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The last thing anyone wants to do after enjoying a lovely meal is to clean the kitchen, especially at the end of the day. Rather than let dirty dishes stack up and wake up to a messy kitchen try implementing a new routine. The truth is cleaning the kitchen is often faster than you imagine and it doesn’t have to be done by one person.

Get the family involved, even at an early age - toddlers could either help set the table by placing their favorite drink cup or by taking their own plates after dinner to the sink. Older kids can get involved in other quick and easy tasks like clearing the table or taking out the rubbish.

At our place we have a rule that while one person is cooking or preparing the others set the table. At the end of the meal, one person starts the washing or stacking the dishwasher process while the others clear the table and clean the surrounds. Now this doesn’t always go to plan but I would say it happens 80% of the time. What helps is that no-one is left alone to battle the kitchen clean-up, it becomes a team effort. We also carry on conversations, generally speaking about what were going to do that evening, work on a project, read, watch a program on TV, call someone etc.

Below are some simple tips on how to keep your kitchen under control with a mini kitchen clean-up. A clean kitchen is all about continual maintenance.

• Assign jobs to every family – Everyone can pitch in. Some things may not be done the way you like them but they will be done.

• Put all leftover food in storage containers – Don’t glad wrap leftovers in the actual serving dishes as they will no doubt take extra room. Make sure you allocate a shelf in the fridge for leftovers so you remember that they need to be consumed within the next few days.

• Unpack the diswaher ervy day. you put on the dishwasher at night then you cold unpack the next day.

• Clean all pots and pans on the same night – these are normally large items so I recommend that you dry and pack these items away straight away.

• Wipe down all surfaces –wipe down all kitchen surfaces and clean the dining table leaving it ready for the next day.

• The last step is to sweep the floor and surrounding areas, take out the rubbish and ensure dirty tea towels are replaced.

• If you are still finding it hard to get everyone motivated play some music, but unless its during the day music at night will wind up your family rather than wind them down. Alternatively you can also make a gameof it and play ‘beat the clock’

The kitchen is the heart of your home, a place where you share meals, catch-up, make decisions and plan. Make it a nice place to be by staying on top of the mess.

Lets face it cleaning and de-cluttering isn’t anyone’s favourite thing to do, but listening to your favourite tunes will certainly make the experience fun and less like a long boring chore.

If you’re in need of some motivation then why not create your own cleaning playlist. Add your favourite golden oldies or some new hip funky tunes that will get you bopping while your mopping. 

Here are a few tips on how to create your own Boggie Clean playlist. You could be singing 'another bites the dust" in no time.

The number one rule is to stay away from mellow/relaxing music. Include up beat music that’s going to keep you motivated to finish the job. 

Create different playlist for different jobs:

* Daily 5 minute tidy up clean (approx - 1 – 2 songs)

* Daily 15 minute de-clutter (approx 4 – 5 songs)

* Weekly 1 hour clean (approx 15 – 17 songs)

A shimmy shimmy clean might be the motivation you need and the difference to having a sparkling house. I m going to start with… Good feeling by Flo Rida. There’s nothing like a little dance hip hop song to get you going.

What would you put on your playlist? 

There is nothing more important than making sure your kids have a healthy school lunch to get them through the day. With a little pre planning you can make sure they not only have a healthy 5 day meal plan filled with nutrients but you will also avoid that morning fridge and pantry scramble for ideas. Here are a few tips to get your kids school lunches organised:

• Plan your kid’s lunches at the same time you plan your weekly meals
• Pre- make and freeze. You can pre-make various meals and snacks ahead of time. Take a look at the Frost Bite cook book for ideas. Click here to view.
• Get the kids involved and ask them what they would like to eat. They can also help make natural muesli bars.
• Always include fresh fruit and vegetables.
• Think about the presentation, how does the food look inside the lunch box. Cut different shape fruit or use sandwich shape cutters. Be creative - the kids will love it!

