Organizing and a really great deal!

The past three days I have been on a cleaning kick. I started upstairs in the girls room and moved my way down. As I went along I made a list of some things that might help the cleaning "stick" a little longer and help my kids with keeping their things neat.

A couple of our problems are their books and their stuffed animals. I'd originally had their books and animals on shelves built high so they couldn't reach them to get them down. They'd have to ask mom or dad for help. But Gabby was big enough to get some things down but it was hard for her to put them away again. Plus the books never stood on the shelf. They were just piled. And then one of the shelves fell off the wall! Clearly this wasn't a good solution for us. We ended up with books and stuffed animals everywhere! Upstairs, downstairs, in our ears...

So today I went to the Container Store (love that place!) and got some bins for their books that lets the kids reach them and then put them away again.

The books are organized by age group. The bottom two are board books for Katherine. The middle are the easy and short books that Samantha likes and the top two are chapter books and magazines that Gabby likes. The two older girls know what books go where.

And here they are enjoying their newly organized books!

I also got a big container for the stuffed animals that has the same function - they can reach it to get them out and to put them away again. What a novel thought...

Another problem we have is our plethora of games. We have a lot. And we love to collect them but they are piled high on a shelf in our bedroom, on top of our dressers and on a bookshelf downstairs and they just don't look nice. Cluttered is the word that comes to mind here.

I want to put all our games in one place that's easy to get to but is also easy to hide. A closet isn't going to work - we'd lose them in it. So I went in search of a cabinet of some sort and tried craigslist first (love that place too). I found a retailer that was re-selling hotel armoires for $175. Oh wow! You can't get those at such a good price anywhere! Plus this place was right in my township! I went there today, took a look and bought one right up.

The four handles on the right is a cabinet where they probably kept a mini-fridge. It is a perfect spot in addition to the top cabinet for storing games. The drawers on the left can hold card games, coloring books and crayons or whatever I want to put there. Plus it has a small pull out table top and a drawer inside where I can keep pens, stamps, envelopes, coupons etc. for when I need them.

Alan and the elders helped move it in. It is a monster of heavy solid wood but it is really pretty and will serve the purpose I was looking for! Plus it looks nice in my living room. It's from the Ritz-Carlton if anyone is curious. It smells a bit like a hotel room too. But that will go away in time. I love it!

So, me-thinks my nesting instinct is coming on? Or was this a fluke, we shall see, but whatever it was, I am so glad to have so much done!