The great re-organization of 2011

We have a bit of an "space-issue" here in our house. I feel like I'm constantly organizing and reorganizing closets, drawers, and cupboards. It's hard to believe that we before our lovely home here in Indy we were living in a 800 square foot brownstone in Boston that literally had no halls! It's a constant struggle/battle and little by little we are getting things under control. The latest battle area was Lo's room. As she gets older she is needing her own space more and more, but as she gets older she seems to have more and more! It was time to get things under control. I often joke that it won't be long before I see her on an episode of Hoarders...but really I'm not totally joking! How one small child can have some many small, useless things is beyond me.

Here is the situation before the intervention:

This is her desk (awesome Goodwill find that will be redone once the weather cooperates)

Her already tiny closet where we crammed her armoire to give her more floor space in her room.

Her dresser and hutch. My helpful advice for those looking for baby furniture...don't buy baby furniture! It's only useful when you have a baby. Once they get bigger it's no longer practical. The top drawer looks big but it is ridiculously shallow and serves no useful purpose.

Lo also has an serious obsession with stuffed animals and they are taking over our lives. This is just a small sample. We actually have 3 plastic bins, one large basket and a laundry tub full of them in our playroom.

This is her bookshelf

Before we even started we headed to the dollar store to get some colorful storage bins. I really wanted Lo to be part of the whole process. It would have been much easier without her, with much less crying and whining (from both of us), but I wanted her to start taking responsibility for her things.

This is Lo in the painstaking task of deciding which things to keep and which to toss. Literally we fought over EVERY item. There was a lot of, "But it's my most favorite toy ever."

She only has two wrists...how many silly bands does one little girl need?!?!?

Four hours later we could see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Closet organized and too small clothing removed-Check!

All Polly Pockets, Squints, My Little Ponies, Barbies and Littlest Pet Shop toys organized-Check

Find a purpose for ridiculously small top drawer-Check

Bookshelves organized-Check

Ahhhhh....so much better! Not sure how long the wonderful organization will last, but for now it's heaven.