stories
My philosophy is to “Stop, Focus and Notice”
The stories below show you the “Stop, Focus and Notice” process in action.
School bag storage
OVERVIEW
When my children started school we struggled to find a functional place to store their school bags. I wanted a practical spot where they could access their bags but I didn’t want to turn our dining room into a school bag locker room.
OUTCOME
We considered building a school bag launch pad on the car shed which is next to the dining room. While decluttering the dining room buffet cupboards, I realised we could move some rarely used platters into the car shed cupboards and use the bottom three cupboards for school and laptop bag lockers. There are also clipboards velcroed to the cupboard doors to hold school notes and artwork and a magazine holder to hold books. The top drawers could store pens, pencils and paper so they are readily accessible when the kids are doing homework at the kitchen table.
“I love that when you look at our dining room, it looks like a traditional dining room but it doubles as a homework station and you can not tell when everything is put away”.
Hat storage
OVERVIEW
I used to get angry that my husband would come home and leave his dirty hat on our kitchen island bench where we prepare food. We live on a farm so who knows what could be on that hat!
OUTCOME
After explaining my frustration to my husband, I noticed that we had a blank side of a cupboard next to the back door. I stuck four 3M hooks to the side and now as soon as he walks in he can hang up his hat. It also makes it easier for him to find his hat when he is walking out the door again.
“By looking at the problem when I wasn’t frustrated, I was able to see an obvious solution with fresh eyes”.