To help you plan your kids school lunches, click HERE to download our school lunch box meal planner.

If you’re looking for some lunch box inspiration take a look at these sites.

We all know that no matter how much we love entertaining, whether it’s a simple or formal get together putting on a party is not an easy task, especially one around Christmas. A nice way to thank the hostess is to arrive with a little gift to show your appreciation. This is a old tradition that is somewhat still alive today but in a less formal way.

A hostess gift is a kind gesture so there is no need to break the budget. Being Christmas a hostess gift may include a Christmas CD, a box of chocolates, or tin of cookies. If you know a little more about your host’s taste and interior style then a home accessory may be the key or lovely scented votives. Wine is always a good and safe gift and you can make it look extra special with the wrapping and card or by adding a homemade wine notebook, see below for instructions.

Your thoughtful gift will certainly make the hostess feel appreciated and it may even secure you an invitation for next year’s party!

Here’s the how to for the wine notebook.

Pour some wine into a small dish and dip the top of the glass into the wine. Lift and allow the wine excess wine to drip off. Press the wine glass onto the cover for a few moments and lift. Allow it to dry and stamp your message in the centre.

Christmas is by far the number one time of the year that we tend to accumulate more clutter in our homes. With new presents coming into our homes and exisitng ones staying its no wonder that some areas of your house and life feel cluttered. Here are five things you can declutter before Christmas.

Toys

Go through the kids toy box and donate, throw or pack away toys to make room for new ones to enter the house. Consider rotating toys every few months, all of a sudden old toys become new and your kids will once again enjoy playing with them. This is a fabulous idea if you a short of space.

 Magazines

Go through your magazine pile and clear out magazines. If your finding it hard to part with them because of a special feature, cut these out and create a folder where you can store your favorite articles, inspirational looks and ideas. A good tip is to only keep three months at the same time and when a new issue comes in replace it with an older one.

Make-up

This is a great time to sort and clear your makeup clutter before Christmas, especially with all those events and gatherings. Did you know that some make-up items have an expiry date making it a potential health hazard? Check the expiry dates and get rid of all your yucky make-up items collecting bacteria.

Appliances

We all have at least one fancy appliance in our kitchen that we don’t. Go through your kitchen cabinets and review your appliances. Ask yourself what purpose does it have, how often do you use it and have you used it in the last six months. If you have another that serves the same purpose then its time to either donate, sell or throw.

Cookbooks

MasterChef may not agree but cookbooks can also create clutter in your house. If you haven’t used a cookbook in the last 12 months, then its time to donate, sell or throw. If you find you have one recipe that you love then cut it out and create a folder to store your favorite recipes. Photocopy the recipe and donate the cookbook. Sorting and clearing your cookbooks may also inspire your inner MasterChef.

Being tidy may not necessarily come naturally, in-fact most of us have to learn the skills and work at it. The good news is that once you have system in place being tidy does become easier.

I don’t think I have ever met anyone that absolutely loves tidying up. The daunting task about tidying is that you may not know what your doing and where to put things. The answer is simple " Find A Home" for your items, but before we look at finding homes let’s start by getting a few containers and labelling them with signs – Keep, Throw, Donate etc. Click HERE to download our container signs.

The next step is to make sure you are clear about what and how you are going to use the space. Once you are clear you can then start deciding what stays and what goes. Anything that does not belong should be put in a pile and moved to the relevant room.

Once you have gone through all the items, start creating homes - allocate specific drawers, shelves etc.  Baskets are great for little nik naks and to keep similar items together, especially if they are odd shapes and don’t sit well on a shelf or drawer.

The important thing now is to make sure you put things back where they belong. Now that your items have specific homes and your space is defined it will be much easier to put things away.

I love that satisfying feeling when you look at your desk, room, drawers or cupboards and they look tidy. Remember being organised and tidy can be fun. You can use colour boxes to match your décor or revamp your cork board. This is your opportunity to create your own personal organising style.

