First and foremost, thank you to everyone who sent along prayers and well wishes for my Mom; it’s really such a comfort to know that so many people are out there pulling for her. At this time, I have no news to report. She’s still very, very sick but is still fighting. 

Whether it’s a New Year organizational “bug” or just an effort to stay busy and distracted while waiting news and updates on my Mom, I have been non-stop organizing and purging since coming back from our holiday travels. It got a little out of control as I had pretty much every room in the house pulled apart at one point today (simply because one organizational project often leads to another!). However, I  made some huge headway in some neglected ares of our home – score! Another few days of chaos and hopefully everything will have found a proper home (I move fast, people!). The first space that really needed a bit of attention was our playroom. The last you saw it, it looked like this:

Expedit in the Playroom-001

Now before you scream and say “Megan, this is the THIRD time you’ve made some big changes in the playroom in less than 2 years!!!” (one and two) let me tell you why we made this organizational change. While the blue bins were (and are!) working perfectly, we were finding that some (bigger) toys didn’t fit on this big brown shelf, causing them to leak into other areas of our combined play/living room. Second, after Santa visited our house this year with a bunch of new goodies, we just needed some more toy storage in general.

For a very, very, very long time I have been yearning for an Expedit somewhere in our home; I just love its sleek, simple and modern look…and for small-space living, you really can’t beat the storage or the price. When I realized we could double our toy storage (and provide some fun display space!) in essentially the same footprint, we made it a priority to stop at IKEA on our way out of town. After assembling, some toy-purging, and some styling, here is where we are now!

Expedit in the Playroom-002

Huzzah! I.am.so.excited. I can’t get over how much lighter and brighter this space feels without the clunky brown shelf (which has found a much better home out in the garage!). And with some more storage space, I was able to let more of Henry’s toys double as decor. While I loved the streamlined look of the all blue/grey play space, this multicolored area has so much more life now!

Expedit in the Playroom-003

Expedit in the Playroom-004

Expedit in the Playroom-005

Expedit in the Playroom-006

A bunch of favorite accessories (the faux grass, the extra-large Kokeshi doll, Henry’s quilt, and the name train) that I was having a hard time finding a home for, now all come together to make this a styled-but-kid-friendly place to play and visit. My favorite part is that Henry can now get most of his toys down by himself!

Expedit in the Playroom-007

Expedit in the Playroom-008

A few months ago, when I showed you the shots on the left (below), I proclaimed the playroom “done;” and here I am now showing you another change. I think I’m going to stop calling things “done,” because I am always tweaking and changing and adjusting. So for now…here is where we were before, and where we are now!

Expedit in the Playroom-009

Expedit in the Playroom-010

I am knee-deep in organizing Henry’s outgrown clothes. Anyone have any storage solutions for that one? I hope you all have a great weekend. I hope to be back next week with some more organizational progress!

Megan

See You Soon!
Megan