Kid Storage

I am sure I cannot be the only one who doesn't like to toys all over, or an unattractive storage solution! 

Sometimes it seems impossible to find something to hold all the toys and books that is actually nice to look at. Plastic and particle board just are not cutting it for me, not that we don't use those, we do, but they are in the closet where I don't have to see them unless I look. We have a few of these

They are great for all the little things and books! 

We have a LOT of books. But they just aren't that attractive to me!

We have been looking for something to hold all of the Legos Ramsey has.

We thought about a couple of these, but they are also less than attractive.

So we were just keeping them in 2 of the canvas cubes but they were already overfull and too heavy to really be good for him to play with. Then my fave girls at Real Deals in Salem posted a picture on facebook, and I KNEW we needed it for his room, as long as it would fit.

This is what they posted

Cute right?! So I went and measured to see if it would fit, and it DID!! So it has a home in his bedroom now, holds his baseball light and all of his Legos are organized by color in the bins. My pictures are not great but it still looks perfect in his room and it wasn't too deep so he still has plenty of room to drag his Lego table over and enjoy playing with them!

This little treasure sure put me in the mood to get started on our Spring Cleaning!

So this week I will try and get my planning all done, so we can get started and done and enjoy Spring!

Hubby is already outside working on cleaning stuff up while it's not raining. I am hoping I can add "build chicken coop" to his honey do! We'll see how well that goes over :)

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Spring Cleaning week 3~ Bathrooms & Update on Play Room

Just planted some of these! Hope I don't kill em!

And I didn't finish ALL the family room yet because I think I want to move the furniture around and I need some help for that, but all the major stuff is done!

And I got the kids to "help" clean the rug, I just covered it lightly with some baking soda and had them dance and wiggle until you couldn't see it anymore, then I waited a while and vacuumed it up!

And I worked on the play closet a little more! I shared the before HERE, and now it's like this

Where the storage used to be

Where seasonal stuff used to be

shoe cabinet from ikea! Only sticks out 6"!!

Little spot for art work, just at their level, and a little too high for little brother!

And still not done! That blank wall straight back (where the storage used to be) is waiting for a great deal on a big frame so I can frame out some chalkboard paint!

And this is my list for this week (and least favorite Spring cleaning week!)

• Purge, Purge, Purge (I am kind of a product hoarder!)

• Scrub Shower Doors

• Wash Rugs

• Scrub all Round Toilet

• Drain O Shower and Sinks

• Polish Cabinets

• Scrub Bathtub

• Wash Windows

• Clean Under Sinks

• Clean Baseboards

• Clean Doors

• Vacuum and Steam Floors

• Touch up Baseboard Paint

• Touch up Wall Paint

• Check on Supplies Stock

• Replace Candles

And I have some projects I want to work on in the kids bathroom this week too.

Today was pretty nice here, makes me want to get ALL this stuff done so we

 can get out there and do some yard work!

Who else is working on Spring Cleaning?!

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New Small Book Shelves

Finally!  We have been looking for something to go on either side of the fireplace, and I am PICKY, it would have been much easier had I been even a little less picky! But now they are built and fill the space just enough. I can even use the top shelf for a little while longer, until Finnley can reach those, the other 2 are already within his grasp.  The mirrors were up before the shelves so I know they are off.. but I am short and Ryan has been busy!  It's already dark here so the pictures aren't great.. but this side has a mini lamp (stole it from our bedroom), a jar full of mini skulls and the middle shelf has a jar of eyeballs that move and light up and a silver clock with a little mouse!  And the ottoman is only there cause I didn't move it!

We found these ON SALE this week at Target less than $100 bucks (I had a coupon too) for both of them!  I'm excited I have some more new areas to put Halloween stuff!

Hopefully I will remember tomorrow when it isn't dark to take some pictures and show off some more Halloweeny stuff!

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Done with Finnley's room, for now anyway!

I can't decide on a paint color! But everything else is as done as it is getting, until I get some more inspiration!

I got the subway art idea from Kat at here is her post on it..She got the idea from tatertots and Jello. I changed it a little, I used brown with vanilla paper and I used the cricut machine to do my words! But I love how it turned out, I used his initials, his birth weight and date, his nickname (little bird, thanks to his big sister) and some other random words and a couple that have other meanings to us! I had a LOT of fun making this and I think it was fun to include his baby stats into it! I like that it is simple but looks good in his room! I am sure I will find something small to go on either side, not sure what exactly, because I don't want to get too much going on, I don't want it to look busy!  Two more pictures of the Subway art, not the crib, and in different lighting.

