Household Organization: The Linen, Seasonal Clothing, and Yarn

Piece of furniture moved out of my bedroom

Since I participated in the 31 day challenge, there were so many projects I did.  This is a lose end that I wanted to address.  Of course, there are other projects I want to tackle.  This entry, I felt, was important enough to address.  I hope it gives inspiration and encouragement to address these household management situations.

This is a tale of three collections.  It was a case of playing "musical chairs."  I ultimately had to deal with my yarn and a dresser.  Those needed to get out of my bedroom.  I couldn't stand to have a crowded bedroom, which gave my room a chaotic feel.

I moved the above dresser out of my room.  I dragged it into the dining area.  I pulled out my winter clothes and placed them in a clear box.  My intention was to put the linen in the dresser.  It was a tight squeeze, but I did it.  

The linen was addressed.  Christmas linen, including napkins, place mats, and curtains went into the top drawers.  The middle drawers contain other curtains.  The bottom drawers hold bed linen including fitted and flat sheets and pillow cases.

Out of season clothing moved out of drawers

Clear boxes that held the linens

Dining area closet held boxes of linen; now seasonal clothing

The picture above shows my dining area closet, which held the boxes linen.  I always had difficulty getting to those boxes.  I had to dig into the closet.  It was a majorly physical event just to get into that closet to find my linen.  I was often frustrated.

In the closet, I put the clear boxes of seasonal clothing.  It is better for it to be in there.  To place it in the attic or outside in a storage shed is not practical.  What if the storage shed is burglarized?  What if the boxes are too heavy for our attic?

Top of closet that holds yarn

Closet that hides behind curtain

Top drawers holds Christmas linens

Middle drawers hold curtains and bed sheets

Last drawers hold kids' bed linens

Top of dresser in dining area

Now, everything is in a new, better home.  The yarn, seasonal clothing, and linen are in different locations.  The yarn and seasonal clothing are in a closet.  The linen is in the dresser, which is easier to access.  Even the top of the dresser is used as a sort of bread/breakfast buffet area, which I think is cute and very user-friendly.

 

Well, thanks for reading this blog entry; I appreciate it. 

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I hope this entry has inspired you to organize 

your linens, hobby materials, and seasonal clothing.

How about you, my readers?  Have you moved furniture around in your home?  Have you gathered seasonal clothing together?  Have you gathered your hobby material into one location?  Sometimes, furniture and collections should be rehoused.  It may work out better, if you move those collections around.

May God bless you all with His wisdom and peace.

This entry has been part of the Family Fun Fridays series.

Homeschool Organization 3: Music, Poster, & Art Supplies

Old, broken container that served its purpose in our homeschool.

I have many more areas of organization to present you in this third installment of homeschool organization.  I am presenting it to you piecemeal so that I can allow you to digest the ideas slowly.  I have, as a homeschooling mom, seen that some containers are no longer doing their job properly.  That's why I often change out the contents into other containers.  Yes, I like to re-purpose containers.

First up are the musical toys.

Musical instruments fit in this Rubbermaid container.

I went through many containers trying to find the right one that would hold all of the instruments.  I was given this green container by a friend.  It fits lots of toys, including the maracas and two xylophones.

Musical instruments that my children use to worship God.

 

Here is a sampling of some of the toys that fit inside the green box.  I have collected these toys over the years. Some I have found in yard sales.  Some were given to us.  Some we bought.

Next, we have the posters.

A large box that held a disassembled computer chair hold some posters.

Over time, I have also accumulated quite a few posters and charts.  The best containers for posters have been flat boxes like the one above.  You can slide the posters in and out.  The posters remain flat.  I dislike when posters are rolled up and stay curled when you try to hang them up on the wall.

Posters are gathered together in two rings.

Hole-punched the posters and put them in rings.

I used two rings to distribute the weight of carrying the posters.

White rack held my posters by the rings.

Another option is to group them together.  I hole-punched the ends of the posters and put them in rings.  That way, I could hang them on a makeshift wardrobe rolling rack.  My hope is to find a more sturdier rack than the one you see above.  That white one was cheap and cheaply made, as you can see from the legs.

Finally, we deal with the arts and crafts supplies.

This is really two containers-the pink one and the white one.

The containers above held the arts and crafts.  I had joined the two sets of containers with double-sided glued tabs.  The supplies stayed in this setup for a few years.  The bad thing is that the pink drawers were broken.  Also, we had to yank the drawers open just to access the supplies.

The white tower is really two sets of containers.

Again, I used double-sided glue tabs to keep these two sets of white containers together.  It used to hold the girls' doll collection.  Since they decided to get rid of the dolls and their accessories, it freed up the tower.  I decided to re-purpose the tower for the arts and crafts supplies.

Closeup of top of tower.

The top portion holds paints, glues, smocks, and old CDs.

Closeup of bottom of tower

The bottom of the tower holds wood craft, construction paper, and colors.

Well, I hope that I have provided some solid ideas on how to organize arts supplies, posters, and musical instruments within a homeschool.  There are more pictures and themes I want to cover.  Stay tuned to see how I organize such things as DVDs, audiocassettes, and the Wii games.  In order to use the items in your home, we must make the time to organize our teaching aids.

Thanks for reading this blog entry.

How about you, my readers?  Are your posters all in one box?  Are your instruments ready for your kids to use?  Are your arts supplies organized enough for your children to want to use them?  I encourage you to see if you have the right containers to hold these collections.

I pray that God bless you all, my dear readers, with His wisdom and peace.

This has been an entry for Thorough Thursdays.