The job may seem hard and daunting to begin with but once you get started you everything should start falling into place.

One of the best parts about the lead up to Christmas is receiving Christmas cards, but when it comes to sending them most people dread the thought and its often left to the last minute which generally means it doesn’t happen. Whether it’s a hand written card or an e-card, sending Christmas cards is a wonderful gesture. It’s a way of showing people that you care and are thinking of them.

Receiving a Christmas card is also special as it reminds you of the lovely people in your life that have thought about you and your family during the festive season.

Make this years Christmas cards a fun activity and do something a little different:

• Include a family update
• Include a story about each family member
• A funny quote from each family member
• A photo collage with captions
• Get the kids involved

Ultimately, writing Christmas cards should not be chore but rather an enjoyable experience. Once you have a concept its time to set a Christmas card plan of attack. Writing and sending Christmas cards are only one part of the Christmas organizing process so where you do you start?

A good place is by join us at the Christmas Stylish and Organising workshop, presented by Penny Webb from Working Mums Masterclass.

I will be presenting and joining Leanne from Sweet Style, Jacki from Blissfully Sweet Cakes and Jane from showpony.

Learn how to style your table, food ideas and how to get yourself, house, credit cards organised and so much more.

If you are in Sydney, lock in the 19^th November in your diary now and join us for fun Christmas styling and organizing experience. Click HERE for more information and to book your ticket now.

Well, not everything but somethings will make your life easier.

Picture this scenario

'Your wrapping a gift and you look around and realise you don’t have the tape, so you run up stairs or to the other side of the house to grab it. Because you're in a hurry you leave it on the table or place it in a drawer near by. Next time you need the tape you end up wasting time thinking where you put it away'

This is where having two of certain items makes perfect sense. When it comes to be being efficient with your time and staying organized having two of certain items can help you accomplish exactly that and keep everything its place. You are also more likely to put things back in their place if the storage is located where you actually use the item.

The key is to think about all the things you use in two different places of your home. i would narrow the list to the most frequently used items as you dont want to end up with two of everything. For example, scissors in the office and kitchen or living room, hand cream in the bathroom and kitchen.

If you travel often then have a toiletries bag with toothpaste and toothbrush already packed. This is a perfect solution for the frequent traveler. You don’t have to wait until you finish using the toothbrush to finish packing your overnight bags.

The final step is to create a strorage location in the area where the item is used, this way it will go straight back where it belongs. I have stationery items in the office but have also created a stationery cady which is stored in a section within the living area. Inlcuded are the basics - pens, scissors, tape and a notebook. Having two of these items has helped to eliminate stationery items being left all around the house.

Witches and Goblins are set to roam the streets in a few weeks time for Halloween. I love how this tradition is becoming popular, but for some it's still a new concept.

Last year we had around five groups trick or treating which was lots of fun. This year were going to join in the fun and also invite our street. With a little  inspiraion and goodies from Sweet Style our treat bags are all sorted. Now we just have organise our costumes and invite our neighbours.  Here are some quick tips to get you organised for some Halloween fun.

If Halloween is new in your neighbourhood print out our Halloween STREET ALERT pictured below and distribute ASAP so everyone can all join in the fun. Click HERE to download our sample. You can alter and add your own style.

Pin boards are a great visual solution to organising invitations, items that you need to action and become a central place for the family to pin important notices so they don’t get missed.

They can also get very messy very quickly, making them a dumping ground for all miscellaneous pieces of paper. To avoid this from happening here are a few tips:

• Be clear about what you are going to pin – will it be vision board, inspirational board with photos, quotes, special occasion board with invitations, concert dates, family fun day ideas or a family notice board with your family to do list, lay-by docket, pin your weekly meal plan, messages from school.

• Only pin small items – anything larger than an A4 should be stored elsewhere

• Don’t ever layer paper – If you have no more room then remove items that no longer have a place.

• Follow a system – As soon as an invitation comes in place the date in your diary/family planner and RSVP. Then place the invitation on the pin board with the date highlighted.

