An organized entryway...

I love entertaining. I love filling my home with friends and family and sharing good laughs and food. Our home has an open concept layout which is great for entertaining, however, we didn't have a good spot for guests to place their belongings such as coats and purses. We have a coat closet but it is not placed by the entrance. Even for our family it is difficult not having "drop zone" where you can come in take off shoes coats etc. So with the holidays and holiday parties coming I decided to get my wheels turning. I didn't want to spend much money on creating an entryway "drop zone" so I searched my home for items I could use to create this area. Right by our door on the right as you enter there is a space I could use for this new entryway I wanted to create. I had a console table there which I could move to make the space more functional. Here's what I came up with...

I used an old coat rack I wasn't using and painted it the same color as our walls making it blend in nicely. Then I screwed our his and hers baskets into the wall. I slid a shoe tray under this little bench we had in our basement and voila an organized entryway for FREE!!

Our keys hang right by the door so we can conveniently put them where they belong as we walk in.

Our his and hers baskets work so well for us that I wanted to make sure they were a part of our entryway.

This bench works as a place for guests to place their belongings and it's also a great spot for my kids to sit while they put their shoes on. The shoe tray slides nicely under the bench so we can keep our boots and shoes right by the door.

I knew what elements I wanted to have for our entryway, a coat rack, key hook, his and hers baskets, a place to put shoes, and a bench. I was lucky enough to find what I needed to complete this little project right in my own home! We love our new "drop zone" and have already had guests over who love the convenience of our new entryway. I would love to hear how you organize your entryway!!!

Storing hand me downs...

I love hand me downs! Especially baby clothes because those little bundles of joy sure do grow fast so their clothes barely get used making hand me downs practically new. With two boys hand me downs are a given. I am pretty particular on hand me downs though and want to make sure my younger son still has descent clothes. This being said I try to take very good care of my older son's clothes in anticipation that they will soon be used again by my younger son. Of course some clothes get torn and stained (especially active boys clothes) but the clothes that are in good condition I save for Blake. This makes for a lot of clothes and the storing process is very important not only to keep them organized but also to make sure they stay in good shape. I was using plastic bins to keep all of our hand me downs in but before long plastic bins were taking over all our closet space and creating too much clutter. So I decided to try the "space bags" out...

The space bags come in different sizes (we used the large size for clothes) and all you do is put the clothes in the bag and vacuum seal them once they are full.  They hold soooo many clothes and keep them all air tight keeping them safe from insects and dust.

I organized the clothes by size then put a label on the bag.

They slide right under my son's bed where they are out of the way and also very easily accessible.

Space bags have made organizing and storing our hand me downs sooo simple! We just love them!! How do you store your hand me downs?

The dreaded laundry...

I want to apologize for taking so long to post something! It's been a busy few weeks but I have a lot of plans for this little blog of mine so please stay tuned! I hope everyone had a great Halloween! We had sooo much fun with the kids! Dylan (our 4 year old) was Batman and Blake (our 1 year old) went as a dragon. They had so much fun trick or treating and I think we had just as much fun! My mom and dad were able to join us and that just made their night! O.K. O.K. enough rambling, now for the topic of this post...LAUNDRY ughhhhh! Is it just me or is laundry like the worst chore EVER?! I have always had a major problem keeping up with our laundry and as our family expands so does the laundry boooo!! I have tried different methods of keeping up with the laundry but they all ended in failure : ( Until the method we are currently using popped into my head one day. With most problems that I have (and can do something about) I usually follow a few basic steps. 1. Identify exactly what the problem is. Which in this case is not so much putting the laundry in the washer and dryer but instead, folding it and putting it away. 2. Brainstorm. I usually write down my ideas. Any and all of them. 3. Then I look through my list of ideas and implement the ones I think will work best for our family until we find what works. So like I said, we tried a few different ideas which didn't work for us before trying the method that we are currently using and LOVE!! It is soooo simple but works sooooo well! So here it is our laundry system that actually keeps us on top of laundry!!

I bought these four laundry bins at the dollar tree. They fit right in our linen closet in our main bathroom (please excuse the ugly floors they are an upcoming project for us in the near future!) There is a bin for each family member and as soon as there is a full load it gets washed and dried. I take the clothes right from the dryer into whose ever room the laundry belongs to  and put it away. The reason this works so well for us is because it eliminates the need to fold and sort the clothes before putting them away. By just focusing on putting away one family members clothes at a time it cuts the "putting away" process in half! We have been doing our laundry this way for months and it is still working wonderfully for us : )  

Two little men and a princess!!