Ikea dresser.. could they get any more plain in shape? I love how simple the shape is but the fun red color! The picture does NOT do it justice! (we have 2 of this same one we liked it so much!)

When he outgrows his crib ( our other 2 were out of their cribs by about 15 months) I plan on getting THIS bed from Ikea.. I like how simple it is and can go with anything, if for some reason he decides he isn't into cowboy stuff!!

Alright that is it for now.. Any cowboy ish ideas y'all want to share, I would LOVE to hear em!

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It's still not finished.. but getting there!

Slowly coming along in the baby's room!




So far I have convinced the big ones to help me sort all the toys and toss/donate the ones that are missing peices or that haven't been played with in a while. The closet used to hold one of these

 Which was full of books, pretend food and lots of puzzle pieces. It worked well, fit in the closet and doesn't interfere with the clothes but it sure made that THE playroom. Decided to empty it and take it out and downstairs where we have a large closet it fits nicely in the side of and we can avoid toys all over 5 rooms (hopefully just 3 now!) With the storage unit out I moved the play kitchen in the closet, the kids still play with it, it isn't taking away space from the baby's room AND I can close the closet and all the toys in it and pretend it's not there when it is really messy!



My mother in law made a wonderful cowboy themed quilt that is all the colors I was hoping to tie into the room! A chocolate and pale brown, some dark red and blue. The Bumper was something we found would be helpful after he got his helmet! He was rubbing his helmet on the rails and I think it was waking him up some at night, not to mention the arms and legs out the rails aren't the best for sleeping! The bumper is soft minky material and plain! There was a "coordinating" EXPENSIVE dust ruffle and the colors weren't exact, that would really have bugged me.. so I just bought some cow print, soft furry on sale fabric and put it under the crib.. good enough and just a little cow print was enough for now!

The curtains were on clearance for 3 bucks for the pair, they are tab top, not really my thing, but I had the bandana's on before and they cover the tabs nicely!

The wagon lunchbox was a Real Deals score, clearance and right now it has his pacifiers in it, even though, he hasn't used one in months! The rope border has been up for a year and a half or so now.. I just nailed it into the wall every foot or so, and when they were loops, to hold them in. The pillow is a Real Deals goodie, it says "Mind your manners" and the metal BEHAVE sign above the closet was at a local craft store.

The chest fits perfect.. ( even though the picture is HORRIBLE, I had "help" taking that one) I don't know how we got so lucky with that! It was a wedding gift and now holds all the toys the big ones have outgrown but we wanted to keep for the baby, and clothes he has yet to grow into. I am hoping I can find time to make a cushion for the top, the biggin's love to sit and read on it.. I don't see that changing anytime soon and I want to encourage them to "read" to their little brother!

I still need to repair the walls and paint.. or get some help painting. This weekend is going to be too nice to be inside though!  I need some help finding something for above the crib which is also the biggest wall. Reasonably priced is the hard part for me! Any ideas from y'all would be wonderful!

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A bunch of unfinished projects!

The main 3 are the kids rooms though.. I’m not sure why none of them are done! It seems like we slowly decide what we want to do in them and then it takes even longer to get it done.. I am hoping to finish one of their rooms soon! With all this rain and big kids willing to help I should be able to make some progress! The baby's room is also the playroom. He doesn't have anything other than a crib with a few drawers attached. We got the crib as a hand me down and it has worked so far.. just feel a little stuck about how I can arrange his room with the crib (because it is soo big it only fits on 1 wall) AND the playroom stuff (kitchen, BOOKS.. BOOKS...BOOKS and toys). There are some curtains up in his room that are way too long.. they have been up for a month or so and I haven't hemmed them! The room was our daughters when we first moved in.. but the girl has BIG furniture so we moved her to another room and decided it would be the playroom and now it's the babies room and occasionally the big kids play in there. Through all these changes there hasn't been any paint, because I can't decide!! It is plain old builder beige flat paint with a ton of hand prints, crayon marks and spots where the paint has been rubbed right off! I think I *might* be decided on a color. I am too embarrassed to even post before pics!! So I am hoping to get working on it and get it done.. The weekend is a few days away, maybe I can get all the parts I can do by myself done and get some help this weekend, well Saturday anyway. Hopefully my next post will be a FINISHED room for the little one!

Taking some inspiration from these sites
http://cobblestonefarms.blogspot.com/ cute accessories!
http://designdazzle.blogspot.com/
http://buckaroostyle.com/cowboybaby/index.htm
http://www.roomzaar.com/rate-my-space
And a few others.. If I use a specific idea I will share the website!

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