Does anyone with a largish family have pix of her clean/uncluttered home to post? - Page 4

[rawbanana]

Here is my link, I hope it works! We are a homeschooling family w/ 4 girls ages 7 down to 2 and our first baby boy is due next March!

Anna

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7769112@N03/?saved=1

[rawbanana]

By the way, each pic has 'description' that you wont be able to see if you view the slide show..

[annettemarie]

I love the dress bucket idea! And the built-ins in your house are so sweet. What is the little star on the wall in your girls' rooms, though? I'm intrigued.

[rawbanana]

that star is just a cute little thing I got at a garage sale last year for a buck =) Our 2yr old has bad dust/dust mite allergies so I dont have many things on the walls, however I saw that and just thought it was cute, the fairy can spin around and point at different things on the star but to be quite honest, w/out being in th room, I cant even tell you what any of the 'sayings' are! =)

[artparent]

i like the dress bucket idea too...sometimes folks get changed a lot here too. tell me you have a basement where you are hiding your actual stuff?!

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[CaliMommie]

Originally Posted by artparent

i see lowes is in canada - not near me! is it the ClosetMaid® Add-On Fabric Drawer that you've got? pictured in the ad on the top.

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Lowes is also in the U.S. We have one near us.

[amyamanda]

Anna, your house looks great! Thanks so much for sharing.

I love that your house is full of girls.

About the dress bucket, GMTA. I didn't get a pic of this posted, but we have two large rectangular baskets in our walk-in-closet sitting on top of the cedar chest. One for each girl's dresses. Once upon a time I pared them down to six dresses apiece, but they keep getting hand-me-downs. It was making me nuts trying to hang their dresses so I quit. We just toss them in the right girl's basket, provided it isn't dirty. Actually we used to have one dress basket in the living room instead, but now this works better for us.

And on a similar note, we had one drawer in our living room designated for girls' underwear! They often seemed to arrive in the living room needing new underwear, so I just stored their underwear there. Had to share that.

Good luck with your new little one! Looks like you're off to a very organized start.

[amyamanda]

Jess, your house is impressive!

I had to laugh because we did the *exact* same thing with the superyard in the playroom when my girls were toddlers. The boys needed a place for Playmobil and other small toys, so we partitioned off 1/4 of the playroom and called it the "gated area"...the littles weren't allowed in there until they could be reliably responsible with the small toys. When we took down the superyard it was like the end of an era in our house (we're done at four kids).

I love seeing that others have come to the same creative solutions for their families.

I am wondering, how do you attach your kids art to the fleece wall? I need an easy-to-change surface for kids' art. I don't really want to invest in corkboard.

I like that you have shelves designated for Lego creations. That turns them into art, instead of clutter.

[amyamanda]

Ann, your house barely looks like it has kiddos there all the time! Wow.

Keeping all the toys in the basement looks like it's a good trick for keeping the rest of the house uncluttered.

I am in complete awe of how empty your kitchen counters are. Also I love your open-layout. Does it help motivate you to keep the kitchen tidier, to have it open to the living room?

Nice job!

[Jess A]

rawbanana, your dress bucket idea is fantastic. DD would change a million times a day if she could . . . this makes a lot of sense.

[Jess A]

I had to laugh because we did the *exact* same thing with the superyard in the playroom when my girls were toddlers.

We call DS2 our raptor. Like the raptors in Jurassic Park, he tests the gate for the weak spots and usually manages to get through the sides. DH took him in the other day, supervised, so now of course he thinks he's allowed in there all the time . I know what you mean about it being the end of an era when it comes down . . .we're done at three.

I am wondering, how do you attach your kids art to the fleece wall? I need an easy-to-change surface for kids' art. I don't really want to invest in corkboard.

The fleece covers an unfinished wall . . . just the studs. So the art is thumbtacked into the studs. Ideally, we'd have finished that wall when we did the rest of the room, but it was the first time we every drywalled (and it shows), and we were fed up by then .

I like that you have shelves designated for Lego creations. That turns them into art, instead of clutter.

Thanks! I have since paired it down--buildling toys (tinker toys, LEGOs, and LEGO kits, and KNEX) are on the bottom shelf and creations on the top three. DS does sneak creations onto his shelf . . . and I have a hard time asking them to take apart things on which they've worked so hard.

Thank you for your nice comments!

[rawbanana]

Thanks guys=)
Actually I dont have too much 'stuff' downstairs but did realize that I didnt take pics of that! So I will do that later =) We have a small laundry room down there which is also our pantry and then the 'main room' has a large kidney shaped table which is for the littles obviously =) And a piano, a toy box, a book rack, rocking chair, rocking horse and a play kitchen. Oh and I also have an art easel tucked in the corner (under which is kept a large box of dress up clothes) and a set of shelves next to the piano holding things like paper/crayons, some homeschooling books and the lego box, so not TOO much stuff there. We only have one other room down there which is my craft room (stamping and hopefully some sewing once I learn how!), so it has my craft cabinet, a 5' table, my elliptical, my recumbent exercise bike and a tv (as well as other things now such as stuff that is being accumulated for our baby boy due in March)....all our 'storage stuff' is in the garage like our boxes of outgrown clothes...

It feels good to not be over cluttered =)

Our kitchen isnt too open to the other spaces, there is an opening to the hallway and one to the diningroom but I LOVE having clean counters =)

Anna

[rawbanana]

Ok, got some pics taken of my basement...if you view them in slideshow you cant see the captions =)
The basement pics are the first 10 pictures....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7769112@N03/?saved=1

Anna

[akwifeandmomma]

Originally Posted by rawbanana

Ok, got some pics taken of my basement...if you view them in slideshow you cant see the captions =)
The basement pics are the first 10 pictures....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7769112@N03/?saved=1

Anna

those walls! GORGEOUS!

[MonkeyPrincess]

Awesome, awesome pics, rawbanana! I love the colors on the walls. I had contemplated doing something like that in our play room, but wasn't thinking bold would be okay - your pics changed my mind.

Thanks for sharing. I enjoyed touring your house.

[Jess A]

rawbanana, the colors on your walls are fantastic!

[annethcz]

Originally Posted by amyamanda

Also I love your open-layout. Does it help motivate you to keep the kitchen tidier, to have it open to the living room?

OMgoodness, YES! I have to keep the kitchen clean, because if I don't, it's completely obvious the second anyone walks in the door. I do really struggle to keep the counters clean, though. It's amazing how quickly things accumulate!

Anna- lovely pics. I love the little cubby in your girls' room- my kids would LOVE that. And the colors in your basement make your home look so vibrant and full of energy