Clutter Crushing ~ The Laundry Room

With eight children, you can imagine that laundry is a big deal around our house. I have been planning a Clutter Crushing makeover for a while now and am so excited to call this room complete.

Let's start with a BEFORE picture...

     As with the other rooms in the house, the laundry room had obviously gotten out of hand.  Now to be fair, part of the reason for the multitude of bags on the floor was that our dryer was not working properly and our laundry pile had been backing up.  But other than that, there were several issues of organization and function that needed to be worked through.

1.  I desperately needed a system of washing, drying, and folding that could easily be maintained even by my oldest children who trade out the chore of helping with the laundry.

2. I needed organization to rid the clutter!  The laundry room had become a catch-all for many items that didn't have a place, but certainly didn't belong in the laundry room.

3.  I wanted the space to be pretty and inviting.  After all, maybe that would motivate me to want to be in there more often.... I said **maybe**!

    Thanks to some awesome friends, we got our dryer up and working again and got caught up with our laundry.  In the meantime, I painted and Chad hung up extra shelving. A few fun bins and we had accomplished our task!

     These are the pics I took as soon as we loaded the bins onto the shelf, but before the laundry room was back in full-swing mode of operation.  You can see that the extra shelving has added a ton of storage space.  Previously, that was all just wasted space.

     I love the fun blue and green, but am even more excited about the function of the new laundry system thanks to all of those wonderful bins.  Each of the five larger bins are used as soon as the laundry is dry.  I can pull an item out of the dryer and immediately fold it and place it in the correct bin.  There is one for each bedroom in the house (master, boys' room, girls' room, nursery) and one to be taken to the linen closet. 

     Each bin has a small mesh bag for undies and other small items that are hard to fold.  Once a day the kids are responsible for getting their bins from the laundry room, taking them to their rooms and putting their clothes away, then bringing the empty bins back.  So far this system is working beautifully!

     Previously, we only had one dirty clothes hamper and that was clearly not enough!  Also, I wanted a system of dividing the clothes into lights, darks, and towels to make it easier for my laundry helpers to throw the appropriate clothing in the wash.  So we purchased three new hampers.  (You can see the third in picture above.)

Finally, we are using these bins as our "sock baskets".  I'm not sure that all families can fully understand the craziness of matching socks for 10 people.  I try to simplify this task by only purchasing white socks for the kids.  The goal is for each child to leave the house wearing a pair of socks that sort of match and sort of fit.  I don't have the time or the brain power to figure out which socks belong to each child.  Instead, I now have two sock baskets that hold our "matched socks" and one that holds "unmatched socks".  If they need a pair, they just grab them from the laundry room.

Once the organization and function was complete, I wanted to turn my focus toward a little decorating.  I searched Pinterest and Etsy for inspiration.  I found several fun canvas photos that I liked, but didn't have the funds to spend $20-40 a piece for them.  So, I just made my own.

 

     I was pleasantly surprised at the easiness of this project!  I found some free clipart online (the laundry pins and the baskets) and used my digital scrapbooking program to create these four 8x10 prints.  I sent them to a one-hour printing shop since our printer is out of ink which cost me a little less than $10.  I had four unused 11x14 canvases that I had purchased several months ago (2 for $6) and painted them brown.  I glued the prints to the center and applied a coat of mod-podge over each canvas.

     SO thrilled with the results!  These prints were exactly what I wanted and I got them for a fraction of the cost by making them myself!

     We've been using our new laundry room for a little over a week now and it's still staying clean, organized, and functional!

Check out my other Clutter Crushing makeovers:
The Medicine Cabinet
Under the Bathroom Sink
The Pantry
The Linen Closet
The Shoe Closet 

*Update*

Several people have been asking if I could share the images I created for my laundry room decor. I am posting them below. Feel free to right click and save the images to your computer. Please use them for personal use only. You may not sell my images. I hope this is helpful to you.

 
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Clutter Crushing ~ The Shoe Closet

     Once upon a time there was a Mama with many children. Early in the morning they would all rise to begin their day. Inevitably, at some point, the mama and her children would need to run an errand.

     "Load up into the van!" Mama's voice would ring throughout the house.

      A chorus of replies would quickly follow from her many children...