• Split your pin board – group like with like items so you can easily identify what’s on there.

Style it up

Traditionally pin boards can look vey dull and boring and do absolutely nothing for your décor. Why not style-up your pin board, add a little colour and make it attractive to look at and suit your own décor.

You can take a dull looking pin board by simply:

• Painting the frame
• Painting the cork backing board
• Covering the cork backing board with stylish plain or patterned material
• Placing silver pins to decorate it
• Adding some ribbon to hang it

Here is some more pin board inspiration to get you started.

You’ve heard this saying before “ A place for everything and everything is its place” sounds like a great plan right, but then you loose something. We have all at some point lost our keys, countless of pens, left an umbrella in a taxi, misplaced our favourite lipstick and spent what seems like an eternity looking for them.

Did you know that the average person spends an HOUR a day looking for things, and if you’re a parent, your also spending time looking for everyone else’s things. That’s a total of 7 HOURS a week – wow. We talk a lot about having that extra hour in a day and guess what you already have it – you’re just using it to look for things!

Anything you basically touch in a day has the potential to get lost.

I say it’s time to stop crawling on the ground looking underneath the couch and continually saying “have you seen…” Here are some handy tips:

• Group related items and store them together
• Items that you use on a regular basis should be within easy access. This will help you put them back.
• Items that are used infrequently should be stored packed away and labelled
• Items should be stored near where you use them
• Establish a permanent home for your keys, glasses, sunglasses, wallet – these are all easy to loose items.
• Get into a routine of putting things back - start with one item and do it for 21 days
• Use storage containers with labels
• Have some fun, be creative and stylish with your storage containers and make it work for you and your family.

The best tip of all – “PUT THINGS BACK WHERE THEY BELONG”

Here's a clever and decorative way create a organised place to hang your coats, handbags or towels, by simply using door handles.

You can use matching or mix matched handles to create your own unique look. Select handles with a similar size and shape for overall balance and you dont even have to spend  fortune. Visit your local st Vinnies stores for some great little finds.

I love this look and love hanging my bag on a sparkly crystal door handle.

If you have scheduled in to de-clutter or spring clean your home this weekend then here are some great questions you need to be asking yourself?

Click HERE to download our De-clutter labels - Happy de-cluttering everyone!

If you're in need of that little extra storage space in your home then why not transform the inside of your closet, cabinet, pantry or any other suitable door in your home. With a little planning you can make them look stylish and create a useful solution.

Before you start you need to have a clear idea of what you are going to store and how much of it, and how often you will use it. There is no use transforming the back of your door to store items that will never be used.

Secondly unless you are using one of those over the door hangers, make sure that your door is solid and strong enough to hold your hooks and items.

Here is a selection of ideas we found to give you inspiration to transform your own space.

Bathroom

Kitchen

more Kitchen

Bedroom

Laundry

Bedroom/Study

Sometimes DONE is better than perfect. We often put off from doing things because we don’t have the time to make it perfect. Inevitably, what ends up happening is that it NEVER gets done.

Clutter and disorganisation are often the result of failing to take action. If this sounds like you, then lets start by making some decisions.

Start by setting some simple goals. If its to declutter your house then a great start would be to try to keep things where they belong by putting them away when you’re done. You dont need to declutter your draws just yet. Just get into the habit of putting things away. The next step is to set yourself another goal of decuttering an area of the house. You dont need to wait until you get 'pretty' boxes and containers - they can come later.

Remember done is better than perfect and when it comes to organisation it’s all about taking little steps and sticking to them. Once you start forming some good habits, being organised will become easier. What's on your list of things to be DONE?

