Around the house

I had a nice two week break from work over Christmas and the new year. Hubby and I were able to spend some much needed time together relaxing, but we mostly used the time off to focus on getting through some jobs around the house before the exciting arrival of our first baby in June.

Image via Pinterest

We moved into our 1960s home just over a year ago, but still have so many things unfinished. Hubby spent a good part of a week in a shed prepping and painting new doors for every room of the house.  It was on our to-do list to give all of our doors a good sand and fresh coat of white paint before we moved in, but we spent so much time fixing other things before the move that we conceded and have been living with yellow, flaky-painted doors ever since.

Sick of seeing a wardrobe full of items I can't fit in, I sorted through all my clothes which no longer have room for my baby bump, boobs or bottom, and stored them away at the top of our wardrobe.

I bought a number of storage boxes from Ikea’s Skubb range. They are perfect - large enough to fit a stack of clothes, and unlike previous storage boxes I’ve bought, they zip up tightly to keep dust and any bugs that might fancy snacking on my silk dresses at bay.

Ikea Skubb boxes stacked at the top of our wardrobe.

The boxes are too deep to fit in our wardrobe with their fabric handle facing the front, but they are just as functional stacked sideways. They are also foldable so I can store them neatly if I no longer need them. I've grouped items together in separate boxes - casual dresses, dressy dresses, work dresses and skirts, work shirts, jeans and pants, and casual skirts and shorts. Now the only thing left for me to do is label each box.

And something I'm glad we don't need to do, hopefully ever again, hubby and I both braved the insane world of nursery stores to research and buy what I'm calling the 'big four' - our cot, pram, change table and car seat.  Thankfully we were able to get them all at the one place.
 We also pulled out some of the plants in our garden which had become a little unruly, planted more agapanthas and gave the house a bit of a general tidy-up. 

So while it wasn’t the most exciting of January breaks, I feel that we're off to a good start in what I'm sure is going to be a crazy but exciting year.

Image via Boori



With the house tidy, I could enjoy the bunch of lilies that hubby bought me on Christmas Eve.
I'm very lucky. Not only did he get up bright and early to go fruit and veg shopping,
he returned with this gorgeous surprise for me.