Ottoman is a Funny Word

Five years ago when we moved into this house, it was just Chris and me and a (seemingly) huge, empty house. After we transferred everything from our tiny rental, we were left with empty drawers, an unused bathroom, one bedroom that was entirely vacant except for a twin bed that had seen better days and a living room that lacked furnishing. While my living room is still effectively unfurnished, having children has quickly filled up the rest of the house with hairbows, Barbies, diapers, wipes and stuffed animal after infernal stuffed animal.

At the end of the day, I would try to put everything away, but there was no "away". Stacks of toys adorned the family room and the girls' rooms. The huge amounts of toys that were welcomed into our house at Christmas were giving me nightmares. The house was closing in on us. So for the last few days, we have been organizing like it's 1999.

I started with the bow drawer (this is actually an ongoing effort I started a few months ago but have added to in recent days):

I'm very proud of the re-purposed baby food containers.

That felt so good that we decided it was time for Emily to store her toys in her room. So we got some storage drawers for her closet.

Let me tell you - the ability to actually be able to put all the toys in the family room away almost made me weep with joy. And oddly Emily seems much less willing to destroy her own room than the family room.

Then Chris got in on the effort by putting his x-box crap... er... uh... accessories, I mean, into this fabulous storage ottoman.

If you think this is a boring blog, you've never lived in a house with small children. And some days, I envy you.

Next week, I plan on slipcovering my couch to add to the streamlined feel of my reclaimed family room. And, don't worry, I will be blogging about that effort as well.