My File Crate's New Home :)

I hope you all had a nice weekend. It was very busy here, with our construction underway and the year-end reports due a.s.a.p. I got a good start on the reports - Bookworm's is all done and I have plenty of notes for the other two. By this weekend I hope to have all three reports done and the ed. plans for next year all set, too. I'll mail the whole package off to the school system in about a week's time - God willing!

Now, about that "construction," well, really we're just changing rooms - switching the dining room to the front room (which served as a living room) and changing the dining room (aka the learning room) into a sitting room. Bill is repainting the walls and re-doing the floors (lifting ages-old carpet and installing wood flooring). We've ordered some new furniture as well. :)

I'll keep you all up to date on the "remodel" but for now I'd like to show you the new home for my file crate. As most of you know, I like to keep the crate as accessible as possible; to my mind this is a big part of its success. In the design for the "new" sitting room, however, there isn't really a place for the crate to sit out in the open. I could keep it on the island, but it would sit too high, and it's really too bulky. I mulled over ideas for using a smaller (and more attractive) crate, but Bill came up with a great solution - a way of keeping the crate conveniently close and easy to access, but still out of the way. He reconfigured the under-island cabinet - the one that faces the sitting room, the one which sits under my "workspace" ...

... and fitted it with a handy roller basket for my crate!

This cabinet used to hold a whole bunch of hodgepodge - bread machine, electric tea kettle, ice cream maker, snow cone maker, cupcake carrier ... some holiday light strings, a garland of ivy, a few doilies in various sizes. In short, it was a real mess!

All those items have been moved to storage downstairs, and as you can see, it is now all cleared out. Bill had to remove a back shelf to make room before he installed the roller basket for the crate ...

Ta-da!

The crate fits perfectly inside the roller basket! To make it quite secure, Bill sawed off the stubby plastic feet and secured the crate with ties.

The drawer you see above the file crate cubby is my old tea stash drawer - it was fun to keep my tea boxes here, but I've decided I just don't drink enough of it to warrant a whole drawer devoted to it, lol! We're going to make it a school supply drawer instead - a place for rulers, pencils, tape, stapler, pens, etc. (Post on that coming soon.)

Because, see, as we morph the dining (learning) room into a "sitting room" I'm losing my devoted school room space. These days the older boys do their work up at the island and Earlybird really kind of does his all over the place - at the computer, at the table, at the counter, on the couch, outside, etc. With the boys getting older, and the prospect of getting new kittens sometime soon, I thought it was a good time to simplify. Less "stuff" sitting out, more (hopefully) clever storage. And because of all the windows and great light, I really wanted to make better use of the room - we'll be in a sitting room far more than we will a dining room - or "school" room for that matter.

And since I stand here at this side of the counter to do "my work," (I'm standing here at this very moment!) I think it should work well to have the file crate stored in this way. True, it's not at waist level, and true, it's hidden behind a cabinet door, but I think with a little practice it will come to feel familar.

More on all of these "changes" coming soon. I am still working on answering reader questions (re ~ the file crate and otherwise), but to be perfectly honest, every spare minute this week wil be spent completing the ed. plans/school reports. I'll be back again just as soon as I can, though ... in the meantime, I hope you all have a wonderful week. 

See you again very soon!

:)

Comments

[Dawn]

Thank you for such lovely comments, ladies!

Teresa, never you fear my friend - I will surely have my little "set up" somewhere in the new sitting room. ;D All my "stuff" will be getting a new home - just not sure *exactly* where yet. I still need to have my binders, books and supplies close at hand ... I'll just be looking for alternative - but hopefully pretty, clever storage - and you can bet I'll be posting all about it!

:)

[Mary]

Hi Dawn,

I love your clever storage idea for the FCS. And I think you made a good choice switching the rooms. You will get so much use out of your new sitting room as it is such a lovely room with all those windows. Can't wait to see how you decorate it!

Love,

Mary

[Lori N from MN]

That looks great! Bill's a smart man... (The problem I would have is that the cabinet door would be open all. the. time. and I'd keep walking into it!!)
Can't wait to see the "finished" rooms - and new kittens!
Blessings!

[Jo]

Well done, Bill!

[Sparklee]

Hi, I'm really interested to read more about your file crate system. I'm trying to get organized for our school year!

I use a file crate, too, but it's monthly, not weekly. I'm a very visual person, so sometimes I suffer from "out of sight, out of mind." The problem is, I can't keep EVERYTHING out for me to see!

[Teresa]

Oh, I'm kind of sad, I will miss seeing the table set up with all your books, notebooks, planners, coffee:) I love your planning/ organization posts. I am looking forward to seeing what your sitting room and family room will look like. It is fun to get new furnishings and redecorate. I love the fabrics you have picked. Thank you for sharing..
Teresa in Ohio

[Penny]

Good luck with your reports and plans Dawn :)

Lovely changes, and it's fun to switch up spaces - makes the world seem fresh, if you know what I mean.

And, oboy! Kittens! Can't wait to meet them!!!

[Arlene @At Home with the Grimms]

Great idea!! Handy without being in the way!! Love all your organizational hints!