Adding More Storage and More

Our youngest daughter told me she needed a new book shelf. She ran out space in hers was her reasoning. Not a bad reason. Her sister has had a larger bookcase for some time (which may need to be replaced...but that is another story), so I was willing.

Something to consider when you think you need more storage space however is if the items you are storing are all worth keeping. If not, then maybe you can open up some room in or on the same storage space buy getting rid of the excess that you aren't using. I did ask my daughter if she thought she might have some books she was ready to get rid of. And the answer is no. And for books, I'm okay with my kids keeping them considering they only buy books if they really love them and plan to read them again. 

I bought one of those shelves that you have to put together. It seems our furniture takes a beating with all of our moving, so we try not to invest too much in some things, particularly those we may only have a short while anyway. I did not time myself doing this one, but it went together pretty fast, even though I had to hammer in 28 nails! 

After we removed the old shelf, and moved in the new one, she wasted no time getting her books set up again. And in the process decided she could get rid of the CD player. She hasn't used it in quite awhile so I think that was a very wise move. 

She still has plenty of room to add more books. I didn't exactly realize this until after the whole process, but she had been keep several books on her desk in a pile. She moved them to the bookshelf, so now her desk is neater. 

The rearranging of books prompted a few other things to occur in my daughter's bedroom. She realized she needed to dust her desk when she moved the books. And because she had me engaged in helping in her room, she decided to have me help her hang some of her artwork on her wall. You have no idea how thrilled I was with that! These items have been sitting in a pile in front of her dresser since we moved in July. Actually, for a couple months the items were still in a box in front of her dresser. Sometime in the fall I directed her to take them out. And I have offered many times to help get things hung. And that task probably took only ten minutes to pound a few nails into the wall!

We also created a plan for two latch hook rugs that were also in the art pile. One will become a pillow to give to a friend. The other, which is round and much larger will become a wall hanging. We hope to actually start binding it this week, so it can get hung on the wall before spring break ends. In addition to the rugs on the floor, my daughter realized she could get rid of three of the boxes, stored in her closet, that her latch hook rug supplies came in. She did keep all the extra yarn in a plastic bag, as she thinks she might use them for another project. 

It is fun to make progress in a room with improvements and letting go of extras. This whole process was pretty short, too. There is more work to do. We really need to review everything before the garage sale to determine if anything else can go.

Do you add storage when you run out of room or do you edit the items you are storing to make room for the new?