As you can tell, the room was in need of some serious TLC. The wardrobe doors were hanging off, the handles were useless and there was mould appearing where furniture had been. As a coat of paint was needed, Belle decided to go for a new colour and we chose Cornflower Blue.

A quick lick of paint turned into a week of work. I painted the ceiling, the walls twice and the skirting. I replaced the curtains, lampshade and handles, and fixed the broken wardrobes. I then added a lovely bed that had been waiting in the garage and a new duvet cover. I have to say, I’m rather pleased with the (nearly) finished result:

My three favourite things about the room? The bed, which I acquired second hand at a bargain price, the handles, which I did not acquire second hand and were not such a bargain, and the chalkboard. I saw the idea for painting a chalkboard on a wall in a magazine and decided to make an area where Belle could let her creativity free. I invested in some decent masking tape, used a spirit level to mark out the area and used a mini roller to paint two coats of blackboard paint.

There are still a few things to do. The bed needs a mattress that fits properly and the duvet cover needs to be taken in to fit the duvet properly. In true Domestic Disgrace fashion, I shall be handing that task over to a Domestic Goddess that knows how to sew!.Some pictures need to be hung above the bed and finally, the mirror could do with some pretty bunting at the top, just to finish the room off.

Belle loves spending time in her new room now. At last she feels she has a space of her own. The challenge now, of course, is to keep Mini out. A task much easier said than done…

As you can probably tell, it was very difficult for the girls to actually get anything out. As I seem to have been honoured with the role of chief tidier in our house, I can’t even actually blame the children. Yes, I shoved things in like that. I’m pretty sure I have just a mild touch of OCD which comes out every now and then like a crazed, caged animal, attacks everything it can get it’s hands on. The workers at the local tip know me now and say ‘hello’.

As Belle now has her own room, we needed to have a sort out and my goodness what a sort out it was. The shelves now look like this:

I think you will agree, they are much better. This has been a half term full of play as the girls have rediscovered ‘lost toys’. And me? I’ve rediscovered my inner OCD and love for all things Ikea.

If it’s not pinned down it’s at risk of being decluttered at the moment. As Anthea Turner once said:

‘If it’s not beautiful, sentimental or useful, get rid of it.’ 

I wonder if the same applies to people?

A few of the horrors I unearthed…

Goodness knows how long this onion had been in the cupboard…

Suggestions for what this may have been welcome!

Crisp anyone?!

I now have boxes for batteries, baskets for tools, a draw for baking equipment, my tins all face the front and even my glass cupboard demonstrates a tinge of OCD symmetry. Now, the awful drawer and cupboard in my last post looks like this:

A place for everything…

Not a stray crisp in sight!

Just to balance the awful pictures from earlier, here’s some lovely things to be found in my kitchen:

A special gift from a lovely friend

My Emma Bridgewater cups. Only to be used on special occasions!

So that’s my kitchen sorted. For now. My next mission is to train my family to put things back in their correct place.

A task easier said than done…

My resolve was sealed today after a spontaneous invitation to a friends house for lunch. When inviting us, Emma said it wouldn’t be anything special, just some soup from the freezer. Honestly, it was a feast. Home made soup, crusty bread, cheese, ham, wine…just perfect.

But what was especially enlightening was how easy Emma made it all seem. I realized that there are so many reasons why I tend not to do spontaneous invitations. First of all, I never had anything to provide in a hurry, and cooking is a little daunting due to lack of skill. Secondly, my kitchen just isn’t organized enough for it. My drawers are full to bursting and I struggle to find what I need. When I open the cupboard containing cups, I move to the side to avoid being hit by a beaker or lid. My glasses are all smeared from the dishwasher and I don’t possess a water jug.

All this is going to change. They say the first step to recovery is admitting there is a problem, so here goes. These are my kitchen cupboards in their current state:

You can see why it’s embarrassing having people round. I can’t lay my hands on what I need and have nothing to offer from my freezer except potato waffles and Fab lollies.

I want my house to be one that I’m proud of. One that’s geared up for spontaneous invitations. So, things are going to be changing around here. I’m about to embark on an intensive decluttering mission, and am hoping to end up with an organized, beautiful home.

Home magazines…form an orderly queue please.

And if your home could do with a little ‘reorganizing’, why not join me? We could motivate each other. I should warn you though. I do have a slightly competitive side…

So here’s my secret. Cook. I don’t mean I cook, I mean the shop Cook. Their meals are handmade and frozen straight away, ready to fool others into thinking it is you that has just prepared the dish.

Here’s my step-by-step guide to becoming the perfect dinner host with absolutely no effort at all…

1. Buy the meals from Cook

2. Buy the baking tray from Cook, especially designed so that you pop out the frozen meal and place it in the tray.

3. Place side dishes in relevant cooking trays.

4. Note timings, bung in the oven.

5. Grab a few cooking ingredients from the cupboard and place on worktop to create the illusion that real cooking may have taken place.

