We’ve been living with the new house arrangement for almost two weeks now though it took a solid week to get all the little things organized and put away. Not everything is in its exact right spot quite yet and like I’ve said before, we still have painting to do and a few projects to finish, but it’s completely liveable and comfortable.
This post got a little long so I broke it up into two posts to keep you from getting so bored you contemplate sniffing straight coffee grounds. The second post will go up later today.
This whole house switcharoo began after a conversation with my mom (more on that here) and after reading an article from the Wall Street Journal called The Stuff of Families. The short piece details the findings of a study done on 32 families and their stuff for four years. Take note of the bold face information on the left about “Average Visible Possessions” and the bit on how much time people actually spent with their outdoor extras. Interesting, huh?
What stuck with me was the map at the bottom showing where people spent the most time in their home. Most of their time was spent in the kitchen or living room, near the computer and/or TV. After seeing that, it made sense to rearrange and make our house work better for us.
First up, the living/family room. Not much changed here but it is where we spend a lot of time together. I moved the red chair from where it sat to the right, out of frame, to in front of the shelf. The coffee table had been parked there since oh about February this year when Sweet J started walking. A few months ago, he figured out how to crawl behind it and get at the shelf anyway so it was silly to keep it there and I wanted use of the coffee table again.
Moving the red chair over helps deter curious fingers from the shelf (deter, although not totally prevent) and it opens up the space between the dining and the seating area. Sweet J didn’t care that I was taking pictures. He made it in many of the shots.
This point of view shows the spot, next to the table and lamp, where the chair once sat.
On to what is now the play room. It used to be our bedroom and is now home to all the children’s toys, games, the children’s table, the play kitchen I built a few years ago and our recliner sofa. The same sofa I almost died carrying. Not really but it was really, really heavy.
The floor of the play room looks like the photo above every day, five minutes after breakfast has concluded. I’m not sure how they do it but they have perfected their torn-up-room craft.
Cleaning up is an activity we do at least once a day, most of the time more. However, with this new arrangement, I am able to turn off the lights and pretend it’s clean even if it’s not if I want to. Not that I’ve ever done that. :) Toys, play food, fairies and numerous sports balls do migrate down the hall and into the family room and into my work space but I feel like it’s all more contained. We don’t have baskets here and tubs there. It’s all in one place.
One evening, MJ and I worked together to organize the toys, games and books into the closet. We haven’t purchased a lot of toys for our children and we monitor the items that are given to us, which we are so thankful to receive. I’ve told you I am heartless when it comes to over-abundance and unused excess. I just don’t like having it around.
As we put things away, we separated toys to put out now and toys to store for later. That way, when the children are in need of a change, I can swap out toys and they will seem new. The room is going to be painted shortly, thus the filled nail holes and bare walls.
My new workspace is in what used to be Bug’s room. The idea was to put my work space and a play area on the same floor so the children and I could play and work in harmony. It’s nice that the kitchen shares the same floor since I spend a lot of time there too. The walls are mostly bare still, except for the Wonder Wall.
Despite their new play space, this happens a lot. Thankfully, I like having them around. :)
Now for the cliffhanger! You know you love them.
Come on back and see the second half later today.
Take care.
