One of my resolutions this year is to get our house more organized. The scattered toys and endless clutter are making me positively crazy (as is renovation burnout, but that’s another topic for another post.)

Lately I’ve been thinking that if our house felt less chaotic, I might be able to enjoy it a bit more. So, to that end, I’ve been trying to establish a workable storage system upstairs in the playroom and in the girls’ bedrooms.

toy basket from Chloe's room

We started over Christmas break by cleaning the playroom and finding homes for Chloe’s many toys. Next, we labeled each new “home” in hopes that labels might actually encourage our messy little kindergartener to put things away from time to time (as opposed to strewing everything across the floor, which is her usual M.O.)

I found these adorable chalkboard labels at the post-holiday sale at Pottery Barn Kids (a two pack for just $5.99!) and couldn’t resist them. I’ve attached them to the baskets underneath Chloe’s bed, and so far, so good. It’s been a couple of weeks and I can still see her bedroom floor – I take that as a very good sign.

So far the contents of the baskets still match the labels...

Currently, they are labeled with your basic run-of-the-mill chalkboard chalk. (Frankly, I’m somewhat shocked that it hasn’t worn off yet.) But I just received a fancy-schmancy liquid chalk pen in the mail from the Chalkydoodles shop on Etsy. (They have all sorts of great chalkboard products, hand-made from heavy duty oilcloth. Cute, cute, cute!) I can’t wait to give it a try! Supposedly, it has the look of chalk but the durability of marker. And it washes off with soap and water. I’ll be sure to let you know how it works.

If you’re curious about Chloe’s bedding, I promise to post photos soon. I’ve been feeling guilty ever since Ginger was born that Chloe’s bedroom was never completed. Santa must have sensed my guilt, because Chloe found a brand new comforter and pillow sham set from Nicole Miller under the tree on Christmas morning.

Catalog shot of Nicole Miller's Fifi Bedding

Miller’s Fifi collection features three of Chloe’s favorite things – dogs, Vespas and the Eiffel Tower. It also features black pom-pom trim, which ties in quite nicely with the black pom-poms in the playroom, so naturally, I.. er, I mean SANTA… couldn’t resist.

As soon as I’ve finished sewing Chloe’s new curtains, I promise to post new photos of her room in all of its canine/scooter/Parisian glory!

Adorable mittens from Etsy

…I had a thought. Remember this post from awhile back, where we discussed using the Deka curtain rod from IKEA to display kids’ art work?

Well, it occurred to me that this same Deka curtain rod could also work really well in a mudroom or back hallway as a way of hanging soggy snow-covered mittens, hats, socks and scarves up to dry.

The Deka rod is basically a thin wire suspended between two metal posts. For just $4.99 you get a pair of posts, a length of wire and small bag of hanging clips. A bag of additional clips is only 99 cents more.

If used for drying mittens, etc., the wire could be hung low enough to be within reach a child’s reach. Or in a home with multiple children of differing heights and ages, you could hang two or three rows, one above the other. The posts will hold the wire far enough away from the wall that the wall shouldn’t get wet, but not so far that the set-up would intrude into the room/impede traffic flow. The wire can be cut to any length, so this would work equally well in a small space or a large space.

With a waterproof rug parked underneath to accommodate wet boots, the kids would be all set for winter, and their soggy clutter would be contained. Once summer rolls around, this system can be reused for hanging wet swimsuits up to dry.

Securing the posts is simple, you just screw them into directly your wall joists. In the future, if the the kids outgrow this hanging system, you’d have only a pair of screw holes to spackle and touch up with a dab of paint before your wall would be right back to original condition.