My hubby and I are, as you may or may not know, expecting our third child in March! We are sooo excited and defiantly could not wait to find out the gender of our baby. We are not so good at the whole waiting thing... So last week we anxiously went to our ultrasound appt. and once we knew our baby was perfectly healthy we wanted to know, PINK or BLUE!!! We have two little boys who we ADORE and would be so happy to have another, but I think deep down we were hoping for a little girl. So the results are in and we are happy to announce, IT'S A GIRL!!!!!! My husband had a feeling the whole time it was a girl but I thought for sure we would be blessed with another boy. When the ultrasound tech told us we will be having a girl I instantly I started dreaming of dresses, bows, ruffles, dolls and so on and so on! You see my boys are my world and I couldn't love them anymore if I tried! But knowing this is our last baby I'm excited to be able to experience raising a daughter also! My mom and I are incredibly close and I look up to her so much so it has always been a dream for me to have a daughter to share that mother daughter bond with. My older son was THRILLED because he has been wanting a sister since we told him we were expecting and our younger son is still to young to understand but I'm sure he will be just as happy! I feel so unbelievably blessed to have such an amazing husband who is already an amazing father and two boys who I love more than I think is humanly possible and now to be adding a little girl to the mix. My heart is filled with joy and I know with a wonderful daddy, a loving mommy and two of the best big brothers our daughter will be blessed as well!   So now that we know the gender of our baby the fun begins...SHOPPING!!!!

Hooked on hooks!

Hooks come in a variety of sizes and function. They are a great way to maximize your space inexpensively. Here are a few ways we use hooks to help keep our house organized and tidy.

My hubby is a "hat guy" so to keep them all together in an easily accessible place all I did was place small hooks behind his closet door and hung his hats there.

These are the hooks I used for the hats. I got them from Walmart they came in a pack of 8 for .97 cents! Now that's what I call an inexpensive upgrade!!

We have a small coat closet and needed a place for our frequently used bags and our son's back pack. The answer...well hooks of course! We use an over the door hook to keep some of our bags and we wanted to place our son's back pack lower so he can reach it and easily put it back so we used a command hook.

There is nothing worse than being in a rush and realizing it's raining then trying to search for an umbrella. To save us from this annoyance I used a small hook that screws into the wall to keep our umbrellas. I put this hook inside our coat closet. It's easy to grab on the go and we never have to search for them again.

Inside cabinet doors are a great place to keep all of those things that you use on a regular basis. We keep our measuring cups and pot holders here. Again, they are easily accessible and never get lost in drawers.

Key hooks are a must in my opinion. To create this key holder I used screw in hooks that you can find cheap at any home store and then just added the key above for decoration. If you get in the habit of keeping your keys on the hook you will never have to search for missing keys again!

Our home doesn't have a closet we could use for cleaning supplies so instead we hung this utility rack and keep everything organized in our basement stairwell. These utility racks are great because there are a lot of different hooks you can use and it's very sturdy.

My closet is pretty full with clothes so I use an over the door hook to keep my most used purses.

I love chunky necklaces but they can be tricky to keep organized so I use this key hook and place my chunky necklaces on that. It separates them and keeps all in one spot.

 

 Here you have just a few ways we use hooks in our home. Hooks are inexpensive but they can really make a difference when trying to utilize the space in your home. The possibilities are endless and we are always coming up with new ways to organize with hooks! I would love to hear how you use hooks to organize!

Just for kids!

When we first moved to our house and organized our kitchen I put all of the kid's dishes, silverware, straws etc. in with ours. Every time our son wanted to help by getting his own plate or silverware he needed our help. I got my wheels turning and thought of a way so he could easily access his own dishes, cups, silverware etc. After all we are supposed to be raising independent little people...right?! I always encourage independence it gives them confidence in knowing they can do something without mom and dad's help and it also makes our job a little easier! Yay for that!! So here's what I came up with as a solution...

We have a lazy susan which I hated using for food. So instead I converted the top shelf into our kid cabinet! I found these neat little bins from you guessed it the Dollar Tree and it nicely separates their bowls from plates.

We keep their cups, sippys and silverware in this bin.

And straws and ice cream bowls in this bin.

 By separating their dinnerware in categories it allows them to easily see and grab what they need. My older son is four and he sets his own place at the table and helps me unload his dishes from the dishwasher. It is a great way to foster independence along with confidence. We love our kid cabinet and I strongly suggest creating a special spot for all your kids dinnerware! I would love to hear where you keep your kid's plates, cups, silverware, etc. 

Fall decorating on a dime.

I love everything fall! The colors, the weather, the smells, just EVERYTHING about fall! Needless to say it would be very easy for me to go overboard with decorating for the season. As you all know we are a one income household so that means we live on a budget and I'm always trying to find ways to stretch a dollar. Here are some fall decorations that I've found for pennies!

I put together this fall festive candle by using leaves and berries that I found at the Dollar Tree. I just placed them in a vase I already had and added the candle.

This arrangement was made up by Dollar Tree flowers, pumpkins I found at Walmart, berries, and pine cones.

The pumpkins came in a large pack from Walmart I put some in the vase and then scattered the rest around my house.

This was made again by using Dollar Tree flowers and branches I found right in my yard.

Here's another Dollar Tree arrangement this time I used a smaller vase so I just cut the stems down to size.

Yet again more flowers from the Dollar Tree! This time I stuck them in a plant I already had

The small pumpkins add a touch of color throughout our home.

Last but not least you can't forget about kitchen towels. I found these at Walmart for 98 cents!!!

Without spending much money at all I put together these fall decorations that add some warm colors to our home. Don't forget to look right outside your house for inspiration. By using branches, leaves, acorns and pine cones you can get creative and make some beautiful seasonal decorations for free! How do you decorate for fall?