      "I can't find my shoes!" 
      
       "Mom, where are my shoes?" 

      "Can I just wear one shoe?"
 
      An hour later they would all load into the van. Some had shoes. Some did not.

     But Mama had a solution. There was a coat closet right next to the front door and Mama instituted a punishable-by-death-if-not-followed rule: When entering the house all children must immediately remove shoes and place them in the shoe closet.

     For the most part this worked, but there was still a problem.  Did I mention that this Mama had many children?

     You maybe couldn't tell by looking at the coats hanging in the coat closet.

     But that was only because Mama's many children couldn't manage to keep their many coats hung up and they were all thrown on top of the many, many shoes that piled up at the bottom of the closet.  This meant that when Mama yelled, "It's time to load up into the van!"

     She still heard...

       "I can't find my shoes!" 
      
       "Mom, where are my shoes?" 

      "Can I just wear one shoe?"

     Surely a solution could be found.  With the help of a brave knight named Daddy, Mama searched high and low and found a shelving system meant for garage storage.  The knight and his squires quickly put it together and within the hour all was well in the kingdom again...

   

     And they all lived happily ever after!

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Clutter Crushing ~ The Linen Closet

This post has moved. I'm sorry about the inconvenience. You can find the post at the following link:

Clutter Crushing the Linen Closet

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Clutter Crushing ~ The Pantry

    First, it was the medicine cabinet. Then came the organization of under the bathroom sink. But I think we saved the best clutter crushing makeover of the weekend for last. 

     Yep, that's our pantry.  I'm sure you think this picture is staged to look purposely bad, right?  Nope.  That's really how bad it had gotten.  Take it in in all its disorganized glory.

     Now, are ready for this?!  Drumroll, please...

     Oh, yes, I did go back to the Dollar Store!  And Chad thought I was surely losing my mind while purchasing all those dollar bins.  Not now!

     Oh, it is just so lovely!

     I have to say, I really had no plan before starting.  If you are going to attempt something similar, I would suggest just going to the Dollar Store, seeing what storage solutions they have, and buy more than you think you'll need.

     These are pencil holders from the Dollar store.  Perfect for spices!

     The shelving system sitting on the floor there (with the bread) is actually a shoe rack.  It fit well and gives us more shelf space.  I purposely chose round baskets for the corner space and large baskets for the top shelf and floor.

     I certainly had a few "take a deep breath" moments during this organization process.  Seeing the entire contents of my pantry dumped on my kitchen floor was overwhelming to say the least.  But the finished product was sooooo worth the stress ...and the $35 in bins.

     I'm off to go do a happy dance in front of my pantry again!
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Toy Storage System

I mentioned last time that I would tell you about our new "Toy Storage System", so here goes...

How anyone could ever assume that my children could be deprived of all the "fun of childhood" because it would "be impossible to buy toys for all those kids" is beyond me. Let me just tell you... in... all... honesty, this past Christmas we had to drive two vehicles to our family Christmas events. One for the kids. One for the toys.

So, our toy situation was getting way out of control. We had been using our bonus room as a play room and school room. We had about 10 or 12 large bins of toys, plus the walls were lined with toys as well. Toys were constantly getting lost and broken within days of receiving them, plus they were littered all throughout the house.

Along with our new learning centers came a declaration...TOYS WERE BEING REMOVED FROM THE BONUS ROOM. Where were they going? TO TOY STORAGE! Toy storage is actually just a room in our basement that is not being used. We haven't had the time to organize it yet, so my husband and the kids have literally just stuffed the toys in there for now.

So what exactly does this mean?

Here are my rules for Toy Storage:

1. Toys that are in Toy Storage can NOT be played with.

2. Once a week, all children will travel to Toy Storage and will be allowed to pick 3 toys to keep upstairs in the bonus room to play with FOR ONE WEEK. (Not including L1 -we keep a small tote of baby toys upstairs at all times for her- that is 5 children picking 3 toys each. 15 toys fit nicely in two large totes and is surely enough to keep the kids occupied for a week.)

3. Once the toys have been picked, there is absolutely no "trading" of toys that are in Toy Storage. The children simply have to wait a week to retrieve a different toy.

