Oh look - almost a year between posts!

My New Year's Resolution list is usually get organised, lose weight, be more creative, get fit, balance work and home life better and only read serious novels - all that improving stuff... but not this year - This year it's to write more.
Not that the others aren't important, but for once I am managing to tick off a lot of the others.
Here's my progress.
Get organised... It's a work in progress... slow progress... sometimes painfully slow progress, but it is happening and it is sustainable.
Today's achievement was to finish my linen cupboard. I basically hauled everything (sheets, towels, airbeds, sleeping bags, hot water bottles, a suitcase, heated rollers toiletry bag, spare blankets and some other random stuff) out of it and onto the family room floor last week. This action was prompted by the fact that for the past month, putting things away consisted of opening the cupboard, looking for a space, chucking the item in and then quickly closing the door so it doesn't fall out, each time promising myself that I'd do something about it the next day but of course I hadn't. Why do something today when you can put it off tomorrow and the next day and the next?
Two things prompted my emptying the cupboard - a post a friend put on facebook showing an organised linen cupboard (sheet sets stored in the matching pillow slip and all stacked beautifully - oh how I wanted that cupboard) and the fact that I couldn't find two matching sheets to put on the spare bed before my sister arrived the next day.
So step 1 was to prepare the cupboard. The lining paper was a bit torn in placesso I replaced it with gorgeous flocked wrapping paper I found on special at Lincraft. It looked so pretty!
Next step was to rationalise and organise my sheets. I figure we need a set and a spare for each bed in the house plus one or two extra for camp beds. I had WAY more than that jammed in the cupboard. I have been buying all cotton sheets for the past ten or so years so I decided first step was to get rid of any old poly/cotton sheets. Tatty ones were given to the MOTH to take for work as rags/throw overs and nice ones were put in a bag for charity. I filled an outdoor garbage bag. I then matched up all the sheet sets. Any orphan sheets were also popped in the bag for charity. Somehow some of the matching pillow slips seem to have gone AWOL, but I solved that by popping those sets in plan white pillow slips. I prefer white pillow slips any way.
I have a lot of lace trimmed or embroidered cotton pillow slips that I do take the time to iron and fold properly (did I mention I love white pillow slips??). They always start off in a neat pile but end up all over the place. I did a little "home shopping" for a suitable basket or box. I found a really nice wicker document stacker/in/out tray that I have always intended having on my desk but couldn't quite fit. It was the perfect solution and also looks rather sweet stacked with white linen. My sister arrived and I abandoned the organisation.
A little over a week later, after some major avoidance strategies, I finally went back to it today.
All the towels were sorted into beach towels and bath towels. A shelf for each. Once again the charity shop benefitted. The more babyish beach towels went into a bag along with some excess (I think having over 20 is a little excessive) hand towels. Some rather ragged bath towels were popped into two boxes in the laundry. One for spills and dog washing towels, one box for hair dyeing adventures.
One of the big issues in the cupboard were the fact that our camping airbeds and sleeping bags were so slippy bulky and took up so much room. The airbeds were rolled up, two placed in a small suitcase that I also needed to store and the other two were placed in shopping bags. Up onto the carvernous top shelf with them! The sleeping bags have been rehomed to my sewing room for the time being. They will fit up in that top shelf but I need to make new cases for them first. LOL - should have thought about that before I donated the sheets.

My organised linen cupborad (well 2 shelves any way) Mabe not quite as pristine and toy soldier orderly as Matha's but I can see everything at a glance and more importantly lay my hands on it all easily.

The random other stuff has been either binned/recycled (empty perfume and essential oil bottles and a couple of cardboard boxes) or rehomed/donated to charity (toiletries bag, soap, heated rollers, insulated cooler bag and an apron)
So now all that needs to go in the cupboard is the Christmas tree. While I am making bags for the sleeping bag, I want to make one for it so it can tuck away tidily on the floor at the back.
I can now see everything, lay my hands on what I need without causing a manchester avalanche and actually have a little spare space should I succumb to buying something else. I feel so virtous!