Hallway Coat Closet

In our new house we have a closet by the entrance door from the garage to the kitchen. Very normal "mud room" area without actually being a mud room. Someday I'd actually like a mud room. Anyhow, this is what it looks like.Yes, it looks empty because I haven't put everything in there yet. Well, the Container Store was having their annual 30% off on their Elfa closet systems, and I was really dying to do that. I got an estimate and it was still too steep for me. $450 including installation. I just can't spend that much on a closet. So, I wish it were like this:Gorgeous! Please excuse that it is a bedroom closet, but you get the idea. However, I decided to get creative and make it work without breaking the bank. Here's how it turned out: A small shoe rack from Wal-mart, hooks on the side wall for the kids coats and backpacks, and hooks at the top for my bags and umbrellas. And on the right side of the closet:These little drawer units I also found at Wal-mart for pretty cheap (can't remember now how much they were) and each is for a member of our family for hats, mittens, gloves, goggles, shin guards, baseball mitts, etc. And the 6th drawer on the bottom right is my "To Go" drawer. That's where I put anything I need to take with me somewhere. Anything I need to return to the store, anything I've borrowed from someone that needs to be returned, etc. etc. You get the idea. Oh, and for a splash of color, I added those floor mats to ensure nothing slides around my slippery wooden floor.

So there we have it! From a potential $450 for beauty and functionality, to about $50 for functionality and sub par beauty. By hey, those closet doors are always closed!

Random simple upgrades

Wow! Crazy life! I've been a little absent lately because I have been moving into a new house! Yes, we finally moved into a house that actually fits our family of 5!! Whoo-hoo! I can't say how excited I am. Right now, I am unpacking and trying to get our house in order. However, I do have a couple of random upgrades to my new life. Yes, they are small, but right now, I consider it an accomplishment every time one of our brown boxes gets emptied!

Isn't this TP storage awesome!! I saw this on someone else's blog, and I can't remember who's it is! Please, if you are out there, tell me and I'll give you credit! I got this cylinder vase at Wal-mart for about $20. Yeah, I wish it'd been cheaper, but I loved this idea so much, I had to do it.
Next, I'd been keeping my seasoning packets in the kitchen cupboard in this hot number:Hey, you make do, right? Well, I thought my seasoning packet storage could do with a little makeover, so I found this at the Dollar Tree. Why didn't I do this earlier? Silly me.
And while I am finding a new home for everything in our brown boxes, I have become best friends with the home storage section in Wal-mart, Target, and of course, the Dollar Tree. Baskets are my favorite things in the whole world!

Well, that's it for today folks. I will have a lot more to blog about as I unpack. Wish me luck!

Organizing an Art Station for your Kids!

My kids love art. And I love having them explore their creativity, but I hate messes! So, here's a nifty little system we have that is quite simple. It's just an "art tower" as affectionately named by my children. Each drawer holds some of their art materials. I bought this drawer container at Wal-Mart, though I'm sure you could find it anywhere.Top drawer: Stickers/Stamps
2nd drawer: Glue/Scissors/Rulers/Stencils
3rd : Blank Papers (these are paper we recycle, one side is blank for drawing)
4th : Still Working On
5th : Crayons/Markers/Colored Pencils/Pens/Pencils (each different item is in it's own plastic bag or similar container
6th : Work Books
7th : Coloring Books or Puzzle books (crosswords and such)
Our art table is right next to the art tower though you can't see it in the picture.

In the next couple of weeks, our family is going to be moving into a bigger house (wa-hoo! finally!) and I will be having several more places to organize. One thing I am hoping to do is to create an art room out of either the living room or dining room (two rooms we will likely not be furnishing at this time). I'll be sure to blog about this art room among all of my other organizing projects. Wish me luck!