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Tuesday, July 24, 2012

The Creative Home: Sorted!

Remember these 'before' shots from yesterday?


My husband took the kids out all day Saturday and left me to it. And here is what it all looks like now!


 It looks like...well, a house that doesn't have children living in it!
Violet and Margot woke up early, and instead of the usual clamour for a movie, they found their own little activity baskets and happily stuck fairy clothes into their sticker books until we got up.

From the top down, the shelves hold: boardgames; paint and craft supplies; paper, markers, crayons, etc. and a basket of the kids' socks (I find it easier than storing them upstairs in a dresser...they know where to find them and choose their own). The labelled baskets hold age-appropriate activity books, colouring books, sticker books, etc. The bottom shelf holds a basket of "everyone" toys, Jude's Bionicles and Bey Blades, and a basket of playdough tools. 

I find my children are less cranky in this beautiful, tidy space. They are more inclined to clean up one mess before starting another (we don't plan to be too rigid about this, as we hate to stifle their creative flow), and they seem more independent in finding things to do. And when something doesn't get tidied up, it only takes a few minutes for me to do it!

Tune in tomorrow for a look at some of Jude's creative leaps!



9 comments:

  1. It looks so nice! You really accomplised a lot.

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  2. Your home is looking beautiful and so organised!

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  3. I always feel so much more settled when things are straightened up a bit.
    Last year I came up with a simple solution to our "homeschool shelf" which looks an awful lot like yours (at least how yours looked earlier in the week). We hung a curtain across the whole thing. It looks neat and tidy all the time--and it slides easily to the side when they need to get things.

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  4. fantastic! I find that even my 1.5 year old plays differently when he starts his play in a clean and organized space!

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  5. Wow, it looks great. That was a lot of work mama, hope you put your feet up after :)

    I find it very hard to focus in an environment that is too chaotic, and find at times my little man is the same. Our creative spaces are kept tidy, but everything is within reach for my little man and he knows where to find everything. In fact I often find he has rearranged his craft space to suit his needs, and he is always so proud of this.

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  6. Inspiring, as always! I'm still unpacking and organizing that part of our world in our new house. I should really get to that soon! The girls haven't done much crafting lately and I know it's because they don't have great access to their things.

    Enjoy the space!

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  7. I have been having a fierce stare down with my sewing area for the last few weeks. This week, I actually put it on my "Things I should do but can never think of when I have time" list. Last night I told my husband I was going to tackle the organization. He actually jumped in astonishment. Tonight, I might turn on the light to the basement and go down and move a few things around. I prefer organized chaos, but you are so right! It is a fine line between that at a complete total mess. When I can't find my tools, it figure it's time to re org.

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  8. That looks fantastic! since our new roomies moved in, our whole craft/storage room has been cleared out. Now I need to reorganize into a different cupboard. Looking at this makes me feel less intimidated by the task. A project for the tail-end of my holidays perhaps!

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  9. Well done! This house is in need of a good purge and tidy up, too.

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