Baskets are an inexpensive way to organise any room and they can also add a little style. They come in all shapes and sizes and with so many choices, you can basically use baskets to organise any space in your home. Below are some inspirational ideas we found, but before you head out to buy any type of storage container or basket make sure you de-clutter first then see what storage you require. If you buy first, you are more likely to keep clutter because you have the baskets to store it in. So matter how pretty they are declutter before you buy.

and this one, just becasue i love this bathroom

This is straight from the Oprah files as published in the O magazine. I found these tips very useful and can be applied to everyday life. I love number two, this is the one that I had to learn quickly when I became a mum. I also love my dump zone basket that I empty and sort out eveyr night. So here they are...

1.

This is often easier than it sounds. We all love a good bargain, but when I think back at the bargains couldn’t resist I really could have done without them and looking around my house and in my closet those bargains are not even being used. Before you buy ask yourself a few simple questions - Where will I store it? How often will I use it? And Do I already have something similar?

2. MAKE PEACE WITH IMPERFECTION

Don’t try to make everything perfect otherwise you may end up getting bogged down with the process and actually achieving less with your time. We cant be a master of all trades, so spend your time doing what’s on your priority list rather than trying to make everything picture perfect.

This month in our 'In your Diary' we listed  getting a NEW look. Well this is exactly what i did. I took the plunge and I am now sporting a new hairstyle - long bob, slightly longer at the front  and it feels great. I also decided to give my wardrobe a huge COLOUR overhaul. Taking prime position is my new pink Zara blazer - i love love love it. It's light weight, pink and perfect for this season. Actually i love it more than my hairstyle....next to my blazer is a new pair of bright blue jeans which i also love. My clothes went to lucky bidder on eBay that's probably re-doing her wardrobe!

Spring is here and its a great time to review your wardrobe - Donate, Sell or Throw out items you longer use. I managed to sell three suits all in good condition and all of which have been sitting in my wardrobe for a number of years.

So the rule is – if you have not worn an item in six months or if its still in wardrobe after two seasons, then its time to get rid of it. Think about the PARETO  Rule – you will wear 80% of your clothes 20% of the time. So why not earn some extra cash by selling your clothes on eBay.

If you have never used eBay before it will take a little time but you will get much more for it than selling it at a Garage sale. Here are a few tips to get you started.

Sort your clothes

The first step is to sort your clothes you want to sell, give and thorw. Once you have your sell pile split them into spring/summer and autum/winter. the trick is to sell your items with the season. You can also sell the oppostite season and focus on overseas buyers. Lasttly, sort your items into size order. 

Clean and clear

Make sure your clothing items are clean and pressed. Do this straight away as you will need to make sure they look great when its time to photograph them. 

It's photo time

Its now time to photgraph each item. Thephots are going to very important as the buyers cant touch, feel or try the grament on, so you want ot make sure you give them a goo idea of what it will look like. We ont hav a manequin at home so you can simply hang in or lay it down. If the item was bought recently you may be able to find professional photo online and you can also add that to your array of photos. Whenyou upload your photos, you willnotice that eBay has simple edititng tools you can use. Make sure you crop uneccessary space and resize it accordingly. 

Set up an Ebay account

You will need to set yourself up as an eBay seller. Click HERE to register. eBay has great tips and resurces to help you naviigate around the site and learn the best strategies for selling. I would recommend you take a look at other eBay sellers and see what informtion they include, what you liked about their store and as it easy to understand. It may be triala nd error at first or you may get it right the fist time, but once you do this could be a great way to sell your unwanted clothes and revamp your look.

I am loving the start of spring and loving my new look. Whats your favourtite item in your wardobe right now?

Its no secret that apple have changed the way we use our mobile phone and with the huge variety of apps available it’s very easy to become an App junkie.

Apple being so clever have also come up a folder system to help you organise your apps. I started using the folder system as soon as it came out but my apps were still a mess, until now. I have gone from six pages filled with single apps and generic folders to creating a more manageable system. The entire process only took 30 minutes. Here are the simple steps I followed to get my Apps in order.

1. Know your Apps

Start by connecting your iphone to itunes and go through ALL your apps. I found that I had apps that had not been synchronized and apps that I had downloaded and not used.