Decluttering and Organizing our home (part 1)

I'm sure I'm not the only one with dreams of having a perfectly clutter-free home. Especially for those with kids, it's such a struggle to keep everything neat and orderly with their endless toys, books, clothes, and shoes everywhere! I mean you've just put back all their toys in the bin and arranged their books on the shelf, and barely 10 minutes have passed and they dump everything on the floor again! Honestly, why do we even bother?!

Anyway, I've been seeing a lot of those professional organizers online these days, hired by celebrities to tidy up their closets. I wish I had the budget for one, but I know I can do it as long as I put my mind to it! Challenge accepted! ;p

How our bedroom really looks like...

You may think that my home looks perfectly kept together with some of the posts that I've done showing some areas of the house. You have to understand though that I've had to stage those shots so it looks really nice and post-worthy. I've always wondered if the homes I see in magazines and blogs really are so perfect and neat all the time. If ever they are, I guess the only explanation would be that they don't have children lol! ;p

THIS is how our bedroom looks like most of the time after my kids ransack the place. I've given up trying to clean up after them because no matter how much I do, they immediately mess up everything again.

This isn't even the worst our bedroom has looked since they usually dump more toys (and food!) on the floor, which they get from their room (which is also a mess). Once they're done with our room, they move on to the next area which is usually the dining room, then the living room. I absolutely hate clutter but I think I've gotten immune to it already haha! I can totally sleep at night with all their mess around me. Sometimes, I'll just be surprised to find a random toy or even a cracker under the sheets! haha! ;p

Well, I can't really take all their toys away or forbid them from playing. They're kids after all and we didn't get them all those toys just to store them away or just to look at them. I just have to accept the fact that I'll probably have an organized and uncluttered home in around 10 years? ;p

Closet Clean-up (stage 1)

Sometimes, I just get that feeling that I have to do something NOW. My closet has been in a state of disarray since forever, plus I've always been meaning to put away clothes that don't fit or I don't use anymore. So one morning, when both kids were still asleep, the urge to fix my closet suddenly came over me and I finally got started on it...

Well, it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. One thing I find hard to do is let go of things especially when there's a particular memory attached to it. I kept thinking "aww hubby bought this for me" or "I wore this when hubby and I went to this place, or during this event, or when we were on vacation...blah blah blah"  Or even if I know I probably won't wear something ever again, or it doesn't even fit me anymore, there's this little voice telling me "what if it goes back in style?" or "what if you need this in the future?" and so on and so forth... You get the idea.

I started with just my shirts and tops first (still have pants, skirts and dresses to do... and also shoes!) and at the end my organizing, I had like a small pile I was sure I didn't like anymore and a HUGE PILE I was on the fence about letting go. So in the end, I just kept that huge pile in the bodega. At least I've freed some closet space for now... Hmmm time to go shopping for new clothes? Hahaha kidding! ;p

Repost: 50 Life Hacks to Simplify your World

I just read this article and it has completely changed my world! Haha! No seriously! According to the article, "Life hacks are little ways to make our lives easier. These low-budget tips and trick can help you organize and de-clutter space; prolong and preserve your products; or teach you something that you simply did not know before."

Here's some of my favorites, which mostly deal with organizing and for doing home improvement stuff. I'm telling you, GENIUS!

Remember how I fixed my internet and phone cords? This is a great alternative without having to buy a cable organizer.

I've been saving my toilet paper rolls for future arts & crafts projects, but nice to know I can also use them to organize stuff.

super smart and CUTE idea!

this is a perfect tip for my hubby, when he drills more of my picture frames on the wall ;p

this I've been doing ever since =)

I also use my hair iron to straighten creased gift wrapping ribbons

Aren't these life hacks fabulous? So simple and yet they make a world of difference. And I love how they make use of normal everyday things you have lying around the house. I am so trying out some of these tips and letting you know how they turn out. =)

To view the whole article, click HERE.

Early Christmas presents

My in-laws finally came home from their US vacation a few weeks ago. And while we, especially the kids, missed them so much, this also meant one thing... PASALUBONG for everyone! ;p

I felt like a giddy kid waking up on Christmas morning all set to open Christmas presents. But this time, I was eagerly awaiting the opening of the balikbayan boxes haha! Although I already knew the stuff I was going to get since I had already searched for these online and even ordered some of it myself. ;p

First up were these fabric cube bins from Target. They come in many colors but I just got the beige ones to blend in with our white shelf (which I got from S&R). They're just perfect for holding stray toys and books in the kids' room.

from Target

now it looks more organized!

stuffed toys in one of the drawers

plus a bonus OWL drawer too, which the kids love wearing on their head!

