Archives for September 2013

Playroom Organization {Settled In September}

September 20, 2013 by Jules Leave a Comment

I have posted in the past about our system of centers. I've even created center labels as well as names for the kids to "check in and out of" centers to try and maintain organization and get them to clean their own toys up. This worked for a while and Definitely works with large numbers of children {ie daycares/preschools} but it got a little legalistic in our house and I wanted to simplify when we moved.

This time I made new tags {and still have some to be completed} to label the baskets. I LOVE the baskets, bens, tubs, whatever you call these canvas things. They keep everything organized while making it simple to put things away- chunk it back into the basket!

Library Basket
Home Library {sorted}
Playdough Center
Electronic Center
Puzzle Center
Computer Center
Baby Toys
Ball Center
Music Center
Dress-Up Characters
Potato Heads
Wooden Blocks
Vehicles
Mega Blocks
Homeschool Supplies
Little People Center {village}
HIPPY School Work
Dress-Up Accessories

Inside our closet we have the Doll Shelf & the Dress-Up Costumes/Outfits as well as extra books {for higher level reading}, large toys {pop-up tent & tube}, and scrapbook supplies on the top shelf.

In case you were wondering:

red book basket {hanging on the wall}- $2 flea market find/spray painted planter
black bookshelves- Wal-Mart {similar to THIS tall one and THIS short one}
plastic book bins {on top of shelves}- oriental trading {wish I had a gazillion more}
labels- homemade printable {available at the end of the month}
square canvas bins {ON SALE}- target, home depot, anywhere I could find them cheap
rectangle canvas bin {one in doll shelf as well as other places throughout the house}- Wal-Mart {years ago}
doll house/shelf- handmade by my grandparents YEARS ago & revamped a few years ago
quilt rack {dress-up storage}- Pier1 as a wedding gift years ago

Filed Under: Cleaning, Decorating, Homemaker, Homeschool, Organizing, Parenting, Settled In September, The Ones about Post Series, The ones about the Rothacher Home

Schoolroom Organization {Settled In September}

September 19, 2013 by Jules Leave a Comment

In our school/playroom I have created spaces that will help us “do school” more easily. Don’t get me wrong, we don’t do 100% of our “school” in this room but its nice to have have a space to store these items.

In the corner where I’ve set up their preschool table, I have our “school corner”. This is where we are doing morning routine which includes:

Chores and rewarding “smilies” for those completed
Daily routine chart. We talk about what can be expected that day. They may also come look at this first thing in the morning if they can’t remember what they should be doing before school starts.
Calendar wall. Here we talk about the month, date, year, day of the week, weather, season, telling time with clocks

This table is also were we do most of our paper school work with coloring, handwriting, workbooks, etc.
On the other side of the room where our wall of shelves are, we have our library and other supplies organized among the other toys.

"Messy" or "get permission" supplies are of course up higher.

To see the rest of the school/playroom organization, read THIS post.

Filed Under: Cleaning, Homemaker, Homeschool, Organizing, Settled In September, The Ones about Post Series, The ones about the Rothacher Home

“Mud Room” {Settled In September}

September 18, 2013 by Jules Leave a Comment

Our laundry room is definitely a multipurpose room!

Not only do we have to do laundry daily, store cleaning tools, as well as keep it presentable for guest who may be welcomed into our home via the “laundry room”.

We finished the laundry aspect of this room as well as the “cleaning tools” both in shelves and on the wall. For storing larger tools, like our inside broom and mop, I stole a tool hanger from the garage that was already here when we moved in. Score! There were two so we still have one available for outdoor tools, like racks and shovels.

We plan to create a mud room on the other end of the laundry room. Of course, this space could have easily been made into a folding station or even a dirty laundry sorting zone but since this is the area where we will be coming in daily from the garage {and possibly bring guest through}, I wanted it to be used to its full extent. I think an organized mud room would be the best way for our family to use the space.

Part of the reason we haven’t completed it yet is because we don’t use the garage 100% of the time AND because I still can’t decide exactly what I want and don’t want in this area.

At first I thought I wanted cubbies. You know, old school kindergarten-esk cubbies with a shelf, hooks, and a bench area all separated into individual slots. After finishing the hanging laundry baskets I realized the room remaining would make for tiny cubbies.

