Creative Clothing Storage

18 months ago, I moved back in with my parents in order to sort out my finances and start saving and eventually go travelling. I never meant to stay this long and at 27 years old it’s a bit cringey to say I live with my parents. However I am incredibly lucky to have very laid back parents and I am now officially debt free! Whooooop! My savings however are nonexistent, so I think I’ll be here for a while yet!

When I moved back in the only space available was the loft. It’s great as it means I can escape my family when needed. We are one of those annoying very LOUD clans! We have 3 dogs and chaos and fun normally pursue. So when I need my own space I can hide away in the loft. The down sides are in the winter it’s so drafty, making it freezing. In the night you feel like you’re sleeping outside!

The other downer is the severe lack of storage. Due to the roof, it’s a slanted ceiling so a wardrobes not an option. For the first year I was happy living out of boxes as it was only meant to be a temporary housing situation. The last few months however I’ve come to accept I may be here for a while yet, so I decided I needed to unpack.

Clothing storage has been the biggest issue. It’s a small awkward space and I am a massive clothes hoarder. Hmmmm....  

Well after a lot of thinking this is what I have come up with. I have a chest of drawers for undies, pjs and tees. For my mountain of jeans, jumpers and joggers I spend a large amount of time mooching around on eBay for ideas. I ended up purchasing 4 wooden crates and putting them on their sides on top of each other. To save space I rolled up my jeans and put them in one, which looked visually good. I then folded everything else and filled the rest of the crates up. I’m really pleased with the finished look and often get complements from visitors and it’s something a bit different.

 

I was still left with the issue that some clothes just have to be hung up, there is no way around it. I’m lucky that I have one flat panel where the boiler is boxed in. It wouldn’t facilitate a wardrobe but using a cheap towel rail I found at IKEA I bolted it to the panel. I then did the same with another rail to the side of the first one, on a lower beam. The result is a quirky corner of hanging clothes.

 

I am now on a mission to find a big storage trunk to fill with all my bags, and then I think my room will be finished!

Have you got any creative clothing storage solutions?

The Skint Diaries #1

 

Ok so we are 3 weeks away from pay day and I am royally skint! Due to a very expensive first week of November which has involved booking a holiday, a flight to Thailand and a broken car. Yes, I know I’ve been naughty there too – I am too impulsive and have no will power!

I have always been terrible with money, it burns a whole in my pocket. I moved back in with my parents to save and have failed miserable so far. Now I have reached an all time low though and really need to turn things around! I waste so much money on things I don’t actually need, so time to change my ways!

Being a complete idiot and not reigning in my spontaneous side, I’m now left with a grand total of £52 in my bank. Bearing in mind I go through a tank of petrol a week at £60 a go, I’ve left myself well and truly screwed.

So attempting to find a positive somewhere in this mess I am going to find (legal) ways to earn a quick buck, and thought I would share it with you lovely lot. Hopefully by sharing, it will keep me on track.

So my initial plans involve emptying my penny jar, doing a blog sale, putting anything that’s not stuck down on eBay and getting rid of old CD’s and music magpie. If you have any other suggestions please let me know! I am to all legal/sensible ways of raising funds.

I’m also not going to spend any money unless it’s a necessity. So each week till the end of the month, I will share with you how I’m getting on and what money I’ve spent as well as made. Hopefully this will keep me on the straight and narrow and motivate me!

p.s. I’ve just taken my penny jar down to the coin machine in ASDA, £25.66 made!

BOOK CLUB TAKEOVER: Jen from 'English Rose from Manchester'

Here are my thoughts… I LOVE hearing other people’s views and reviews on pretty much anything especially books! Some of my favourite reads are ones that have been suggested by other people. So thinking along those lines,’ The Book Club Takeover’ was born! Hopefully each week I will bring to you a post from one of my lovely and amazing fellow bloggers who will in turn share with you what their favourite book is, why they love it and a review. I hope you enjoy this feature as much as I pdo!

Hi, I’m Jen and I’m a creative sort of person currently living in Manchester. I do all sorts of things in my spare time and my lifestyle blog English Rose from Manchester started out as an outlet to talk about all the things that matter to me. I like to keep it varied and my posts range from crafts and baking inspiration to fashion and beauty, as well as sharing the joys of living in Manchester!

My favourite book is Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, and one of the main reasons I love it so much is that it’s the book that got me into reading again. It also encouraged me to try different sorts of books – which is great as I definitely went through a “chick lit” rut at one point.

 

Gone with the Wind sat on my bookshelf for years before I felt the urge to read it, because I wasn’t particularly overwhelmed by the film (very long, pretty dull, annoying characters) – plus the book is very long and the type is tiny, but when I finally I devoured this epic historical romance I totally fell in love with it! It’s the story of the Deep South during the American Civil War, and it really transported me there, genuinely conveying what life was like; the attitudes and feelings of the people; and how a way of life was drastically changed by the war.

I didn’t find the feisty, selfish heroine Scarlett O’Hara annoying like I did when watching the film. She really came alive on paper, and I admired her strength of will and passion. She’s exactly the sort of heroine I love to read about. I found her love story itself to be incredibly romantic in a way that I’ve not really found in more contemporary books, and the dashing Rhett Butler really is an exciting, multi-dimensional hero, and one who kept my interest as a love interest (I can’t stand Mr Perfect characters in books).  

But really the true story of the book is about a time and place in history, and I was so moved by it that I was still thinking about this book weeks after finishing it. It was a real experience and I enjoyed every minute! It’s not often I’m genuinely sad that a book is over!

No 7 Stay Perfect Eye Shadow in Beach Shine

 

 

 

 My favourite MAC eye shadow in Tempting has run out and being skint I thought I would try out a cheaper alternative. Having a £5 off voucher for No 7, I spent some time browsing their Eye Shadow range and came across ‘Beach Shine’ which is a gorgeous mocha coloured shimmery brown.

