If you know anything about old house living, you know that rooms can be odd shapes and sizes and storage can be limited.

We live in an old house, and there are 3 full bedrooms upstairs. That’s all well and good, except that we need 4 bedrooms. Having the kids share a room isn’t a great option because of age differences, so we use a dormer space as the 4th bedroom.

This area started out as the nursery. It was a good place to keep the crib and some baby things until we reconfigured some space to make a bedroom for our first child. Then the second child came along and he lived in the nursery for several years until we were able to finish a bedroom for him.

But, by the time the third baby arrived, we’d run out of options for making another bedroom. So, 10 years later he’s still in the nursery. He’s only recently had an opinion about his room being smaller than the others and about the babyish decor in there. So, we fixed it up a bit and made it more age appropriate:

But, part of the update was removing the nursery armoire, leaving nowhere to hang clothes. Additionally, the only real space to do so is behind the door on the right:

As you can see, at the moment we just have a random shelf there, but I’m looking for ideas for some sort of free-standing closet or some way to hang clothes and a couple of shelves would be handy.

What can we put here? Share your ideas! (Please?)

The popularity of visual sites such as Pinterest has sparked redecorating and reorganizing frenzies heard ’round the world. Stores are selling out of basket sets, shelving and chalkboard paint as users race to transform their homes into the beautiful pictures online.

Me? I WANT to be that person with the effortlessly organized and matching house, but I’m…not. I do like to look at the organization boards and I have always appreciated a nice looking, organized and well-stocked pantry. I love the idea of being able to go right to the pantry and always find what I need to put a meal on the table or whip up an appetizer for friends who stop in for a visit.

My pantry is a bit overdue for cleaning out and restocking properly:

Yes, I know.

I’d like to get it done before school begins and I have even less time than I do now, but I’m having trouble getting motivated since I know it’ll never look like all those pictures (mainly because I actually keep food in mine, and many of those super-organized ones don’t seem to have food in them), so I thought if I showed you a picture of it, I’d get motivated to clean it out and see what I have in there.

Even though it would be great, my goal isn’t really to rework the whole space but to do simple things such as toss expired items, find a permanent place for everything, get rid of items we don’t actually use and arrange things where they are easily accessible. Then I can begin to make a pantry checklist and analyze what I should be keeping in there.

I’m hoping to get started tomorrow and show some results soon!

Any pantry organizing tips you’d like to share? Leave a comment below.

I hope I’m not rudely interrupting your summer or anything, but school is only a few weeks away around here and the school supplies are here! Yes, I’m one of those people who LOVES school supplies.

I get excited to plan a trip to the store and get the things on the list. When I was a kid, our mothers used to take my friend and me out to eat lunch and school supply shopping every year after registration. I even tried to establish that tradition with my kids and their friends, but it turned out that girls are much more into it than boys, so we had a few good years with my daughter and her friends.

Going school supply shopping by myself doesn’t deter me, though. I eagerly anticipate heading to the store with my lists ready to collect new boxes of crayons (my favorite), lots of #2 pencils, fun folders and just the right notebooks. Everything’s so orderly and shiny, I love the smell and you can’t beat the prices.

One thing I like to do is buy a lot of duplicate items from the lists. I buy extras of things my kids use a LOT of and we store it in the “school supply bucket” in the closet. My kids are really tough on things like pencils, markers and 1″ binders and they inevitably remember they need more for school at 11pm on Sunday, so I try to keep them on hand. The school supply bucket is also a place to keep things from the previous school year that can be used again such as pencil boxes and scissors.

It’s nice to be able to “shop” for school supplies at home and you know I don’t hate buying extras. Contrary to what the picture looks like, I do keep it in order and weed out the things that don’t get used for a couple of years.

What school supplies are you always replenishing? Do you keep extras on hand or do you just run by the store as needed? Talk to me about school supplies in the comments!

I’ll start this out by saying, I have a bit of a travel-sized item disorder. I spend more time perusing Minimus than I probably should admit, and I have only recently thinned out my hotel soaps and shampoos collection so I may think about these things more than the average person.

Since it’s summer and travel is on the agenda, I’m using my toiletry bag a lot. While I’m not really a minimalist, I pride myself on packing an efficient, yet well-stocked bag to be prepared for a variety of situations. I rarely carry full-sized versions of anything unless I’m going to be gone for quite a while, yet my daughter has never met a super-sized version of anything that didn’t accompany her everywhere she goes. It’s like we’re not even related or something.

I carry a bag with 2 compartments, it measure about 12×8x4. In one side, I carry the items I will use every day, and the other side contains spares and items you don’t want to be without when you’re away from home.

The things I will use every day on a trip include such items as: toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, make-up,  makeup remover, shampoo, conditioner, face wash etc.

The other side contains spares of things I’m prone to forgetting such as a hair brush, toothbrush, toothpaste and a razor. It also contains items that may or may not be provided at the destination such as lotion, soap or cotton balls as well as items that I may or may not use, but don’t want to be caught without such as nail clippers, medicine, spare contact lenses, a small flashlight, dental floss, band-aids, some change and a pen.

I go through that side occasionally to check the stock and to think of things I may need to add.

What kinds of things do you carry in a toiletry bag? Are you a minimalist or do you have special luggage just for your shampoo? Any ideas for unusual, yet handy items to have? Do share!

My kids have gone to camp for years. While I wouldn’t trade the experience for the world, packing kids for 3 weeks can be a challenge. This will be my first year packing 2 at the same time, so I really have to concentrate on what I’m doing so one doesn’t end up with 24 pairs of shorts and the other with none.

The challenge is to efficiently pack what they need and will use without losing your mind or breaking the bank by re-buying items because you can’t find them. Over the years, I developed a system

1. Designate items “camp stuff” and put it all in one place when camp is done. I’ve learned this the hard way, because somehow the camp stuff always ends up spread across the house and I can’t figure out where it is when it comes time to pack again and I end up buying more (see also: 4 single bed mattress pads).

2. Check the camp’s website or mailing materials for a suggested packing list. As a former camp head counselor, I know first hand that you’d be surprised how many people don’t look at it. It often contains valuable information that can save you time and space, and notes things you shouldn’t bring as well.

3. Create a master packing list - Like the reusable vacation list, make a reusable camp list based on the suggested packing list so you can remember the little useful odds and ends. Be sure to update it (both additions and deletions) right when camp is over while things are fresh in your memory.

4. Make sure your camper knows what they have packed - Even when kids are old enough to do most of the packing themselves, it never hurts to go over what’s in their trunk and what it’s for. Last year, one of my kids (who was plenty old enough to know better) assumed I’d only sent 1 pair of shoes for 3 weeks because he never looked in the other bag he had.

5. Pack socks and then pack some more - There are never enough socks, period. It’s also helpful if you can find distinctive socks and send all the same kind, it makes clean laundry sorting for the cabin much easier, and your camper may even bring some of them home!

Do you have anyone headed to camp this summer? What tips do you have?