January Spending Freeze, Day 6: Fixing our storage issues without spending a fortune

We've lived in this house eight years--and we have never felt like we had enough storage.  Some of it, of course, is an issue of too much stuff, and we're working on that too.  I'm about halfway through the KonMari method and love it!  But it really sucks not having a decent place to store the vacuum cleaner, or a few tubs of stuff.  Those things are the worst eyesores when out in our living space, but that's where they've had to be...  Until now.

Can you guess what we did the other day to help with this problem?

We'd love to someday have a house with a basement or a garage, but due to a variety of issues, moving is not a great option right now.  Neither is adding on to the house.  I cannot stand rental storage units.  BUT we had a pretty big chunk of empty space under our stairs!  We just couldn't get to it!

So, the other day we cut it open!  Jordan pulled a stair tread off, climbed in, cleaned up a bunch of garbage, dust, and dirt left by our lovely builders...  And finally, we worked together to be sure we were cutting in the right place.  We still need to go back to even things up and smooth them out, but this part of the project didn't cost us a dime. 

We couldn't put a door on it without doing some serious rearranging in our living room so that the door could swing open.  So, we bought a thin piece of oak plywood to use as a cover and hung it on two hooks.  Then we used a little E6000 to glue two magnets to the wall and two to the wood panel at the bottom to hold it shut (mostly so our cats can't pull it open and go on an adventure).  This all cost under $20, and we bought the supplies before the spending freeze.  Yes, we have quite the backlog of projects.  It feels good to check a few of them off!

We were able to fit four storage tubs, several large toys, a folding table, and the vacuum cleaner under there with room to spare!  This has already given us a little elbow room in several cramped areas of our house, and it looks so much nicer having them tucked away.  I may paint something on the plywood later when I have the time, but for now I'm just happy to have this area functional.

BONUS:  Our illustrious builders not only threw their garbage under our stairs (fast food wrappers and other junk!), they also left it very drafty under there on the exterior wall.  We've been paying more for heat every winter than we should have been because of the cold air that creeps up through the stairs.  As soon as we got it open and cleaned up, Jordan took a $3 tube of caulk and his caulk gun and sealed up the cracks.  We can feel a dramatic difference when walking up and down the stairs now!  I'm sure this effort will make a difference in our electric bill.

A Saturday to relax (and enjoy my new skates!)

I woke up first. Ivey must have sensed it, because pretty soon I heard Daaaddyyyyy! Jordan almost always gets up with them. Robert keeps me awake a lot wanting to nurse, so he lets me sleep in. But today it was definitely his turn. I went downstairs with Ivey, and not long after that Suzi and Robert woke up. I heard Robert whining and had to run and grab him out of our bed.

Robert peed in the little potty--hooray! I started coffee. Buttered toast for the kids. Finished washing diapers. Did dishes. Baked this awesome zucchini bread. Suzi saw me grating the zucchini and I admitted to her that I was using it to make the bread, and she still loved it. I mean, yes, it has sugar in it. But still. Where vegetables are concerned Suzi is usually all yeee-uck! Ivey pokes at it and says "I jus don't wike dis," and Robert chucks it in the floor. But they all ate this bread and I was a hero.

Then my dog who is bigger than any of my kids climbed up in my lap for a hug. Finally around 10:30 Jordan woke up and realized his Blu-Ray drive he got for Father's Day had just arrived in the mail and we could both see it was going to be a good, good day.

I have my own skates now. Yesterday Jordan took off work and my mom kept the girls so we could drive two hours to Atlanta to buy them. After talking with them three times on the phone, we visited Skate Escape and this really cool guy named Baby helped me find the perfect skates. I am so glad I didn't order them off a website, because my feet are very particular and I needed help and to try several different pairs on. I didn't end up with the ones I had in mind. The ones I got, Riedell Sparks, were a little more expensive, but I think they're worth it because they fit me better (firm, narrow heel but soft in the toes) and the soles are sewn on rather than just glued so hopefully they'll last longer. Also, they lace all the way to the toes. This will allow me to lace them looser or tighter all the way down, so they aren't falling off my feet and also aren't cutting off my circulation. Numb toes and hurting feet have been a problem for me with rented/borrowed skates. Either that or the skates one size up were slipping and wobbly. But no more.

I got knee and elbow pads and wrist guards, too. Had to wait on the helmet. Baby adjusted my skates and showed me how to loosen the wheels a bit when I'm ready. If we'd ordered online we would've had to pay shipping anyway, so I highly recommend making the trip to Skate Escape if you need skates and are even sort of nearby Atlanta. They are great.

Last night I had fun skating around our house, doing laundry and stuff in my skates. (I didn't go upstairs, though!) They feel so awesome. I love them. I wanted to take them to the rink today, but that would've messed up our relaxing Saturday. Right now Robert is napping, Jordan is mowing the lawn, and the girls are jumping on the trampoline. We'll go somewhere tomorrow, but today it's a beautiful Saturday, just hanging out here at home! Sometimes I almost forget how much I like it here.

Home is where the heart is.

Especially when the kitchen sink is empty.

Need a good reason to buy a serger?

Here ya go. It's an elf sweater coat tutorial by Katwise. You're welcome.

This is a coat I made just before the tutorial came out. I used my regular sewing machine and did some of it by hand.



I'm still happy with it. But here are some of the things Kat's tutorial has inspired me to make, in no particular order.













Seriously, if you enjoy sewing at all, especially thrifty sewing, buy that tutorial. It is so fun and inspirational and worth many times what she is charging!

