Please don't tell anyone!? This is my NEVERland!

Disclaimer: You are about to see something really disgusting, and humiliating!

The "View" from the doorway!

I hope I am not alone in my secret room that I have, one that has become a sort of open and throw kind of room! (At least you know that I am completely honest...some bloggers just show their BEAUTIFUL rooms)

Starting about last April when we were getting ready for Emma's graduation party, and all the way through children's birthdays, holidays, and a Barn Sale that I wanted to have that never happened this fall....the room that I can create in (our craft/project/scrapbook/art room)...has become this:

There WAS once a table here for crafting, wrapping......

Lots of past party memorabilia that desperately needs to find a home

The view of most of the room.....UGH!!!

I seriously don't even know where to start!!

I actually have nice countertops to view photo albums and layout projects on.

Horrified?? I sure am...how in the world did I let it get so bad?

Well, it all won't get done TODAY, but I actually have BIG plans for this room, and maybe I will have to add better clutter storage elsewhere in my home, so all my projects don't get stuck here in NEVERland.

Maybe this is what happens when you have a houseful of creative people? That is the excuse I am going for right now! Wish me luck! 

~Kim

a DORM ROOM makeover: Moving her IN

A lot of you know that my eldest daughter, Emma, is now leaving our nest :( {sad face, gulp}

packed up and heading off to college

And although, hopefully, we will be seeing her on multiple weekend visits....it will be sad not seeing her beautiful face EVERY day. To make ME feel better about her being "on her own", I helped her make her new space feel more like HOME to her.

 I was extremely skeptical about my baby girl living in a dorm the first year...it resembles a jail cell. 

Here are the "BEFORE" pictures:

2 uncomfortable beds that made the room feel SMALL

Attached double desks, with 2 ugly RED chairs

STAINED carpet, and 2 large closets

Everything is painted this creamy white color and  the walls are cinder-block. She is rooming with one of her best friends from high school, which was so much easier planning the design of the room. 

And here are the "AFTER" pictures on move-in day:

We replaced the red chairs with the ones I redid  here 

Put the 2 dressers together to have the TV be a comfortable height for their beds, they can still use the mirror on either side of the TV

Storage is a MAJOR factor in dorm rooms, and even though these shelves are hideous, the girls made good use of them

I LOVE these black sheers..and the shelf unit holds more storage (along with popcorn and m&ms)

The girls bunked their beds to give more space in their room. Not what they had originally planned, but turned out GREAT!

The ONE awesome thing is the large CLOSETS! I sure hope Emma keeps it looking so organized!!

Their kitchen. The girls have since BEDAZZLED the fridge :)

Emma's "MOVE-IN CREW" 

So completely proud of our daughter....and excited to see what the future holds! 

Emma, your life is just beginning! You have proved to be a hard worker...not to mention an amazing sister to your younger siblings...and you have grown to be one of my best friends!! Good luck, study hard,
have FUN, and come home to visit as often as you can! Love you FOREVER AND ALWAYS!!

~Mama

Our home office: Back to School!

It's almost back to school time....and that means:
school supply shopping,  going through kids' closets and pitching outgrown clothes and shoes..
and buying new ones!

In this week-long cleaning and purging....comes a Mama's chance to start fresh with her
Family Scheduling Center and Home Office.
This was in DESPERATE need of an overhaul, and since 2012 was my year of ORGANIZATION,
I thought what better time to start anew than the beginning of the school year!?

I love having EVERYTHING behind closed doors,
for those times when it is not as organized as I want it to be.

And it keeps the room from looking too busy!

Of course, I put some more crates to good use here.

The bottom crate is for all the "extras" we have on hand: printer ink, photo paper, blank discs, folders, etc.
And the top crate is going to be for all the amazing papers, spelling tests, and artwork that I want to keep throughout the school-year. I put everything in one pile, then when the year is over, I re-evaluate what we keep and it goes in each child's "School Tote" I have in storage.

This pinboard comes in handy for all the notes and reminders a home office acquires!

And for some reason, I like having 2 printers (one is also a scanner). Baileyhusband built me a shelf so I have access to them both!

Our monthly bills and most of our office supplies go here......

Then everything closes up by the end of the day....

Now, I AM ready for the busy season of piano lessons, football practices, school concerts,
volleyball games, homework sessions, and everything else that comes with this time of renewal.

Have I mentioned that all 4 Baileykids are now in 4 different schools??
One going off to college, one starting high school, one starting middle school, and my baby is in elementary!

And the bulletin board is back up in the laundry/ mud room....it's the room we come and go from daily.
Here is our family calendar and each child has a corner to pin any schedules, events, invites, or papers that need signed. Now bring on the CRAZYINESS...this Mama is READY!

~Kim

I have a secret.....

Well, I guess it won't be a secret anymore......(I am a closet hoarder!)

To be honest, I LOVE TO ORGANIZE!! But, you would never know it by looking into our closets and cupboards! Now, since this is the year 2012 and I vowed to "SIMPLIFY" our life and our home....here are
the steps that I am taking to ORGANIZE our life.

1. Find out that closets REALLY do have floors!

BEFORE: our front coat closet, yes, this is REALLY what it looked like!

AFTER: just for coats and vacuums, moved all unnecessary items to other parts of the house

Now, for step two of my closet transformations......and this one was actually started years ago, but with 4 children and a busy lifestyle, somehow this got disheveled and when we really need to find that bottle of meds or poison ivy cream...it turned into a scavenger hunt!!!

2. Label and Organize EVERYTHING

No need for fancy bins or baskets here, just clear totes in different sizes- and labeled for easy and fast finds for the kids and sleepy parents in middle of the night (or when someone is hurt!)

My bins are labeled as:
-Tummy Care
-Vicks Vapor and Thermometers
-Hair Care
-Skin Care
-Cold/Flu, Pain Relief
-First Aid
-Hair Style

On the top shelf:
-Twin Sheets
-King/Full Sheets

I'm sure other families will have different needs and ideas for their hall closet...and ours will probably change throughout the years....but this is what is needed and works for us right now.

Children's dosing instructions displayed inside the closet door.

 2 closets down.....about 10 to go! :)

I have been wanting to show our mantel in our downstairs family room, but have not had the time to take the pictures needed to blog about it....I hope to get those taken this week sometime.....
with the cRaZY bUsY LiFe
we have been living lately, I only get the dishes washed about every few days......
Going to college orientation today.....wish us luck!
~Kim