I do

Not exactly hot off the press but there's to be a royal wedding early next year. For some reason, these grand occasions have always been a rather exciting excuse to huddle together and breathe in the auspiciousness. It's not terribly liberating but my mum, sisters and I have always loved a healthy serve of royal nuptials and William and Kate's will be no different. The last time we stayed up to watch a fairytale was in 2004 when Mary Donaldson became Princess Mary but it wasn't the first time...I remember listening to Lady Di nervously fumbling her vows on a cassette tape in the 80s, the dusty round speakers of Dad's small portable stereo were as close to the action as we could get. By the time Fergie was whisking Prince Andrew down the aisle we owned a TV so the wedding was ours for the taking in glorious technicolour. So next April we will likely all stay over at one of our homes as we fit in with the northern hemisphere and mum will make cucumber sandwiches to snack on while we fight sleep to drink it all in.

Image from Getty Images via here

10 Decluttering Tips

In getting the house Yuletide ready I've been doing a bit of decluttering. For me, an important part of decluttering is throwing out all the magazines I have about decluttering.

So as I cleanse here are some of my favourite tips from the experts*:

1. Tackle messes one room at a time - sounds sensible.

2. Everyone seems to agree that scheduling regular decluttering sessions is the way to stay on top of any imploding clutter - they say 15 minutes a day should do it.

3. Sort with 3 boxes, 1 to throw, 1 to donate and 1 to keep. This way you are forced to make a decision about each item as you come to it.

4. Don't allow things into the house in the first place - I must say I do try to take a stand with the junk mail (so instead it sits on my lawn for 3 weeks ha ha).

5. Whenever your boiling the kettle for a cuppa, tidy up the kitchen - doable.

6. If you haven't worn an item of clothing in 6 months sell or donate - even the skinny jeans I know I can fit into again?!

7. Have someone else who's not attached to your stuff help you sort through things - nothing quite like the brutal honesty of a friend.

8. Stop buying new items - sigh.

9. Let go, it's just stuff.

10. For the things you can't let go of (and that's OK where people not machines), find a place in your home that is worthy of the objects value to you.

*Zen Habits; Peter Walsh; Down with Clutter; The Organised Home, Buzzle

O Tannenbaum

The spot has been chosen, the furniture has been cleared, the floor has been mopped, the box has been dragged down from the rafters, carols are playing, bubbly has been poured and the tree is going up. Today. As we speak.

I heart Christmas.

Mama Mia

One of the people I follow on Twitter is Australian writer Mia Freedman. I also enjoy her blog Mama Mia which I find informative, current and quite funny. I got a giggle from the title of this old post and picture...

"Carrying your handbag over your shoulder is, like, SO 2008".

Had to share.

Image from Louis Vuitton via here.

The Colour Purple

I love this time of year and as the jacarandas start blooming everywhere it reminds me of my own personal belief that purple should only occur in nature (or at best in a boiled sweet). Is that too harsh? I'm no expert, it's only my opinion.

Images from Grafton Jacaranda Festival via here

Let me show you why.

No words.

Really? A purple door. Come on.

On the other hand (and I do like to be fair), some of these beautiful rooms are a good reason to deduce I don't know what I'm talking about!

I love this entrance with the pale velvet (I can't say lilac) slipper chairs.

There's something unexplainable about this bedroom I'm drawn to (please may it be the arrangement of furniture and decor).

The purple in this headboard is so subtle it almost seems grey. Grey I can do.

And again, with the grey/purple. I like it.

So maybe I can't do purple, but I could possibly do 'greyple'.

Images from decorpad.