My daughter Miley is super addicted to Bubble Guppies so I really searched online if they had any toys available in the States. I found these at Amazon.com and I'm so happy they were able to buy all 3 characters! My mother-in-law emailed a picture of the toys when they got it and Miley was so excited already. I even asked her the day before her Mama and Lolo came home: "Miley, are you excited? Mama will be here tomorrow!" And you know what she said: "Then I'll have my Bubble Guppies!" (talagang un ang priority? haha!)

from Amazon.com

And finally, what I was most excited about! If you read my post about my favorite online shop, you know how crazy I am over Urban Outfitters' home stuff! I regularly browse their Apartment Section, especially the SALE items, and these were the things I ended up getting:

from Urban Outfitters

from Urban Outfitters

I wanted to get more bedding stuff but I decided to wait and check the quality first. But it's REALLY GOOD! I totally love the prints and the colors are so vibrant in real life. I am definitely buying more in the future when I have relatives going to the States again so they can bring it home for me.

I also bought this cardboard deer head for Sabe's room. Can't wait to assemble and put it up!

from Urban Outfitters

We also had other pasalubongs like clothes, shoes, and of course sooooo much stuff for the kids! It definitely felt like Christmas in our house! I was telling hubby maybe the kids shouldn't get all the toys at once since they'll be so overwhelmed. But of course, their grandparents were so excited to pamper the little ones after being away for so long. As for me, I'm super happy with my new goodies. Oh, and the best part? That "amoy PX" smell! I could spend all day sniffing our new stuff, feeling ko galing na din akong States hahaha! ;p

Neat freak

I've been bitten by the nesting bug. And no I'm not pregnant. It's just than lately, I've been wanting to organize everything, no matter how small, in the house. Seeing clutter really gets me in a bad mood. First things first, these annoying phone and internet cables. I've been hiding them under the table but it's really such a mess to look at. With a little help from a plastic cable organizer, it 's not such a eyesore anymore. =)

I also found the time to organize under the sink. I wasn't able to take a before shot, but trust me, it was a hot mess in there. Especially the bottom shelf where all the bottles were just scattered around. My kids, especially Sabe, love going inside our bathroom to rummage inside this cabinet. Just a few plastic bins to separate the products and it looks so much better now.

Next on my list is our pantry and kitchen cabinets. But first, I need more storage bins! =)

Home Sweet Home

Moving ain’t easy. That’s what I learned last month when we moved into our very first home. After me and Vins got married, we first stayed with my mom since it was just her and my sister at home. We had my grandmother’s old room and bathroom renovated (it was originally 2 rooms that we merged into 1, so it was a pretty big space).

part of our newly renovated room

It was convenient since we lived near where Vins works and I could still hitch with my mom in the morning when she brought my sister to school (sad to say, I don’t drive & I don’t know how to commute ;p). Plus, everything was free! Well not really, we gave our share for gas, cable and electricity, but everything else was on the house (literally)! After we had our first baby Miley, it was even more convenient since my mom would just help in taking care of the baby while Vins and I were at work. Then, we got pregnant again. Suddenly, our big space didn’t seem so big anymore.  Already, one side of the room was devoted to plastic containers containing Miley’s clothes. Our desk had become the milk and sterilizer station. There were toys everywhere.

clutter! our room dominated by Miley's things

Of course, my mom and I would have our usual arguments – on raising kids to being a wife. Whenever she would go into our room and tell me to fix the bed or to clean my closet, I’d fume and feel like I was in high school all over again! I’m as stubborn as they can get so whenever me and my mom would get into another fight, I’d whine to Vins – WE NEED OUR OWN PLACE!

I mean, we were financially ready. Living with our parents had allowed us to save big time. Also, kids grow up pretty fast. You couldn't expect all of us to stay in that room forever. So one afternoon, we looked at houses with a broker who showed us several within our price range.

house #1 - ok but had very small rooms

house #2 - looked nice from the outside but a little small inside

house #3 - still just ok...

house #4 - had the most potential from the inside

Like I said, they were all… OK. Nothing that really excited me since all of them looked like they needed serious renovating or redecorating (in my standards at least). We then asked if there were any houses available in Vins’ village (which was really the location we wanted since Vins grew up there and the community was really nice). She said there was one newly renovated house for sale… but it was way above our prince range. Well, we thought, what the hell, let’s just have a look then. Nothing to lose. We walked in the door… and we were home.

this is it!

I knew it in my gut, this was THE house! We figured, we could buy one of those so-so houses (and be miserable), eventually spend a fortune to have it fixed… or just buy the nice house where all you’d have to do was move in. Hmmm…

We met with the sellers right that afternoon, did some negotiating, and the house was ours after a couple of weeks! Of course, I gave birth the very next day after we signed the papers (it was really meant to be!) so we couldn’t move in right away.

With 2 babies, living at home seemed quite nice again. I mean, it was so comfortable, there was breakfast when you woke up, you didn’t have to think of grocery or laundry, there was always someone there to help you take care of the babies. We knew that when we finally moved, that would be the start of us being real grown-ups. No more depending on anyone but ourselves. Our own rules. So almost 7 months after we bought the house, we finally moved in last 11.11.11!

moving day!

all our junk (which I cleaned up while Vins was playing PS3!)

We only have one maid - Miley’s yaya - as of now (more on that later), I’ve been eating bacon and spam for a week,  I paid our first set of bills… but I wouldn’t have it any other way!

first dinner with Vins at home

P.S. Now I can understand why my mom keeps bugging me about cleaning up after myself. Now that I have my own house, I can’t stand clutter! Haha!