small spaces with lots of graces!

okay, so since our friend is settling in to a new home, I thought I'd post most of the space savers I've made happen in our little house with these three growing children with growing interests and bodies! granted, some of these aren't quite perfect or pretty....but that's not my priority, for the most part, especially when it's tucked away in the kids' rooms! and thankfully I have a husband who *mostly* appreciates creative ways to save space!
first up...

oh I love me some sticky hooks! obviously, these could use some replacing...but, at the end of a bunk bed, regular bed, or even on the side of book cases or refrigerators, they help keep things up off the floor! and that's my goal. here is where the girls keep their special purses and bags.

my other favorite way to hang things is little metal hooks with curtain clip thingies. these screwed right into the side of the girls' art table and holds mostly things Jonathan can grab and do on his own while I'm busy screwing in metal hooks all over the place! this takes up valuable shelf space that is also busting at its seams! and, as I always say, if things aren't right in front of their little eyeballs, it will probably not get used.

so back when Nat was in diapers, we had our guest bathroom redone. I wanted a sweet little white pedestal sink, but what I didn't realize then was I would actually need a regular sink with lots of counter space! cups and toothpaste do not sit well on little sinks. so, up they went! I've seen several different solutions for this, but I loved the IKEA rod the best. but hanging a simple wooden shelf would work, too! 

most of the girls' shelf space are these cube shelves in their room. have you ever tried to stuff loose items on a shelf and the second you grabbed one thing off of it, everything else fell off? I fixed that problem real quick by cutting a board to size and screwing it across the bottom. now those baby dolls and stuffed animals are in a cage of sorts and tucked away. this is where my ideas may not be the prettiest...but as I recall I had about 15 minutes to make this happen and sometimes when I get an idea I need to act on it for my mental and emotional health.

this is the girls' closet. it used to be a single metal bar. Emmett installed a nifty shelf down the center with hanging rods on either side, but there was SO MUCH wasted space in there! but more on that in a sec...here you can mainly see what they play with the most, every single day. baby doll clothes, doctor kit, and horses. each box is labeled and laminated because....because lamination, people!! and when they have tired of it all and it is spread all over their small room, clean up is fairly simple. everything has a place, and it's labeled.  these poor girls don't have any excuses to have a messy room, I'm afraid.

so after the hanging clothes went up, there was still too much wasted space between the bottom of their clothes to the floor. so I measured and cut and bought these cheap metal braces and made two extra shelves on either side of the tall built in unit. this has helped so much, but I know whenever we do need to sell this house, these are coming down or I'm at the very least going to paint and cover them!

oh those baby dolls! this was a fabulous Pinterest idea, so I can't take full credit. cheap wooden flower boxes screwed into the wall! yay! saved floor space! 

again, I love IKEA. and these shelves are fantastic. but, you don't need these particular ones. the idea here, for me, is to give each kid a shelf of books I want them to read or attempt to read. I rotate these out fairly frequently and whenever they want me to read a random book, I tell them to grab one off their red shelf....and I don't get stuck reading Clifford the Big Red Dog. again. and they really like the idea that it is their own bookshelf. 

ok there's a few things going on here. one, if you have two book cases of the same size, turn them towards each other and put a board across it! table! in our case, it's the girls' art table. Jonathan has his own, and their lego tables in their room are the same. I love love keeping things high up so no little people come stealthily by, grabbing markers, paint, or teeny lego pieces. our home tends to be a revolving door to kids and mama's with little ones, so this gives me great peace of mind. and guess what? look underneath! a cave! little people LOVE caves. strung with Christmas lights. also, any and all art stays at their art table, they know that. since about 4 years old, the girls have had full access to paint or clay or glue or scissors at any time. I think it's crucial to their brains, and its a huge time filler....and I love time fillers. it's pretty crazy messy in this picture but I reckon that means art is being made! allllso, the shelf on top is a bookshelf I've rotated all over the house! so, if you want to go 'up', think about putting a shelf on top of a table. 

last thing..don't be afraid to use the backs of doors! this opens up into the homeschool/art/play room, so it's pretty hidden. its a fantastic way to display whatever needs displaying, and Jonathan has his stuff at the bottom within reach, too. I think if we ever move, this door is coming with me. especially since the kids' heights have been marked on the inside! 

okay, that's all for now, I hope this opens your mind to think outside the box as far as easy practical ways to organize or add new play/reading spots to your home! mostly, it's fun for me, so if its not fun for you then I bet you don't need to change a thing! 

done once and for all.

if i could do this day over again, I would in a heartbeat.

I would stress way less.

I would yell way less.

I would have read another book to them.

but oh my heavens. bedtime was so so close. just....brush....your....teeth.....hey, you're in bed, but did you go potty? didn't think so. ...sure I'll sing your favorite song! all tucked in, I'm sooooo close....shoot. you've got to potty, too.

breathe breathe. exhale. annnnnd focus. done. I'm done.

I flop on the couch, dinner in hand. husband is gone, somehow this is longer than I anticipated. but wait. nobody is puking. praise Him! every time he leaves, someone pukes......what else...my brain running through the day...what did I do wrong, was there ANYthing I did right? was it really necessary to take away Legos for the day? her attitude and yet her prized possessions....somebody else needs to teach them...I just can't do this in love....did I really need to push her to ride that bigger bike? 'you can't be afraid all the time' I said. ...and what kept me from building a car track again? I can't even remember. . . . and then, Jesus.

praise be to God that He sees me, my blue house with the yellow door.....blood dripping on my mud-smeared door post. He passes over. She is mine, leave her be.

not because I taught in love. not because I overlooked any offense myself. not because I spent all the time in the world looking them in the eyes. not because I ended their day with apologies.

but because I believe He is better than this day. I believe He is greater than ANYthing I face. because I believe He has made a way for me. a way to Him. straight is that way, with streams in these desert days.

and His mercies are brand spanking new tomorrow. already. done.

let us go straight to the throne of grace. may we saturate ourselves in the Word. and let's pray without ceasing. over the sink. in the bathroom. down the street. over the kitchen table. amidst sin. breathe in, breathe out.

covered by His precious blood, once and for all.