House Tour

An ongoing challenge make 700 sq ft our apartment cozy and homey and de-cluttered accommodating our family of four.

My Progress

Most recent are on top. You can find posts prior to these (pre-Simon and Simon prep) showing the evolution of some rooms under the tag “House Tour” in the sidebar from. I’m also adding in any unblogged progress (e.g. the sock drawer) for my own notes on how I’m purging.

Jan 2015 back at this project with a vengence. Over a weekend we hung a kids coat rack, finally put up the third bracket on my desk shelf, and moved the kids furniture around to open up the play space. Posts to come soon…

Hall Update: Kids’ Coat Rack.

Emmy display shelf DONE.

House Tour: progress report #3 – behind the couch.

Bunk Beds – links to the plans we used. Notes about our modifications. Pictures of the progress. And the bunk beds are done!

House Tour: progress report #2 – back hall/china cabinet and kids’ closet (which stores almost nothing belonging to said kids)

I organized my sock drawer! – and threw out socks with holes, bad elastic, or that I NEVER wear. I used a drawer organizer that doesn’t fit the kids dresser because I didn’t measure before buying.

who needs it? challenge #1: Facing my daily clutter and clearing it out!

House Tour: progress report #1 – the front hall and my desk.

More October: It’s always worse before it gets better. My best remembrance is it was about two weeks before everything found it’s new home. And a GIANT bag of trash/recycling. But so much nicer now.

The before: House Tour: October 2013 This is the video post that started it all.

Just for fun here are some of my old house tour posts: 6 months in; bedroom 2009; living room 2009

The Master List (updated Sept 2016)

– Front hall: A new bookshelf to replace the ladder shelf. Jan 2015: coat rack at kid height

– My desk area: A new desk that is bigger and more stable. The ladder style furniture is great for small spaces, but really makes me nervous with kidS. Also a couple of shelves for over the new desk. Possibly getting rid of the chair and using one of the dining chairs too. Jan 2015: add third bracket to shelf.  Go through bag of stuff I didn’t want to deal with when I started this.

Ongoing: sort, file, and purge.

– Living Room/Behind the couch: Castors for the top part of the toolbox to sit next to the bottom and double as a behind the couch table. Possibly doing some moving of what is stored near the electronics when the new hall shelf is purchased. Top toolbox and file cabinet with covered plywood for even surface. Decorate. Hang guitar on wall for easy access. Oct 2014 Library box acquired for remotes etc… Wooden basket for chargers and extension cord. Go through boxes of stuff stored. Go through file cabinet and keep only what is needed for dissertation. File copies of important family papers in file cabinet with originals to safe deposit box. Paint tv wall,  Paint rest???,  fix purple chair,

– Kitchen cabinet – cups, mugs, and water bottles – there has to be something I can do about this. Paint touch up, Backsplash???

– Back Hall: Seriously need some large and pretty storage for the sewing stuff under the china cabinet and the decoration stuff above. Dec 2014 new sewing box Organize new fabric & purge & finish projects!, clean walls

– Kids Bathroom: Organization of boxes and baby stuff. Organizing diaper system for two kids in different sizes. Move adult size towels to our bathroom. Shelf for over toilet for some small items that I need to access often (currently buried in the mess). Ongoing sorting of kids clothes and seasonal.

Down the road: Paint, Convert bathtub to a shower and add a closet…

– Kids room:  Paint touch up window, behind bunk bed Purging and organizing the closet is. Toy storage and organization (and purging). And the big one – Junior size BUNK BEDS, when new baby outgrows the bassinet in our room – baby will skip the crib and sleep on the lower bunk. Diono Radian 100 carseat which folds to 7.5 inches, because two car seats + no car = crazy and will store under bed). I need to get the dresser organized for the kids to share. Simon’s clothes to lower drawers and only things in his current size. Baby clothes to upper drawers. Move furniture around. Hang artwork. Hand curtain tie-back. Ongoing: Rotate and Purge toys.

Closet: Go through off season clothes and purge and reorganize. – In progress. Ongoing. Soooooo much better.

Master bath: Shelf for each bathroom: Master to hold extra towels, Kids to hold washclothes, etc… New shower head, extra hooks for kids towels.

Master bedroom:  My clothes: toss what is old/doesn’t fit/has holes/DOESN’T MAKE ME FEEL GOOD. Keep ONLY things that I love and that fit (or get altered to fit). Ongoing… Actually DEAL with stuff that I keep moving around but never use... Rob – please clean your desk…

Other/Whole apartment:

Repaint everything.