Now I’m thinking I want a single bench with enough room for individual baskets for shoes would be better with just a row of hooks {lower} or a rod to hang coats on. See, I can’t even figure that out. I also think it would be a good idea to have a higher shelf where we could keep keys and items like that so they don’t get lost. Those are currently in a bowl on top of Big Betsy since ½ the time we are still using the front door.

What type of mudroom would work best for your family? I’ve been all over Pinterest for inspiration and am still not motivated to finish this ½ of the room.

Filed Under: The ones about the Rothacher Home

Laundry: Hanging Laundry Basket Shelf {Settled In September}

September 17, 2013 by Jules 1 Comment

Yesterday, I told you about the madness that was the moving of the shelves in the laundry room. Today, I wanna show you the awesome hanging laundry basket shelf my hubs made me.

The Laundry Basket Shelf: THIS was inspired by an image I saw on Pinterest but my amazing hubs just worked with what we had and created a perfect, unique shelving unit for my laundry room. I’ll explain the details of that more tomorrow.

This is my loving hubs hooking the dryer back up after building my cool shelves. He Loves Me! 😉

Here are the basic steps he took to make our specific shelves in which I wanted 4 baskets in a box from the floor all the way up to the bottom of the cabinets:

measure the space you have available to determine how many baskets can fit {height & depth}
measure the baskets using {length, width, height}
- our largest basket is 18" wide
- 26" long
- 12" deep
- Our largest basket is an 18x18 square and same depth
determine how much wood is needed
- 1 sheet of plywood for the side, floor bottom, front, & top
- 1x2s for the basket rails {horizontal to sides}
- 1x2s for the braces for the rails {parallel to side}
- 1x2 scraps for the extra space to make the shelves a bit deeper
cut boards
- we did 2 71.5" sides
- 25.5" deep
- top shelf 5.5" down from the top
- each is 14.72" apart giving us 16" between each basket
- 19.5" wide
using a nail gun and nailed the first side to the bottom of the shelf as a support {since the bottom of the cabinet would be part of the top of the shelf}
nailed the braces {parallel} and the rails {horizontal} to the first side
nailed the other 1/2 of the top to that side
build the box bottom and nailed to the side
nailed on the braces and rails to the 2nd side
attached the 2nd side to the existing "box"

Love this shelving!!! It makes sorting laundry so quick so I spend less time with laundry piled all over the house while trying to sort & fold. Here, I can just open the drier door, fold something quickly on the top of the drier, and then stick it in the appropriate basket.

We have labels on each basket to help with sorting and that basket returns to that spot after its emptied. {I plan to add these labels to the "Printables" post at the end of the month.

I do at least 1 load a night and the kids are able to do their "laundry chore" daily but often wait until the basket is about to overflow at the end of the week before putting it away. Our rule is, "If it's not hanging in your closet or in your dresser, its not an option to wear". This helps get stuff put away more regularly...or at least, if there's something they want to wear, they have to put Everything away before they can wear that item {after its put away}. lol

The other item I requested was a “Mud Room”. LOL This being the evil room my family enters through daily {or at least after I completely clean up the garage after all these projects} and guest enter occasionally, I need it to function as more than a laundry. I plan to share more about this aspect of the room later this week as well...and maybe we'll finish the bench before then. hehe

Now for the details of this shelf moving business. I decided to leave off the big heavy doors and go for open shelving. For me, open shelves MAKES me at least try to keep things organized and neat since everyone can see...everything. I also thought those hefty pieces of wood could better be used as shelving in the garage in the long run.

Filed Under: Being a Help-Meet, Cleaning, Decorating, Home Tour, Homemaker, Organizing, Projects, Settled In September, The Ones about Post Series, The ones about the Rothacher Home

The 3 Basics of Hosting a Block Party

September 16, 2013 by Jules Leave a Comment

Does anyone remember the 4th of July Block Party scene from the 90s movie Sandlot? Epic! The atmosphere of an entire community celebrating together, awe.

We may not have been able to create the same magical scene but as part of our attempt to minister to our new community we have been hosting block parties. Minus the "some-mores", our church plant, the valley, hosted 3 different block parties in different neighborhoods this summer. These block parties were fairly inexpensive yet tons of fun! Most importantly, they were easy to host. Ours obviously were in the summer but fall, back-to-school, and football season are some great excused to hang outdoors with your community!

I'm sharing our 3 basics of hosting a block party over on Homemaker's Challenge today. FALL will be a Great time to host community events: bon fire, BBQ, or something else fall-esk! These ideas will help narrow the overwhelming idea of hosting a large group 😀