Organization for Small Space Living

Living in small spaces creates pressure on your design and furniture decisions.   Then you start having kids and the organization and creativity really gets going.  You likely need to have multiple purposes for everything (a hutch that has plates & glasses on the top and stores bed linens below).  You probably don’t have many (or any) closets so all of your life is on display. Without organization your small space can quickly look like an episode from Hoarders. Each item brought into your space must be discussed, searched for and measured. The end result is a design creativity that people in larger living spaces don’t need.

Space Saving Tip for Toys

As Peep gets older, her toys and their parts just seem to get smaller but the boxes they come in just seem to get bigger and more annoying.  Small puzzle pieces come in odd shaped boxes.  Reading games come with wooden alphabet parts in odd shaped boxes.  Board games have dice and come in all different shaped, odd shaped boxes.  Legos (enough said). There’s a theme here.  The toy companies are trying their best to make our lives miserable by having all different shaped containers – big and round, big and square, small and square but a different size square from the … Continue reading →

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Organization for a Small Nursery – 6 Double Duty Basics

If you’re faced with a tiny or small nursery space, organization is going to be key.  One of the most important design decisions is to make sure every item has more then one purpose, or will be able to grow with your child.  Some of these are so basic that I think we forget them when looking to put together a room. Six Double Duty Basics: 1. The crib.  I’m a true believer in purchasing a small crib that will grow with your child.  I do not believe that you need to buy one that will grow with them all the way to college (the crib … Continue reading →

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No space for toys? Rent them!

With the holiday season upon us, there are many Holiday Guides being put together both online and in our own heads.  What should I get my child? What do they need and/or want? What can I get rid of to make room for new things?  I don’t know about you, but I don’t have a lot of extra space for new toys.  I am also very nervous about buying new things for Peep unless I know she’s going to love them and actually PLAY with them. (How many toys are sitting in your house not played with right now taking … Continue reading →

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Organize! Coat Racks for Kids

With Peep now in kindergarten, I’m realizing that we need some updated organization. One thing I’ve been looking at are coat racks for kids to help get things off the floor (which is where the backpack/jacket/lunch box seems to be dropped everyday).  Kids coat racks are a great thing for entryway items, but once I started to look at them, I realized they would be great in multiple places.  A corner in their room would work for those sweatshirts that never find their way back into the drawer.  Or, what about a dress-up coat rack?  Bag storage? (am I the … Continue reading →

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Make Your Own Art Gallery

DIY Display for Your Child’s Art Peep makes a lot of artwork both at home and at school.  And she’s very proud of it and wants it to be displayed.  So our refrigerator is covered (which drives me crazy, but I know it’s part of the kid-gig) and she’s now claimed a corner in our dining room.  It’s a small corner that’s always been a bit “dead space” decorating-wise, so adding her artwork there seemed like a good idea.  However, she’s been taping her art up, which is not the best look.  And then I remembered a Pinterest Pin from … Continue reading →

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5 Friday Favorites – Pinterest

Since I’ve now announced that I’m pregnant, I can be more obvious about my Pinterest pins.  Peep and the new baby will be sharing a room, so I’ve started a new board called Shared Girls Room.  Here are five pins that have got my mind beginning to put design/function/organization together. Source: urbanoutfitters.com via Emily on Pinterest   Source: 3.bp.blogspot.com via Emily on Pinterest   Source: Uploaded by user via Emily on Pinterest   Source: melissaesplin.com via Emily on Pinterest   Source: ohdeedoh.com via Emily on Pinterest   Does anyone have any great Pinterest boards I should be following to help … Continue reading →

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Designing a Shared Bedroom

I announced earlier this week that we’re expecting another child, a girl, in early December.  Since we already have Peep, we have more than enough of the stuff any little girl will need.  But the one thing she will need is a room to live in!  The new baby and Peep will be sharing a room that we currently use as a guest room or really just a place for furniture & stuff to live in when we don’t know what to do with it.  I used Floorplanner (a great online tool) to help get me started because this is one difficult room … Continue reading →

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Land of Nod Storage – Stepping it up!

Have you taken a gander at Land of Nod and in particular their storage solutions lately?  They have always been a bit “ho-hum” in my mind – perfectly nice, but usually a bit on the boring side.  Great for staples, but not that stylish.  Well, I’m loving their new storage – in particular their great shelf & wall storage and organization.  There are great colors, great shapes, shelves, hooks and more.  When organizing a small room, getting things up off the floor is a great way to make use of all the space. Here are some of my favorites. Source: Land of Nod … Continue reading →

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Nursery Organization Tips – Diapers

The key to good nursery organization, especially in a small nursery is to have specific places for things, and to keep a system going.  Diapers are no exception. We used these Ikea SKUBB boxes in the top drawer of the dresser where we changed Peep.  That way, I could keep a hand on her, dig into the drawer and get the diapers, wipes, creme, etc I needed with the other hand.  They’re collapsible and at $7.99, you can’t go wrong.     If you have room next to your changing area, I suggest getting a storage system/diaper caddy that can keep a … Continue reading →

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Growth Charts

I was a lucky kid in many, many ways.  One great thing about my childhood was that I lived in the same old farmhouse for 20 years.  My parents never planned on moving, so they went ahead and made our growth chart on the inside door of the pantry. (Also, that’s what you did then!)  As we got older, we added friends and additional family to the door and it was truly a piece of our family history.  Well, you know it’s coming…we moved, and left the door and that history behind. (Cue my mom’s tears as she’s reading this.) … Continue reading →

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