 

I’ve never really used many No 7 products before so was unsure what to expect. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised! The powder was well compressed so didn’t scatter down under my eyes, the colour was perfect, just what I wanted and it lasted the day.  It was all still in place when I got home from 8 hours at work.

I still miss my old MAC eye shadow but this is a great alternative at half the price! I will definitely be having a look at what else No 7 has to offer next time I venture into boots.

 

 

Remember, Remember the 5th of November....

 

I love fireworks night! I love standing outside in the crisp autumn air watching all the sparkling explosions in the sky. I think it’s pretty magical.

I so however find it slightly odd that we celebrate the night Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the houses of parliament but I take my hat off to the guy as he has provided us with one of my favourite nights of the year!

There is something so special about fireworks. I think they evoke awe and wonder. They also massively remind me of my childhood. We used to have a family display at our house most years. They would always be the standard rubbish little fireworks, that never made too much of a bang, I think that kind of added to the charm when I now look back! My dad uses to spend what seemed an age trying to light them! Wed always have sparklers too, trying to spell out naughty words with the light trail. The evening would always be finished off with a nice hot bowl of chilli.

Hope you all have a fabulous fireworks night! xx

Motivational Monday #31

 

 

Recently I said to a friend that I wish I could see into a crystal ball and see if I get to where I would like to be in the future and if I’m happy. My lovely friend then actually snorted out loud and said ‘why on earth would you want to do that, life is what you make it!’ So I guess she has a point....

This really got me thinking. If you read my regular Monday motivation posts you’ll know that the reason I started them was to change my attitude and become a much more positive person. I really do believe only good can come from this and I’m definitely feeling more happy for it. However, when it comes to getting to where I would like to be, I’m kind of useless! Up until the past couple of years, I’ve been really lucky and things have kind of just fallen into place or come my way at the right time. Now though, I am in a rut. I know I want to travel, to write, to meet a nice man and settle down one day but I am not really doing anything about any of it! I am the queen of excuses! Or if I am pro-active life has a tendency to throw curve balls my way. I would even go as far as saying my luck ran away a long time ago.

So today I am saying enough is enough!

 

Today’s quote is my all time favourite, I’ve been searching for it on pinterest and the likes for a while with no luck. So I decided to get creative and make my own. I hope you like it!

It’s so true, it’s how you play the hand you get given in life that matters, at the end of the day only you can make sure you get to where you want to be. So from now on, instead of making faces at the sour lemons, I am going to look into the positives and make lemonade! I am going to fight my own corner and I will move forward. Apologies for all the clichés, I’m on a roll here! I think it’s about time I started looking at where I’d like to be and how if like to get there. At present I am bored and fed up and I don’t want to stay feeling like this.

Happy Monday! xx

BOOK CLUB TAKEOVER: Meg from 'Wait Im Confused'

Here are my thoughts… I LOVE hearing other people’s views and reviews on pretty much anything especially books! Some of my favourite reads are ones that have been suggested by other people. So thinking along those lines,’ The Book Club Takeover’ was born! Hopefully each week I will bring to you a post from one of my lovely and amazing fellow bloggers who will in turn share with you what their favourite book is, why they love it and a review. I hope you enjoy this feature as much as I do!

Hey everyone:D this is my face!

I'm meg all the way from over at waitimconfused.blogspot.com! And im happy to be writing this post on Gemma's blog as I love lipstick and lashes! Thanks Gem!

My blog is just a bundle of different things. I've only published 3 posts at the minute but I have a good feeling about it all! Id really love if you'd all read my blog but most of all that you enjoy it and can relate to me and I hope I can help you if you ever need advice! If you ever need to talk, feel free to get in touch at megatron260396@gmail.com and I'll reply instantly!

 

I'm just a 17 year old student,studying sociology, english and health and social at nantgarw college, trying to find her way through problems and more problems! And between my humour and pointless coversation and ideas I hope to provide advice and to be a friend to you all!

 

Now for my review!

 

The Cellar

The synopsis:

 

When sixteen-year-old Summer Robinson goes missing one night, her family, friends and boyfriend are devastated. Nothing ever happens in Long Thorpe, so the disappearance of a school girl shocks the whole community. The police waste no time in launching a search and investigation, but with nothing to go on and no trace of Summer, hopes of finding her quickly fade.

 

Colin Brown, is a thirty-two-year-old accountant, living alone after the death of his mother. He suffered a traumatic and abusive childhood, and is left with no sense of right or wrong. Desperate for the perfect family, Colin, referring to himself as Clover, uses drastic and sinister measures to get what he wants.

 

I hope that pulled you in because the synopsis caught me! My boyfriend told me about this book and I was intrigued and what made me even more intrigued is the fact its free on an app called wattpad which is also a free app!

 

I couldnt put it down and finished it within two days between my boyfriend nagging at me! I've recommended this book to a few friends and they've all loved it and my boyfriend loved it to which is why he made sure I read it too! 

 

The thing is with this book its not published, it is going to be published but due to this it's not perfect in editing terms but she always adds a nice hello at the end of the chapter as each chapter was submitted over months but it's all finished and theres even a sequel available called You'll always be mine

 

I loved this book because I felt I was there with Summer, I felt she was part of me and I was suffering with her! The fact you could see the story from different point of view made it even more thrilling and really made it stand out. Although the story is twisted and sick thats what makes it amazing. The fact Lewis (her boyfriend) never gives up makes it even sadder! I really hope all of you read this book because you will all love it. Promise.

 

Thanks again to Gemma! And I hope you all take time to visit me at waitimconfused.blogspot.com or email me! I'd love to hear from you! 

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