In related news, I will be stocking an Etsy shop soon because I can't stop making stuff. Right now we are so close to finishing our flooring project, and all my sewing supplies are jumbled everywhere so I can't make anything. That is not a fun feeling for me. Also, the house is in such a state of disorder that I couldn't possibly homeschool in it. I am working to get it back to somewhat normal today and we will pick back up tomorrow.

But the new floor is lovely. We decided to go with laminate, after discovering how soft bamboo is. Our kids would've wrecked it in a heartbeat. We are just inches away from having the floor completely in (we need a whole new box because of a couple of damaged boards), and then there are a few finishing touches we'll do this week. But the nasty carpet is out--yay! And it looks so bright and new. I was inspired to move the furniture back to the walls to make more of an open space, and when I get my serger set back up, I'm going to make something new called a floor sled. Doesn't that sound fun?

I'll be back soon with pictures of the floor and the sled.

My beautiful, peaceful birth space

It's hard to explain in words what it means to walk into this space to give birth instead of into a hospital room.

I feel relaxed here. It's our bedroom. It's big enough to hold everything I need for a birth. More importantly, though, I know what to expect. It's incredibly reassuring to be able to envision where our baby will be born. I already know there won't be any irritating odors or clocks in annoying places or distracting noises or signs. I already know where everything is located. We also don't have to haul my stuff in in bags at the last minute and hope we remembered it all.

Here is my birth tub, which is a La Bassine. We have a hose and shower adapter all ready to fill it up from our bathroom, but right now we are using it to store some of our supplies for the birth--extra pillows and two clean sets of sheets for our bed, along with a pool noodle.

We cleared the end of our dresser for our midwife to set up her supplies. (Yes, she brings life-saving supplies in case something goes wrong--a lot of the same stuff they have at the hospital.)

The rocking chair in the corner is the same rocking chair Jordan's mom rocked him in when he was a baby. The blue blanket was made by one of the ladies at my church. My mom bought it at a silent auction years ago and was saving it for her first grandson. She just gave it to me at my Blessingway.

Oh, and that thing standing up behind the chair is a Bed Bug Bumper--our device of choice to cosleep safely with Robert. It'll go over here, on my side of the bed, once he's arrived.

Speaking of the bed, the quilt was made by my mom as a wedding gift for me. Look at this gorgeous butterfly! It makes me happy to know it'll be at the birth.

This is the shelf we have overlooking our birth tub. It has candles, just in case it's dark enough for a candlelight birth. There's also the Willow Tree figurine Jordan's parents gave us for Suzi's birth and a photo of our family on Jordan's first Father's Day. Then there are my birth beads from the people I love.

There's also room on the shelf for other items such as an icy glass of coconut water with bendy straw and whatever else I might need. Down below the shelf are a couple of practical items: a lined trash can just in case I need it during transformation and an electric fan in case I get hot. I got so hot last time but this time will probably be better. There's a nice ceiling fan in the bedroom--and also, it won't be the middle of August. Oh, and the alarm clock on the table above is turned away from the birth tub so I can forget about what time it is and focus on Baby Robert's birth.

There is a TV in our room just in case Jordan and I feel like turning a movie or something on. I doubt it but you never know. I really like that picture frame and am planning to put a belly shot of me and Jordan in it.

I hung my Storchenwiege wrap up in the closet doorway. I could hold on to it and lean forward, or squat, or whatever feels comfortable. I'm pretty sure some women even get into position for pushing using one. I love this wrap. Jordan and I both carried Ivey in it when she was a baby, and the colors are vibrant and beautiful.

Last but not least, there are these two. We are planning for Suzi to stay for the birth (she wants to "help catch Robert") and for Ivey to go spend some time with Maw and Paw. Then Ivey will be brought over to meet her little brother as soon as possible afterwards. Jordan and I were able to talk things over and make that call. You can't do that just anywhere. Nor can you hand-pick every single person who will be with you at your birth, which is what we've done.

I love it in here. It's exactly the birth space I wanted for me and my baby. I wish every mother could have her perfect safe, special birth space. I know every mother should have it--whatever it might be for her.

On fireworks and our house

On the fourth of July, we watched fireworks in our backyard with some friends. For the past several years we've lived here we've been able to see the official town fireworks perfectly from our yard--the sliding glass door, if we don't feel like going out. It's lucky. I am scared of setting off fireworks myself. I mean, it is fire. My cousin nearly put his eye out once because he started to set off the next firework before the one before it was really done.

I don't know if we'll ever move from here. It's not a big house, for sure, but I think most of the time what people have is not a house that's too small, but just too much stuff. The best (and cheapest) home improvement is getting rid of unnecessary items and organizing and respecting what's left. (I was making some serious headway on that around the first of the month, but then my motivation fizzled.) Before moving here we rented a big old house, with probably almost twice the floor space of this one, and it was ten times messier. You have to clean all those excess rooms, you know. We learned that an old, big house can be a lot of trouble and decided we wanted a new one. We had this one built while I was pregnant with Suzi and there are a bunch of pictures of me walking through the unfinished house, all excited with my big belly, knowing we'd be bringing our baby girl home soon.

And then a couple of years later I had a baby in the bathtub. It would make me sad to leave that tub behind. We are hoping, one day, to add on a garage with lots of shelves and an extra bedroom over it. Maybe someday a screened-in porch. Right now we have three bedrooms and one is our craft room with a futon for anyone who wants to stay bad enough to sleep on it. After thinking about it and reading about the experiences of others, we might just save up for any improvements we make. We do want a larger family, but for right now the house we have is actually perfect. It's like chicken pot pie, and an old favorite blanket, and cuddling on the couch watching a movie, and seeing fireworks out the sliding glass door. I love it.