The neverending task of household management...

I'm forever trying to find better ways to keep our home running more or less smoothly with a minimum of effort (hmmm, I wonder if that is any good for my waistline, but let's not dwell too long on that thought...).

I really don't like visual mess. Being very short sighted probably plays into it, but I'm also a visual person and I need visual order to feel peaceful. I like the flow of the house to be practical and also convenient, so I'm always on the look out for areas in the house that aren't "working". I can usually tell they're not working because stuff piles up in those places, either because the stuff is being used at a distance from where it belongs (and so people aren't inclined to put the stuff away once used) or because the place where the stuff is being used is too cramped...

So, anyway, recently I realised I wasn't doing a lot of my writing work because the books I should be referring to were in the study, and the study has more or less been overtaken by Dave and his various hoards (he calls it not throwing out stuff you might need later, I call it hoarding)...

Another issue that had arisen lately was the overflow of books on Bryn's shelves, and the fact that the mostly up, these days, Ari kept pulling out and dumping Bryn's books all over the floor.

As well as this, Bryn was also outgrowing his toddler bed and needed to convert to a full length single, meaning I had to find a place for the drawers that usually make up part of the length of his bed...

So, having sized up the "problems", I decided I needed an 8 cubby Expedit bookcase from Ikea for the boys room to replace their 16 cubby bookshelf, which I would put in the dining room to house some of my books from the study, as well as Bryn's book and toys - leaving Bryn's old toy corner of the loungeroom available for Ari's ever growing collection of his own toys, as well. I also needed a full length mattress for Bryn's bed.

So, here are the before and after photos... These were all taken today :)...

Starting from the left of the entrance to the boys' room. This table was constantly collecting clutter, so I moved it to behind their bedroom door, for putting the Lego storage units on top of. I put the 8 cubby shelf in place of the table and have stored the Thomas TTE box, and the Duplo box, as well as Bryn's Lego on top of these shelves. Erik's boxes are in black, and Luey's in red, each set closer to where their beds are in the room.

Bryn's Bunkers convert-a-cot/lower bunk, became a single, and drawers became a play table between his and Luey's bunk and Erik's bed...


Erik's bed that had been under the window was moved 90 degrees to along the adjoining wall (where the 16 cubby Expedit bookcase had been).
The bookcase with the Lego storage on top was moved to the dining room, and the Lego storage was set on top of the little table.


And here you can see where the bigger bookcase ended up, with my books on the top row of cubbies, then Bryn's, then a row of toy storage container for Bryn, then the bottom row has miscellaneous larger toys in it.

Bryn's corner is now Ari's corner and was decluttered of books and Ari's toys were laid out for him (used to all be in that white container) so he can see them to play with them! He was mightly impressed with all his "new" toys (rediscovered toys, that is)...
Here, I just got rid of my knitting bag out of what was essentially Ari's play shelf, LOL...


And the overall look of the lounge/dining area now...

I have to say, this is the first time in about 8 years we've had grown up books in our living area, and I just can't wipe the smile of my face whenever I look at the bookcase. It's just feels so good to see MY books out in plain view again!!!