Organizing the House - Part 1

I'm definitely in nesting / panic mode.

We've lived in our house for 2-1/2 years now, and there's still a lot we have to finish.  I'm slow at making decisions, so it takes something major - like a potential adoption! - to get me to make a move.

And even if adopting the twins doesn't work out, there will be a little one joining our family in the (probably) very near future.  This stuff just needs to be done no matter what, but the fact that the adoption might be very, very soon has pushed us into rush mode!

So this is just part of what we're working on - and it's only the start of it too.  I'll have to go into a little more detail with some of the rooms once they're completely done, but here's our progress so far:


Storage Room

It was a complete disaster before.  I forgot to take a "before" pic, but just envision storage tubs stacked halfway up the walls - 2-3 deep - and then random stuff piled on top of that.  A huge chaotic mess.

Here it is now:

Furnace room / storage room with a closet in the back

We went and bought some strong metal shelves, bolted them to the wall, and now, I can actually find things we have stored!

It's definitely not completely finished, but it looks so much better!


Storage Room Closet

We have a nice little closet in our storage room (yes, a storage room within a storage room - I love this house!).  That got cleared out too.

I like to stock up (I grew up in a big family ;) so now I have space for all of that food.  Hopefully, I will only have to grocery shop for milk, bread, and fresh produce this winter...

Just needs to be a little more organized, but it's working out great in the meantime. :)


Playroom

The room that was always in the plan to be the playroom was not a priority when we moved here because at the time, our daughter was not even a year old.  So it became the dump room.  You know the room/closet I'm talking about.  You have one in your house too - don't deny it. ;) 

Finally, we cleared it out and organized it.  And I'm so bad at "before" pictures - I forgot with this room too.  But I'm sure you can picture the catch-all that it was.

Here it is!  It's one of my favorite rooms in the house now.

A playroom with all this storage?  Yes, please!  And...can you tell we like to read?!

Jim really wanted to keep all the wood paneling and trim this color.  I really wanted it white, but the whole rest of the house has already been painted white...so wood it is ;)  Although he did say that we could paint the doors white...I think I'll take him up on that!

I'd like to add some more shelves for better organization

 

I just need to get some chairs for the art table and hang up the kids' art gallery wall here

All that I have left to do is mostly finishing touches (get curtains, chairs, etc.), hang up the gallery wall, and finish up organizing the closet.  I'm almost there!


Our Little Girl's Bedroom

I love all the bright & fun colors!  This is definitely my favorite color combination.

All of the furniture has been put in place for awhile.  It just needed wall art.  Now, that's up.  And all that's left is getting curtains, painting the mirrors above the beds white, and some finishing touches (like a little decorating on the dresser and shelf, writing a cute saying on the chalkboard, etc.).

It's looking good!


Our Little Boy's Bedroom

Our little man just got moved out of the nursery and into his big boy room.  But he's still in a crib and will be til he figures out how to escape. ;)

This room was the old office, so mostly all we've done is clear out the computer, desk, and office supplies, and move in his crib.  His room still needs a lot of work as you can see:

I'd like to add that after showing you all of this is we have not spent very much money organizing or decorating our house.  (Or maybe that's what you were thinking anyway! ;)  Almost everything pictured (even the kids' toys) were items we already owned, were given to us, or were bought at a major discount (like at a garage sale or on clearance).  You don't have to spend a lot to organize and turn your house into a home - you just need to be creative!

 

Isn't it the best feeling in the world to get stuff in order and to have your house feel finished?  

We still have a little to finish in each of these rooms and even have several more rooms to work on, but I still feel great!  (I'll post the other rooms in Part 2 soon!)  Are you working on any projects with organization right now?

Now, we just need to keep up the work...and keep it in order too.  I'll post more once we make more progress!

               

A little blog housekeeping now....;)

I want to say a big  THANK YOU!  to everyone who linked up with us for our first Tuesday Talk link up this week!  There's still time to link up...or you can come back and share a recent post next Tuesday. :)  We'd love to have you! 

And you ladies blew us away with your amazing posts.  So much so that we are all currently working on a Pinterest board where we will be featuring our favorites every week.  Come back next Tuesday and make sure you follow along with our Tuesday Talk Features board to see some awesome posts you'll definitely want to pin too!

All of the co-hosts are having awesome giveaways going on as well...so make sure you go and enter.  You'll want to win these prizes...I do!  All of the blogs where you can enter are listed right here.  And here is ours: A Year Subscription to Better Homes and Gardens magazine.

Thanks again, and we're looking forward to getting to know you better every week at Tuesday Talk!

Sharing my 
Thoughts for Thursday with Natalie and Annie,

5 on Friday/Friday Faves
along with Darci, Natasha, Christina, April, 
Karli, Amy, Andrea, Erika, and Narci,  
The Pick with Astleigh,
Week's End with Elizabeth, 
Every Girl Link Up with Astleigh and Rachel,
 and