition in their stores. Your clothes and home textiles are sent with their deliveries to the nearest processing plant. They are then graded and hand-sorted. Zero waste is the goal. Items that are too worn and torn to be reused will be recycled and turned into raw materials and new products.

 

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So Organising done, it's now time to put your newly slim lined clothing collection back into your wardrobe. If you're anything like me then you will have to put it back in, in some kind of order. My personal preference is clothes facing to the front of the room i.e. the door, leading in with Basics, T-Shirt, Shirts, Cardigans, Sweaters, Blazers, Trousers and finally Dresses. Within each category I also organise by Sleeve length, short to long.

 

Basics, T-Shirts & Shirts.

Cardigans, Sweaters, Blazers, Trousers & Dresses.

Now you should have one beautifully organised wardrobe. Which means you can now look at which areas you may need to restock, so to speak. This is my personal favourite part as it means you can go..............Shopping!!!

 

If you've made any money from either Ebay or other ways you can now re invest in some timeless classic pieces that will see you through season to season.

 

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Now my clothes are nicely sorted and new investment pieces purchased from ebay sales I am going to look at other storage solutions for my stupidly designed wardrobe. You can't tell from the photos but it's actually quite deep so I'm thinking about getting some shelving to put behind the clothes for shoes etc... There is also a shelf above the hanging rail which is again very deep so I'm hoping to find something I can use to make it easier to organise up there too.

 

Once I've come up with a solution I'll post an update as I'm sure some of you out their have equally difficult shaped wardrobes.

 

Fi xXx

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jo Malone - Blackberry & Bay Cologne

My favourite all time Perfume for this time of the year (well all year to be honest) is Jo Malone's Blackberry & Bay Cologne.

 

 

 

They describe it as: Childhood memories of blackberry picking...A burst of deep, tart blackberry juice, blending with the freshness of just-gathered bay and brambly woods. Vibrant and verdant.

 

 

It is just the perfect fragrance for this time of year and it definitely brings back memories of blackberry picking when I was little.

 

 

You can pick up this fragrance in either a 30ml bottle for £40 or the 100ml bottle (pictured) for £82. Slightly on the pricier side but definitely worth the price tag in my opinion.

 

 

They also have a Body Crème in the range that retails for £50 for a 175ml pot which comes in a beautiful glass jar. Totally luxurious and definitely the type of product you'd always want to keep out on your dressing table.

 

Pop in and have a smell, I'm sure you wont leave empty handed!

 

Fi xXx

Autumn Afternoon

 

 

I've been having a bit of a Kitchen overhaul recently and re-organising all my cupboards which has really spurred me on to try my hand at lots of new cooking adventures. One thing I've wanted to try for ages, is making my own bread as there is no better smell then the smell of freshly baked bread. So today I thought, Just Do It!!!

 

I will openly admit that for my first Bread Baking attempt I did cheat and I picked up a Pre-Mixed Packet from Tescos as I thought I'd make it a little simpler for my self on my first go. I used their Crusty White Bread Mix.



 

The instructions are really simple to follow but I still may have made a phone call to my Mum along the way to double check I was doing the right thing! lol

 

• All you have to do is add 325ml warm water to 500g off the bread mix and mix for 5 minutes by hand to form a dough.
• Place the dough on to a floured surface and leave to rest for 5 minutes.
• Knead the dough for 2 minutes and then mould into a ball and rest for 5 minutes.



Dough ball resting for 5 minutes.
Candle burning - Warm Apple Pie by Everyday Luxe.

 

 

• Mould the dough into the desired shape and place into your greased and floured loaf tin, dust with flour then cover with a damp cloth and leave to rise in a warm place for 30-40 minutes or until doubled in size.

 

Dough left to rise till doubled in size.

• Place on the lower shelf of a pre heated oven 230^C/Fan 210^C/Gas mark 8.
• Bake it for approximately 30 minutes.
• Remove from tin and place on a cooling rack.

Finished Crusty White Loaf.

 

So there we have it, A rather decent looking Loaf of bread if I do say so myself. Thankfully my first bread making experience was a success and the house smells amazing. Hopefully my Husband wont expect to come home every Friday from work to freshly baked bread from now on!

 

 

Fi xXx

 

 



Autumn Ambiance - part 2

So despite only posting a couple of days ago about my favourite Autumn Ambiances I'm afraid I went shopping this morning and stumbled across another amazing candle which I just had to mention.

Everyday Luxe - Warm Apple Pie (picked up in Homesense)

 

This is not a candle brand I have ever come across before but the second I laid my eyes on it I couldn't help but notice a similarity to another well known brand Bath & Body Works, whose candles are commonly talked about and loved by many and for good reason as they are amazing. I'm still slowly burning two I bought in New York back in February as I don't want them to run out as I sadly can't get my hands on them in the UK. (Please hurry up Bath & Body Works and come to the UK already!) I also purchased A candle holder whilst in New York and was worried about not being able to use it once my candles have run out but this Everyday Luxe candle is exactly the same size and fits in perfectly. I've struggled to find out much about the brand apart from they are made in the USA and distributed by MVP Group International who also Distribute Colonial Candles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now to the smell......I was in the market for a real Autumnal cooking fragrance and this ticks all the boxes. The packaging doesn't give any clues as to the notes making up the fragrance but if I was to guess apart from the obvious Apple Pie fragrance notes coming through I would also guess there is some Cinnamon in there somewhere. I'd definitely describe it as a Sweet but Spicy, Foody Fragrance.

The weight of the candle is equal to that of the Bath & Body work 3-wick candles at 14.5oz / 411g so I would guess in terms of burn time it should be about equal too, at approximately 25 - 45 hours.

 

I will most definitely be taking another trip back to Homesense  soon to take a look at the other fragrance's available as I'm very pleased with this one and when they're priced at an incredible £5.99 I don't think you can really go wrong.

 

Fi xXx