After an exhausting morning one day last week, I went into the office to check email and baby girl came in and snagged a stack of post-its. Apparently she went into the TV room and passed out but I never figured out who took apart all of the post-its. That cute little boy looks awfully guilty. But of course blame it on the sleeping one!
Post-It Note Mayhem
New Blog In Town
I can't really say I have ever been "giddy" over finding a new blog. Not until now anyways. Remember Benita and Chez Larsson that I posted about here. Well she just started her own blog and I am excited about this one. She already has a post about organizing her craft supplies so go check it out. You can expect to see things about house and home, crafts, ORGANIZING and hopefully some how to's. Benita and her husband did an awesome job with their home and I would love to see how they did it all.
Product Review - Hecht Of An Organizer
For the past couple of months I have had the pleasure of trying out the Hecht of an Organizer. I waited to review this one because I wanted to give it a good test run to see how well it has worked for us.
First let me give you a proper introduction. The Hecht of an Organizer was created to be a portable office that could go with you. The organizer consists of two polyester covers that slide over all sides of a cardboard box. You do not see the box at all, it is completely covered. The cover is sturdy, water resistant and machine washable. The cover has 18 pockets to store all of those loose items like pens, scissors, tape, keys, etc. The organizer comes assembled with the box, you do nothing but start using it.
For portability there are two carrying handles with Velcro tabs that you can unfasten when not in use.
Personally, I did not use it for it's office on the go capabilities. I found a need for it at my house and it has worked wonders. I use it as sort of a command central. I have a file tote with hanging file folders for each family member. When the mail comes in, it gets separated into each person's file folder. (after the junk is tossed of course!) When my oldest son gets home from school we go through his papers and he "downloads" all of the keepers into his file folder.
I keep all of my son's homework needs in the organizer so he can easily find them all in one place. Right now we have paper, pencils, crayons, glue, pencil sharpener, calculator, and post-its stored in the pockets. Oh, and daughter's hair bow clipped to a pocket. The pockets are great to keep everything organized and in its place for easy access. He does not have to rummage around to find what he needs to complete his homework. We keep the organizer on our kitchen counter and when guests come over all we have to do is tuck it in a cabinet below to clear off the space.
I had intended to also try the organizer as a car caddy for the kids and their toys, books, ect. My daughter leaned on the organizer one day and I saw the box start to buckle under her. I really don't think it would have held up to my little ruffians in the car. But the good news is that if you register your organizer replacement boxes are available "for years to come."
Extra bonus here! If you are all about helping the environment, and who's not, Linda Hecht the creator of the Hecht of an Organizer received the Green Award at this years LA Organizing Awards ceremony for Most-Eco Friendly Organizing Product. Way to go Linda! Not only was the organizer designed to be super durable and very portable, it was also designed to "help support the environment by facilitating the use of recycled cardboard boxes, and the use of new boxes made from renewable material."
For $35.00 this organizer is top notch and I would definitely give it two thumbs up!
Knee Wall Spaces
Last week's stair storage ideas reminded me of another common under used "potentially fabulous" space in the home. Knee walls! In our next home we would really like to have all of the bedrooms downstairs and have one room upstairs for an office. All of the houses we looked at have the "bonus room" with the knee walls.
This space is a lot like the staircase in that you could build in storage and have it recessed into the wall, much like this home office.
If you are lacking closet space which most of these types of rooms do, you can build in cabinets and drawers to use as a wardrobe.
In this kid's room kitchen cabinets are repurposed and built into the wall. This is beautiful and provides plenty of storage. By using glass drawer fronts you can see the contents and add a little color to the space. Hanging clothes in them wouldn't work for long but for babies and toddlers, not a bad idea. What a great idea for a home office as well.
If we do end up with an office that has knee walls I would probably line our two desks along one wall and use the other wall for storage. I could fit a couple of bookshelves along the wall but I just love the "built in" look. The only con to a built in is that it is a more permanent option.
Do you have a knee wall in your room(s)? I would love to see how you use this space in your home or office. Feel free to send links in the comment sections or email me pictures of your spaces and I will feature them here. Thanks so much for all of your ideas!
[photos from top to bottom: 1,2) Taunton Home's New Built-Ins Idea Book 3,4) Better Homes & Gardens
Weekend Getaway
It seems like this year is just a big year for birthday celebrations. A couple of months ago we went to Denver for my uncle's 50th and this past weekend we went to Indiana for my great uncle's 80th. Once again hubby and I headed out for a kid free weekend.
On Friday we landed in Chicago and my husband treated me to a little shopping excursion on Michigan Avenue for Mother's Day. It was a little chilly but well worth it. We stopped off for a bite to eat at Uno Pizza which serves excellent deep dish pizza. So yummy!We then headed to LaPorte Indiana and stayed at the lovely Arbor Hill Inn. Anytime my husband and I travel without the kids we try to stay in a bed and breakfast. I just love the atmosphere and the Arbor Hill was like a home away from home. I waited until the last day to take pictures and of course it was pouring when we left but you can check it out here. In each room they keep a journal for the guests to write in and share their experiences. It was interesting looking back and seeing where people traveled from and why they were in town.
On Saturday the birthday party was amazing. The party was catered by the LaSalle Grill and they also had Cold Stone Creamery come and dish out the ice cream. YUM!
My uncle is an avid fisherman and this cake was perfect for him. I bet is tasted as good as it looked but I went for the "Chocolate Devotion" ice cream.
The theme of the party was "Around the World in 80 Years" and they had hot air balloon rides! Unfortunately it got a little windy so we couldn't go up far. The balloon was tied down but they allowed us to go up about 20 feet.
Here is my cousin... she has jumped out of a plane before but a balloon makes her nervous. Go figure! 
And what is a party without Marilyn Monroe? She stopped in to sing to the birthday boy. Here is my grandfather trying to get a piece of the action. :) Isn't he just the cutest thing!The party went from 12 to 5 and everything went beautifully, not a dull second. For a minute or two I wished the kids had come but as I watched my cousins chase after their children I remembered why we decided to leave them with my mom. We had a lovely weekend with actual grown-up interaction! The best part was coming home on Mother's Day and having those little arms wrapped around my neck as they greeted me. Then an hour later they got hungry and tired, the whining began and I was ready to book the next flight back to that little bed and breakfast!
I hope you all of you mommies out there had a wonderful Mother's Day!
Stairway Storage
Kari & Kijsa wrote a post asking their readers to share what they do with that "potentially fabulous" space under the stairway.
All to often that space under the stairs is wasted or at least half of it ends up as a coat closet like ours. Our home builder also thought it was the perfect place for a thermostat and a huge air vent. In our next home I am hoping we will have a space under the stairs that we can actually use. I personally think it is prime real estate. There are so many options and here are a few I have been collecting.
Built in shelving under the stairs with a pull down work table.
Shelving with baskets to hold table linens, magazines, and toys. Or what about using this area as a recycling center and line the baskets with plastic so they do not get ruined. The large baskets on the bottom shelf would be perfect for newspapers.
Pull out shelves used in a basement for storage. However, I would love having a pull out drawer like this near the entryway for shoes.
A built in office space with drawers next to it for supplies. Maybe even build in a file cabinet. Wouldn't that be lovely?
And let's not forget about Benita's lovely closet space under the stairs.
What other ideas can you come up with? Great topic Kari & Kijsa!
[photos from top to bottom: 1) Better Homes & Gardens 2) Better Homes & Grdens magazine January 2008 3) Storage Projects You Can Build, 1977 4,5) Taunton Home's New Built-Ins Idea Book]
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