A Little Bit of Painting

Organization has always been a problem in my house. We live in a two bedroom townhouse with two kids and two adults, one of whom has two work areas (desk) in his bedroom. So space is at a premium. We are always trying to figure out how to fit our stuff into our house. Until recently the children's books were a huge part of the problem. They were sitting onto of their dresser and about three times a day I would have to pick them up from where they had fallen off the side or behind the dresser. They were always getting knocked off when I got clothes out. To be honest it was just a mess. We decided there was nothing to do but get a shelf. The problem with this is that summer is quickly approaching and since my husband will not be working this summer but will only be writing on his dissertation our fund level is at an all time low and so pretty much the only type of shelf we could afford would be a particleboard fake number that probably wouldn't make it until Winter. Lucky fate smiled on us we came home a few days ago and found this little guy sitting out by the dumpster. So the thing is he really looked like he belonged in the dumpster, but we dragged him over and determined he was suitably strong to do the job. I cleaned him off and then went off to the hardware store to find some non white paint to cover him (Dr. J was anti white). Surprisingly paint is extremely expensive. Alright not new furniture expensive but elven dollars for a little pail...ouch! While I was shuffling along complaining about having to spend so much money on a dumpster find I happened upon the mis-tint shelf. Eureka! I got the little pail of paint I needed to cover the dresser for three dollars. So for three dollars we have a shelf to hold all the books and the top is big enough to hold the overflowing basket of stuffed animals. It is a win/win. Now I just need to haul the rest of them from downstairs and we will be in be one step further from the mad house!

Another place we have really struggled is what to do with our shoes by the front door. For years we had a shoe basket that was literally overflowing with the rich bounty of dirty shoes. Every time we went anywhere all the shoes would be dumped out and we'd be tripping on them as we walked out the door. The whole situation was driving me crazy. Dr. J and I both wanted something different but most of the other solutions we saw were way out of price range. Then IKEA hit. While I was in Utah my sister and I wasted a morning browsing their shelves. I saw this and knew I had to have it. It cost less then ten dollars and I just loaded it in my suitcase and hauled it home. Three days ago I covered the pine wood with a walnut stain to better match the sofa. The thing I like about it is the shoes are all out of the way but it is easy to see where they are so that all the shoes don't have to be thrown out to find pairs. Of course my shoe loving one year old will often pull them all off to play walk around the house in every pair of shoes I can find but I think that is just something she will probably need professional help for :)