4. Toys must be shared with siblings regardless of who picked it.

5. If an argument breaks out over a toy, or if I find it lying on the floor unused (out of place) the toy will get its name written on the board/a check by its name. If the toy gets two checks by its name, it goes back to toy storage for the rest of the week.

6. If a child is "caught being good", there is a possibility that we will allow that child to "rescue" a toy from toy storage, but this will happen no more than one time per week per child.

Believe it or not, there was actually no wailing or gnashing of teeth when we announced these new rules. For over a week now we have been using this system and both kids and mom are very pleased with it! My schoolroom (and the rest of the house) are staying very clean without the toy clutter. Plus, I honestly feel like the kids are taking better care of their toys now that they only have a limited time to play with them. It's success all around!

On another note, I mentioned in the last post that I want to freshen up our school room with paint. Here's the room:

I'd like to use black chalkboard paint for the two long low walls. I plan to paint the tall walls and ceiling with a pale yellow to brighten things up. My husband laughed and said that it would look like the inside of a school bus. What do you think? Should I nix the yellow paint and go with a different color?? Pin It Now!

Our New Learning Centers

Oh, have we been busy around here!

We just started our first week of school on Monday...I know what you're thinking - "It's June, Shanna!"

Well, here's the thing. Baby #7 is due to arrive in early September. So, we could take a Summer break now...when it's hot and humid and yucky outside. (My current almost third trimester state has no bearing on the "yucky" status of summer days...I have always thought 95 degrees and humid is yucky.) And then we could break again in September, because we all know I won't be up to homeschooling then. This would put us way behind and totally stress me out...

Or we can get a headstart on the school year now and wait to break until September and October. I'll have a full 2 months to adjust to a household of 9 without the worry of school and my kids can actually enjoy full 75 degree fall days! I pick that one!

So, with the new school year also came the need to tweak our schoolroom a little...actually a lot. We spend about half of our school day in this room. I like to have a space that all the kids can be in at once to do individual studies in the morning. After lunch our school is spent doing art and science experiments around the kitchen table and reading books curled up on the couch.

So this is our updated school room. It's a bonus room/playroom over our garage. Truly it has been greatly improved (I should have taken before pictures), but you have to see my vision because its not quite finished. It's biggest need right now is a fresh coat of paint. Chad has agreed to let me paint the two long low walls with black chalkboard paint...I mean seriously why not just embrace drawing on walls if you can't stop it? The tall walls and ceiling will be pale yellow.


This is the play area for E2 and L1 while we are schooling. Just last week the walls in this room were lined with tubs and tubs of toys. We have now implemented a "toy storage" system that truly deserves a post all its own so I won't go into detail now. But our toys have been reduced to this small area. I simply rotated the tubs in away to give the littles a blocked off place to play without distracting the big kids while they were working.


Our school area is still pretty similar to what is has been. A bookshelf to hold all the curriculum we currently use, white boards, 2 desks in the front for kids that are working with mom, and two desks...one to the left and one to the right (you can only see the black chairs) for students who are working on independent studies.

To explain the rest of the room you should know that things were becoming very chaotic in our morning school. Lots of toys meant lots of mess. The little kids were being very distracting to the older ones (and to me as I was trying to work one on one with the older ones). And then the older kids were finishing their independent studies before I was ready to work with them one on one and were left with nothing constructive to do, so they were becoming distracting as well.

My answer? Learning Centers! I've created 5 small spaces that the kids can go to when they are not working on "school work". Funny thing is, they are being quiet, working diligently at each center (though they think they're playing), and are definitely still learning!

The front right corner of the room has been transformed into our reading nook...

Okay, I know its not very pretty...yet. BUT it's very cozy! G8 curled up here for at least a half an hour today to read in peace. All you really need is a bookshelf with books (turned sideways) and a couple of pillows.


Our art center is just a really small table. (I think revamping this kid's chair needs to be a future art project!) I put a plastic mat underneath the table. And then I just put a few pieces of construction paper, scrapbook paper, and a pencil holder with a pen, a pair of scissors, and a glue stick. Like the rest of the centers, I will change the materials out periodically to keep things interesting.


Learning Center #1 is pretty simple right now, but the kids haven't seemed to notice. I put out a basket of pattern blocks (their favorite math manipulative!) and a scale. I added a few file folder games as well.


