One month down, 11 to go.

This year I'm making my resolutions at the start of each month, hoping that this will refocus my attention and make the year a productive one.

1. Make a start on my office blind
I need a blind for my office so that I can sit at my computer and not be dazzled by the sun. But if I had a blind I'd be sitting in the dark most days, which I don't fancy much. I dislike Venetian and vertical blinds which would allow me to let in a little more light, but, yuck.

My solution for the last few years has been to sling a blanket over the curtain pole and move it as the sun moves round, blocking out just enough sun to allow me to work without burning my retinas.

But it looks a bastard. And it isn't exactly a permanent solution, although I have been using this method for at least 4 years. Finally I came up with a solution that will not only work but will look awesome too (I hope). I'll be needing my sewing kit. Watch this space...

2. Bathroom improvements
The bathroom to-do list has been patiently waiting it's turn for some time now. There are only three tasks on the list, it shouldn't take much time at all...

3. Plan eco friendly crackers
We love a cracker but so often the metallic finish or glitter on them means they can't be recycled, so I vowed to make my own this year, thinking that I'd have plenty of time before Christmas. Then I remembered that we also have crackers at Easter...


Here's how I got on in January

1. Eat the pantry
I wasn't particularly organised with my meal planning at the beginning of the month, and this helped me clear some space on the pantry shelves, because we had numerous 'stuff teas', which consisted of a random selection of any food that could be found. Once I'd got myself organised, I used the contents of my pantry to plan meals. Why is it so satisfying to use things up?

2. Get stuff on the walls
We now have the start of a gallery wall in the dining room. It's something I'd been planning to do for ages. Now I just need to keep adding to it.

3. Declutter the cupboard under the stairs, pantry, kitchen, and possibly my wardrobe
I started with the cupboard under the stairs on the first weekend of the year when I took down the Christmas decorations. We cleared out loads of old junk - some left from the previous owners - and made enough room to actually be able to walk in, which makes using the space much easier.

The pantry and the kitchen were done in tandem. It seemed like a huge task so I broke it down into small parts, first I cleared the odds and sods drawer in the kitchen, and the odds and sods box in the pantry... once started it was easy to keep going, doing a cupboard one day and a shelf the next. It's not entirely finished but it's well on it's way.

An added bonus was that I found a number of cracker fillers that I'd kept from previous years, which will help with my eco crackers.

I was going to leave my wardrobe purge until I'd finished the other tasks, only doing it if I'd completed everything else but it actually was the first job to be tackled. I stored away anything that wasn't going to be worn this season, found a few items to go to charity, and organised my wardrobe to the point of it being unrecognisable. Damn that felt good!

A promising start, I think.