Storage for small spaces

We don't need storage solutions, there's my husband and I in a 3 bed house, in Dubai, with so many built in cupboards that we have the luxury of keeping the toaster in a cupboard.

However when we lived in the UK there was a period of time when we had 5 children in a 4 bed house and we had to make the most of every inch of space, from built in shelving in alcoves to storage boxes under bunk beds and regularly holding boot sales or donating items to charity.

In recent years, we bought a 1 bed flat in the UK to use as a base for visiting our families and as somewhere for our adult children to stay when we were over.

Sadly within 6 months of purchasing the flat my father died suddenly and mum had to move from her 4 bed house to a 2 bed flat as my father was a bit of a hoarder, lots of the more valuable items ended up in my flat for me to be able to sell on mums behalf at a later date.

Space in the flat is tight, with plastic storage boxes under the bed and a set of golf clubs and a suit case belonging to our middle child who is now living in Australia and my father's stamp collection in the built in cupboard and an old sewing table of my gran's in the lounge as I couldn't bare to part with it.

The 3 best buys I've had for the flat to ensure we can still live in it when we visit (up to 6 months of the year) was the wardrobe, the under sink cabinet in the bathroom and the sofa bed from Ikea.

The sofa bed stores all the spare bedding and pulls out as a double bed.

Washing is an issue and I've not mastered the art of drying things. We do have a washer dryer but the cost is high and the dryer part isn't that effective so I often do a service wash at the laundrette when anyone else is staying in the flat with me, other wise I hang bedding to dry over doorframes and chairs.

A cupboard under the sink now keeps the bathroom items on the shelf and cleaning chemicals hidden from sight, making it easier to keep the bathroom clean.

Moving my fathers stamp collection into the cupboard has freed up space in the bedroom.

I purchased a small wardrobe for this alcove behind the door to hang my clothes now the cupboard was full and our son's belongings now live under the bed.

Over the door hangers free up space in the lounge for hanging clothes to dry. This is also the cupboard housing my fathers stamp collection.

Do you have issues with storage? Having built in units in our former family home and our current one in Dubai mean we require far less furniture than we used to need and I'm sure when we move back to our former family, 6 bed, home in the UK next year with just the two of us, we won't have half the need for the furniture and storage solutions we've purchased over the years.

Around the home this January 2019

There have been a few changes around the house this January, making way for the new sofa we've ordered for the TV room.

We purchased a couple of new rugs from the market in Masafi. This red one in the lounge and 

this pale green runner for the hall.

 We also moved the white IKEA furniture from the hallway (book case and plant stand) to the upstairs area.

I love these repurposed drawers used as book shelfs which are now upstairs also.

The sofa is made to measure and this is the area it will be in. The old wicker furniture which we acquired in South Africa has now been relocated to the balcony behind the curtains.

The spare room is the next to be tackled (receive a make over) the MFI furniture (out of shot) will be replaced with a simple desk and a storage unit for files. I'll tackle that job in March.

Do you have any plans for your home this spring?

Week 113 My Sunday Photo 2017 - I is for Ikea

For those who know Peter and I you'll realise what a big decision this was to make to actually go to Ikea together.

Last time we were there we had a row in the curtain pole area and he called me a f***ing psychopath.

We've been together 17 years, I sometimes wonder how we actually survived that long.

Anyway the visit passed without incident, however we both scurried past the curtain poles with a quick glance at each other that said 'we can do this'

A table for the hallway was purchased and assembled without incident also.

Decorating the garden with #HDYGG

I'm currently in South Africa for 5 weeks and extremely busy with the Santa Shoebox project that I'm sure you've heard me talk/blog/go on about by now. There will be plenty of posts related to South Africa for HDYGG as I'm having some free time also and visiting many townships where lots of exciting gardening is happening.

I'm missing autumn, I haven't had an autumn since April 2014 in the Southern Hemisphere and it's nowhere near as beautiful as the pictures everyone is posting now.

Before I left Dubai, the temp had dropped a little, meaning I could get out in the garden and have a clean and tidy up and start to put some of my ideas to plan.

I prepared the sand to grow some grass, it's been done before as you can see and at one point we did have the whole area covered, but if you look closely you'll see most of it is weed, but it was green.
I've chosen grass seed tag 'grows well in difficult conditions' I emptied all the pots from failed seed growing attempts and after spreading the seed, sprinkled compost over the top and watered well.

I also got my craft on and dragged this old piece of furniture from the shed round the house and gathered up all the bits and pieces I'd collected and ideas from my scrapbook and created this.

It means now I have somewhere to store my gardening equipment and cloths etc for the table and as the unit is beyond use, I'm happy to leave it in the garden till it no longer stands. Hubby of course wants to treat it so it'll last forever but honestly, we'll only be here another 2 years and without rain and frost I don't see it being too much of an issue.

I've also enjoyed decorating the table and being outdoors more, especially in the evenings. I do have to remember to bring the candles in at night as they melt during the day, but again not a major issue as they're in containers anyway.

I enjoyed the garden much more in South Africa in our previous 2 houses, we were able to spend more time outside and of course there was a lot more colour.

Here's a little taste of some of the projects I did there.

These flowers were picked from the garden

Homemade bird feeders

It's spring in South Africa and there is a riot of colour, I'd forgotten how colourful this country is.

 So many beautiful trees

 I really wanted to get out the car here and go for a walk, but I was visiting a game reserve and had to stay in my car.

Jacaranda. 

I have no idea what this plant is but it's petals were like paper

Ground cover