So eventually, I'd like the centers to be a little more colorful like this one. I printed off all of these fun activities about plants FREE from Sparklebox ... which is full of ideas for workboxes and learning centers. I also like the idea of having at least one "themed" Learning Center at all times...sort of like a unit study on a table.


Here's a close up of the activities...plant words, dandelion life cycle cards, organize plants by height, coloring and craft sheets, a letter match game, and a wildflower field guide.


Learning Center 3 fits in a box! The rule about this center is the child must sit on the floor in one spot while playing with the box's contents and use the lid as a tray or "table top". I did not fill the box, but instead put only a few things inside...a baggie of magnet letters, a box of magnetic marbles that link together, and a baggie with noodles, yarn, and a timer. Each of these activities have instruction cards with them. For example the baggie with noodles has a card that says, "Can you string the noodles before the time runs out?"

These learning centers have really made our school a more peaceful place the past couple of days. I can finally work one on one with each of the kids while the other ones are occupied and within eyesight! Praise God for small miracles!

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Kids' Chore Chart

I was recently flipping through my Rainbow Resource catalog and was drawn in by the section on chore chart systems. I have been desperate to find a chore system that works for our family. G7 and A6 are definitely old enough to be of real help around the house. And with six kids, I'm in need of real help! However, after attending the CHEK conference (particularly the vendor hall), I am now FORBIDDEN to purchase any more homeschool related items for the upcoming school year. So, it was time to get creative...



First, I have been wanting to create flip charts for the kids for some time. I made one for each of the kids to use for their morning routine and bedtime routine. I wanted them to be able to follow the routine without me having to tell them what to do each step of the way (and without them "forgetting" important parts of the routine...like teeth brushing). I found these index cards already hole punched and on a ring for 75 cents at Wal-Mart. I just printed out some clip art and pasted an activity on each index card. Once they complete the activity, they flip the card to see what to do next. Below is what I included:

Morning Routine
Make bed.
Get dressed.
Put dirty clothes in hamper.
Put clean clothes away in drawers.
Open blinds.
Put water cup in sink. (The kids keep water cups by their beds at night.)
Brush teeth.
Brush hair.
Read Bible.

Bedtime Routine
Put on pajamas.
Clean playroom.
Brush teeth.
Pray.




Next, I made a family chore chart. Basically, E4 and H3 switch off daily between 4 chores: One of them cleans the family room and is the kitchen helper (helps Mommy prepare meals and deliver them to the table) and the other wipes down the table after meals and is on Clutter Control (simply throwing away dirty diapers and picking up any trash that "magically" appears on the floor).

G7 and A6 switch off daily between the following tasks: One does dishes after lunch and folds laundry. The other actually does the laundry (putting in/taking out of washer/dryer), puts the dry dishes away into cabinets, and is the babysitter (helps me with the 2 little ones throughout the day).

We also have Saturday Chores (listed on the back of the chart). G7 wipes down the bathrooms with Lysol wipes and vacuums. A6 dusts and cleans windows/mirrors. E4 sweeps the porch. And H3 wipes off the walls and baseboards with a wet cloth.

I decided that the kids would earn points for doing their chores (mostly it is too expensive to give an allowance to everyone in our large family!) They earn one point each day if they do all their chores for the day. Saturday they earn two points (one for their regular chores and one for Saturday chores). And Sunday we rest which means no chores and no points. They can use their points for certain "rewards". We have a whiteboard in our pantry where we keep a tally of points. So far, these are the rewards they can use their points on:

Rewards
10 points:
Invite a friend to stay the night.

5 points:
Stay up 30 minutes late.
Pick a candy at the grocery store. (This is not a special trip to the grocery store to get candy, just if we happen to be there.)

3 Points:
Pick out your own movie at the movie store. (Again not a special trip and our movie store has free movie rentals for kids.)
20 minutes video/computer game time.
Play a game with Daddy.
Special Arts/Craft time with Mommy.

1 Point:
One piece of candy/special snack.

Right now has been a good time to start all of this because of the flexible summer schedule. It allows me the time to actually train them in all of the chore areas. They're picking it up quickly. Pin It Now!