Making It Work

I have hit the Golden Months of pregnancy where I have a sudden surge of energy and motivation and things have been slowly changing around here.  I'm not just talking about laundry being more reliably done, or schedules being more stridently adhered to.  I'm talking about making it work - the shoe-horning of another person into this home that already can seem as if it is bursting at the seams.

1200 square feet.  That is what I am working with.  Certainly do-able.  The most important step to making it work was to stop complaining and start considering the possibilities.  This began by asking questions: Am I using this space to its best advantage? Do we have too much stuff?  Is it possible to look at this a different way?

As a result, I have been reconsidering everything, from who sleeps in which bedroom to whether or not every family member really needs their own dresser.  It has been a massive mind game, to be sure.  But that, of course, is part of the fun of it.  Here are some steps I've been taking to Making It Work: Project 7 People, 1200 sq. ft.

1) Dejunking.  Constantly.  And realizing that this means not just getting rid of junk, but getting rid of excess.  If my 7 year old cannot fit all of his clothes in his adult-sized dresser, yet continues to wear the same 5 outfits, we need to cut out the excess.

2) Stacking.  Children, that is.  Bunkbeds are the friend of the large family in small spaces.  I personally think it is good for children to share bedrooms - to go from sleeping near Mom and Dad to having someone in the next bed, reassuringly there all night long.  Stacking them just adds to the perks by saving space.

3) Organizing.  We actually bought 2 new bookshelves, a rare thing for us.  Thankfully Ikea is nearby and has great prices.  I chose white because they blend in well with our white walls and make this end of the room look larger than it actually is.  We are using them to house books, school supplies and anything else that can be neatly stacked.  Everything is much more easily accessible, which is great for now - and will probably need adjusting once we have a crawler in the house again!

4) Embracing Beauty and Usefulness.  I am really trying to live the old quote: have nothing in your home that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.  Of course the best of both worlds is when something is both!  In a home this full of people, things need to be worth the real estate they are taking up.

I am trying to assign one "extra" job per day, slowly working toward a more organized existence and trying to avoid burn out.  So far, so good.