New Spaces, New Challenges

Our New Home

Welcome to our new home!  Isn't she pretty?  As you can tell, I haven't really had a chance to jump in and decorate the front porch type area yet, we just put out a couple of chairs for now.  My focus has been more on the inside rather than out.

I have officially reached the unpacking phase where I am sick of unpacking.  It's not really unpacking anymore, it's more "finding a home for the last of the odds and ends".  I say odds and ends, but most of the items left to find homes for are items that are needed and useful, and frequently called upon.  Mostly I just need to get motivated, find a place to put them and call round one of organizing this place done!  What better way to get my butt in gear and find that motivation than to share it with you fine folks! (the house, not my butt!)

Our New Front Door .  No wreath yet, but I'm kind of liking the sunflowers.

Not much to really share today, just the entry and linen closet, and perhaps the world's most boring before and after pics.  (no, seriously, they are boring!)  But why take my word for it?  Come on in and see for yourself....

This is what you're greeted with when you first walk in.  That little table is actually our old baker's rack, I just asked Travis to remove the upper shelves.  It's working ok in here for now, but I have plans to change it out down the road.  

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Just a closer look at the decorations.  The flowers and leaf garland are from my wedding, the little basket is from around the house.  The book is life's contribution.  Time will tell how this set up will work.

This is one of the things that I really love about our new home . . . the stairs!  Not just because two levels means more room, but the stairs themselves are open and bright, and I just really like them.  lol  That closet you see there?  That's the linen closet!  Remember the one we left behind at our place?  (Here)  It was more like a cupboard.  The extra space is really nice, and it is going to take a little thinking and using before I figure out how best to organize it and keep it organized.  

When we first moved it, I just quickly put stuff in there, to get it put away and out of the way.   Over the last few weeks I've noticed that it is really easy for me to just sort of toss things in, and this is what it was looking like.

Kinda Empty, Kinda Messy

There is no rhyme or reason to how things were put away.  I think I was trying for a system but I'm not quite sure.  As you can see there is LOTS of space, and it helps that it was linen laundry day, so it's more empty than normal, ha ha ha.  Are you ready for the after?  This project literally took me ten minutes.  Making up my wish list took longer than the actual organizing did.  

Nice and neat once again!  It really didn't take much.  Refolding a few things, grouping like items with like, you know the drill.  And wasn't I right about the boring before and afters?   Boring or not, it felt good to get it sorted out.

I've got things loosely organized for now.  Top shelf is sheets, pillow cases, mattress pads, and a few things like vacuum bags, frilly curtains that belong to the house, but totally could not stay hanging up in the "man cave".  

Next shelf, is towels.  Again I have them loosely organized.  The boys' towels on the right, ours and guest towels on the left, and hand towels and face cloths in the middle.  The shelf underneath has no real purpose yet, though part of it could be used for extra bathroom supplies down the road.

Finally, spare blankets!  It's really nice to be able to store everything together, I plan on using part of this shelf for guest items, like sheets, blankets etc... Now that we have the room, not just for linen's for the guest room, but room for guests, I can't wait to start putting together stuff to help make guests feel at home.

Though I am thrilled with the extra space in our new home, I'm realizing that more space doesn't really make organizing any easier, it just presents different challenges that need to be overcome.  Willy nilly stocking of the linen closet is just one example.  And I now realize that having systems in place are just as important in larger homes as they are in smaller ones.  To help me keep focused on staying organized, I made up a wishlist for items/ideas for the linen closet, so that over time I can slowly get it set up and prettied up.  They are, in no particular order:

• Clear bins/containers for smaller bathroom extras
• Labels, labels and more labels
• Shelf dividers to help keep folded items contained.  
• Pretty baskets to hold items for guests
• Small cubbies or wine rack for hand towels and face clothes.
• Cleaning caddy for upstairs cleaning  (more on that in a different post)
• Hooks or other wall mountable solution for holding a broom/dust mop

I can't wait to slowly start making this new home more suited to our needs.  Being renters presents nice challenge of working with what we have and getting creative and thinking outside the box when it comes to decor choices or organizational solutions.  

And that concludes the tour of the entry way and linen closets.  I know it's not much of a sneak peak, but I'm hoping to add more and more pics up as I finish up spaces.  Has anyone else tackled a small project lately?  Or a large one?  Any tips for not accidentally creating drop zones in our new home?