Meg Ryan: a clutter buster if ever I saw one

I've always liked Meg Ryan. I admire any woman who can have tousled hair that somehow looks groomed and I rather delight in her penchant for white interiors and neat shelves. Sigh. I aspire to all of these things. Organisation is not my strong suit. I know how to write all about busting clutter - you can see my handy work here on Kidspot - but I can't seem to manage it in my own house. I won't even talk about my hair ...

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Pictures: William Waldron for ElleDecor

Gwyneth in the kitchen

I want her kitchen. Gwyneth gets everything! She even gets to listen to Coldplay without 

having to play them on her iPod. (Wonder if they make her as depressed as they make me.) Read more here.

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Pictures: Vogue

Quote of the week

"A house is a machine for living in."
Le Corbusier

Pictures: Comma via desiretoinspire

Home hint: Save time, read about streamlining your kitchen

My kitchen is annoying me, and not just because it has mirrored glass splashbacks that get splattered every five minutes (but are desperately needed to add light and love to a small room). It's because I can't get the bloody room organised. I'm hopeless. No time. I'm too busy writing about saving time to act on my good wishes. Read THIS STORY about streamlining your kitchen to save the bother of renovating.

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Pictures: Parterre (best garden shop in the world)

Dannii Minogue has a baby - and buys a house in East Hawthorn

Ah, just like me, Dannii Minogue likes to shop at IKEA (see top picture) then renovate a house to put it all in! Just days before she gave birth to baby Ethan, the younger Minogue was spotted shopping at IKEA, no doubt waiting to fill the rooms in this house she snapped up for $1.77million in Hawthorn East. My sister lives in Lingwell Rd in Hawthorn East, just a hop, skip and a jump from Dannii's new abode. I'm visiting Melbourne next weekend, so I might try to sneak my own glimpse of baby Ethan.

The house comes with its own playroom, a swimming pool and a huge open family room. These are the pics of the house when it was on the market, but Dannii and her partner Kris Smith have been staying at Dannii's mum's house in nearby Surrey Hills waiting for their Hawthorn East house to be ready for them.

So what do you think? IKEA shopping, buying a house and having a baby makes July a big month for Ms Minogue, right?

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Q&A: Venetian blinds

Q: My apartment has old metal venetian blinds on the windows, which rattle and are noisy. What can I replace them with?

A: Sorry? Can't hear you. It's those blinds rattling in the window frame. You may hate those 1960s metal venetians but most of them can be repaired and tightened to sit nicely in the window frame again. Professionals can install new ladder tapes and cords to make the blind look swanky and new again. If the slats are starting to rust or have built-up grime, then a good clean is probably in order. You can clean them yourself or call in a pro to do it. Companies such as Delta Blinds do ultrasonic cleaning, using soundwave technology to clean the blind without damaging it.

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Pictures: InteriorIllusions

Q&A: How to clean a bathroom the eco-friendly way

Q. How can you clean a bathroom effectively without using bleach? All those mould germs need to be killed by hospital grade disinfectant, right?

A. Oh get your tox off! Chlorine bleach is a great disinfectant but household bleach can also contain lye, which means skin contact produces caustic burns  – that slippery feel of bleach on your hands is the chemical defatting your skin!  There are better alternatives to clean the bathroom easily and effectively. Hydrogen peroxide is a cleaner with slightly less impact on humans. Hydrogen peroxide is an oxidizer that will whiten clothes and kill mould. White vinegar – especially if you clean with a smidge of bicarb soda first – will also kill mould by making the walls and surfaces too acidic for grime to grow and multiply. And Bridget Gardener’s hot soapy water cleaning method – which involves scrubbing or washing with a brush or microfiber cloth then wiping the newly cleaned surface dry with an old towel or baby nappy to prevent moisture allowing any mould to regrow.

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Pictures: Desire to inspire