What a difference a day can make!

It’s like day and night.

My sister-in-law (technically she’s not my sister-in-law, she’s my “brother-in-law’s wife”, but we bend the rules!) came over yesterday to help me clean the girls’ bedroom and move the crib in there to help me get a jump start on my project. Now that room is officially, “the KIDS room.” I’ll have to get used to saying that instead of the “girls’ room.” Temporarily, I have three toyboxes and two desks in my living room – but only temporarily! I have to have them out of there before Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. Today my plan is to get into the playroom and do as much as I can before having to move those things in there.

So without further ado, here are pictures from Step 1:

Before… And After!

Look at that floor space!

Before… And after!

You can’t see, but the floor in the closet is clean, too! Notice the shelves above! And the hats all hung in a row. On the wall beside the door is all the backpacks and totes.
The only thing left to do is go through the clothes and pull out things they can’t wear so the clothes they can wear will all fit and there won’t be any clothes folded and sitting on top!

Before… And After!!!

Beautiful!

Here’s a few other elements that I like about this room:

The baby’s bed is in here now… so far so good with that. 🙂 He’s had two naps in there and slept in there all last night with minimal fussing. Which is good, because I was worried about moving him to another room. There is a radio under his crib to block out noises when his sisters toss and turn at night. I guess it worked pretty well!

I added this shelf (right) on the wall between the closet door and the bedroom door to hold their nice dolls. Preferably by the end of the project it will be painted. I went ahead and put it up, though, so I could have a place to put the dolls and be able to take down the other shelf in the playroom.

I really like having the tv in this corner. It’s a much better arrangement. I pulled this (printer stand) out of my closet. It was serving (ineffectively) as a shoe stand, but it works much better for this purpose. (I might paint it white if time allows.) I have thier dvd case with their movies on the shelf next to the dvd player. I have used the other shelf and the floor below it for a couple of blankets and small pillows.

Also, in fron of the tv at the foot of thecrib are their sleeping bag chairs. These are pillowy chairs (with sleeping bags tucked inside) that are great for sitting and viewing and they are moveable around the room for sitting wherever they like — which they can now do with all their new floor space!! Eventually, ONE toybox will be going back in here, at the end of the bunk bed by the door. It will hold baby dolls and baby doll things.

Last but not least is their bed, and the canopy which I got hung up – again. Hopefully it will stay there this time. 🙂 Right now I am using a matching fitted sheet on top and the top sheet on the bottom, because I don’t have full-sized sheets, but bedding sets are on the list for Christmas gifts. Shhhh, don’t tell. =)

Wow! It doesn’t even feel like the same room! I wouldn’t have been able to get so much done yesterday if it weren’t for my sister-in-law!! (THANK YOU!) We got in there and just started picking up. We put everything toy-related into the toyboxes that were in there. We made a pile of dirty clothes outside the door and had the trash can handy for trash. We piled the blankets and pillows on the top bed for folding and putting away and hung the backpacks in the closet. Then we vacuumed and moved the furniture around before she had to leave. After she left (last night and this morning) I put away the bedding, made the beds, finished the closet and hung the shelf.

So, here’s the rest of my plan:

1. finish cleaning the baby’s closet and move the dresser in there.
2. pick up the floor and make stacks of the boxes to be gone through, and the toyboxes to be gone through.
3. Move the furniture around in the room to their new destinations.
4. Start going through the toys using the “three big boxes” method. 😉 And then do the same with the other boxes.
5. Start putting things where they go. Organizing along the way.
6. Finishing touches. If time allows and hubby consents, I might paint the walls with a quick and easy sponging treatment.

Well, off to a great start! With a start like that, the December 6th deadline isn’t quite as scary. But seriously, the satisfaction alone is soooo worth it.

God is good, all the time!

To read the previous post: The Mess That Lies Within; My 30 Day Organizational Challenge

To read the next post:  Day 2 of Cleaning, More about my 30-Day Challenge