I've been on an organization kick lately so I'd love to share and get ideas. Here's what I've used so far.
The Expedit from IKEA with canvas bins.
An old microwave stand in the closet for extra shelves. (This is not picture-worthy, but let me just say how much I love putting something seemingly useless to good use!)
A puzzle rack. And a hanging shoe rack. All of these items I have used for toy storage, and all but two were about to be thrown away when I realized they worked better for me as something other than their intended uses. I just have to say, there must be a reason every classroom has cubbies, they just go hand-in-hand with kids.
My two questions are:
What have you used a shoe rack for (or seen it used for), other than shoes?
What do you use/reuse (creatively or not) for organizing your "stuff"? I'm still looking for ways to organize my sewing stuff - thread, leftover fabric, patterns, rotary board and ruler, manuals, serger equipment, etc. I'd especially love to get ideas for those!
Most of the decorations I have were given to me by my wonderful mother and mother-in-law. I am grateful to say they have excellent taste, otherwise (not to be rude), they would not be adorning my walls. Here is something I put together recently which I felt quite proud about, not only because I think it looks nice, but the expense was in the single digits for the entire thing (mostly because I was given the curtain rod and blocks), and you just can't beat that.
I realize I didn't do it perfectly, nor did I take a very cutesy picture, but you get the idea. Because I'm not feeling like writing out instructions, I found some places that do. They're obviously not exactly the same as I did mine, (I didn't attach my blocks to the wall, and I used fabric on my foam board instead of scrapbook paper) but if you do it at home, you'll adapt it how you like it too.
For the curtain rod letter blocks look here. For the foam board picture collage look here.
It's one thing to talk about all the topics of taking care of a household, and it's another to live it. My absence has been due to living, particularly in this time when the "economy" and its many negative descriptors are such household words. If you think you and your family have not been influenced, you apparently aren't living. Now, before you go thinking that this is going to be a real downer of a post, let me assure you that is not my purpose. If you're anything like me, I've had enough of those doom and gloom updates. I promise not to bring up that ugly word "politics". Instead, I'll tell you a little about my experiences over the last several months and then I'll ask that you share a few of yours. (So as not to get too wordy, I'll try to summarize in a list of my little family's story.)
1. Life was good: New house, two jobs (though mine was only a few hours a week), a car almost paid off, and plenty of dreams and goals. 2. Laid off - 2 months notice, but no severance. 3. Two months of searching for jobs, getting house on the market, esophagitis due to stress, lots of interviewing, multiplying hours at my job by 3, places interviewing not planning to hire for several months or suddenly not able to hire at all, hoping that we would have a job before our next mortgage payment was due. 4. Last day of work, no job, only what seemed far-off prospects. 5. House sold after only 16 days on the market! 6. Moved out, no job, no place to go, but plenty of money in the bank. 7. "Aimlessly" drove across the country, one job offer each on the way to "visit" family. *I have to add a little side-note here. I was offered my dream job that really couldn't have been more perfect. A home-economist position in my home-town, great benefits including free grad-school tuition for me and my husband, etc. I questioned how it could be the best decision to take a different route. For many, many reasons it was, but there are two and a half that top the charts: my husband, my little girl and the next little one on the way. Though it was difficult to turn it down, I'm glad things turned out the way they did. 8. Chose hubby's offer (which, I have to admit, was much more lucrative, and yes, did make our decision a little easier as well) and moved, yet again, across the country.
In summarizing this I left out a lot of the fear and hopelessness we endured on purpose. Mostly because we feel that the experience (looking back) was positive. Shocking? It certainly was to us. Admittedly, we are religious people and we can't count the blessings that have come pouring into our little family through all of this. But, even if you don't believe in Divine Intervention, you can still see we had some "luck", or whatever you want to call it, sent our way. It was hard, and we're definitely dealing with some struggles because of it still, but we're better for it.
So, my question and focus for this post is, "How has your household been affected in the current economy? How are you different, but more importantly, how are you better?" I know it sounds like homework, but I really do want to know.
And a hanging shoe rack.