6. Go to bathroom and ruffle hair a little to give impression that you have been so busy slaving over the meal that you haven’t had a chance to do your hair.

7. Sit and drink a glass of wine whilst waiting for guests to arrive.

8. When doorbell goes, hide said wine, open door, smile and humbly say ‘Thank you’ as the delicious aroma is noted.

9. Go to kitchen a few times to ‘check on dinner’ (sip even more wine).

10. Serve up and enjoy the appreciative comments.

Oh, and VERY important to the plan- hide the packaging.

Voila…how to fool people into thinking you are a Domestic Goddess in 10 easy steps. I do think about ‘real’ cooking each time.

After all, it’s the thought that counts, right?!

I really am domestically challenged. My Mother-In-Law despairs of me and reminds me of this on a regular basis. The other day my friend told me she had chutney on the stove, with a smile on her face, knowing this was a completely alien concept to me. I told her ”Just you wait…by the end of the year, I’ll be making chutney of my own.” Even her son laughed. You see, I’m known around these parts for my domestic inadequacies.

With your help, this is all going to change. I’m looking for a challenge to do within the next month. It could be something like learning to make cake pops, learning to use a sewing machine or anything you feel would be fun to see me blog about. Oh yes, there will be evidence of my attempt at the end of the month.

So come on, hit me with them! I’ll put ideas out to vote once I’ve filtered out the extremes and impossibilities.

Just be gentle with me please. I’m only little and ever slightly nervous…

My children love pasta. I can actually pull off a mean bacon and petite pois pasta dish and have decided to share this one and only mastered recipe with you later in the week. Brace yourself, there will be no technical terms to be seen, but I would love to see what you think. Apart from this recipe, I am most unadventurous with pasta. I can cook spaghetti bolognese using a jar of good old Dolmio, but that’s it.

So hit me with you favourite pasta recipes. They don’t have to be new ones, any will do. Please take into account my lack of skill and understanding of technical terms though. If there is anything that might need explaining to a novice, please leave a note in the comments.

Feel free to grab the badge code, or mention in your post that you are linking up to Domestic Disgrace, and I will give your recipe a nice little Tweet!

I’m looking forward to expanding my pasta menu!

Oh the shame. Not a mention of me in there. Her Godmother’s daughter and my friend, Laura taught her to bake. Belle likes nothing more than to bake. My only assistance has been purchasing the boxed mixes with everything you need except water. She has clearly outgrown these.

So am I going to let this get me down? Ooooh no. This has made me more determined than ever. I am going to make my daughter proud of me. My inner Domestic Goddess is rising to the challenge.

For the time being though, I’m off to buy a ‘home-made’ cake and plop it on a plate ready for when she returns from school. Oh, she will be so proud!

I gathered my ingredients, which was actually a victory in itself because I had to return to the shop after filling the car with Pizza and other ‘meals’ I am accustomed to producing. I completely forgot about ‘real’ cooking, so dragged Mini through the rain to pick up the chicken, creme fraiche and paprika needed for this recipe.

Believe it or not, I don’t actually own a frying pan. I did have one but managed to burn something on it. Instead of a frying pan, I opted for a saucepan and added the chicken. After cooking for a while I added Paprika. Via Twitter, Mummy Barrow tried her best to encourage me to go for it and bung in loads. Fearful of this new addition to the cupboard, I erred on the side of caution and added a quarter of the jar.

After mixing with the chicken, I added the tub of creme fraiche…

Again, I had to improvise a little with equipment and used a square baking thing rather then a casserole dish. I popped it in the oven for 40 minutes at 180°C and voila:

On Mummy Barrow’s recommendation, I served with Uncle Ben’s Microwaveable rice. My family are still getting used to this Goddess emerging and my husband exclaimed ‘Wow, have you been cooking again.’ ‘Indeed I have.’

So what did the family think? Well, it went down very quickly and I was asked for more, so I’ve made a mental note to make slightly more next time. I should have trusted Mummy Barrow more though because Belle thought I could have added more ‘flavour’ to the sauce. Next time, the whole tub is going in!

Thank you very much Mummy Barrow for showing me how to be a little adventurous with chicken!

This week, I’m looking for fishy recipes so if you have an easy one, please do link it up. Who knows, maybe I’ll be trying your dish next week!

This week, I’m keen to have some fish recipes. Please don’t suggest buying a ‘proper’ fish with it’s eyes still in; I just couldn’t cope with that. I’m after ways to cook fish, maybe with a sauce on. My children either eat fish fingers or those microwaveable cod in butter sauce offerings. But that’s all going to change with your help Ladies and Gentlemen.

So, you know the deal. Please leave a recipe below in the linky and I will choose one to cook and blog about next week. If you are new to the blog, please bear in mind that I am a complete beginner, so you may need to leave a little explanation for me if there are any ‘technical’ terms in the recipe! If you fancy grabbing the badge for your post or sidebar, the code is below.

And in other news…My wardrobe door fell off this morning due to the weight of the clothes thrown in at the bottom…