Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Thinking Outside The Box

In our never ending quest to stop the madness that is our disorganized life the Furious Family has taken an unprecedented step.

Yes, my friends, we replaced the antique bookcase at the bottom of our stairs with this antique dresser. Why? Well because, like many of you, we live out of our laundry baskets. Since our upstairs bathroom is nearly defunct EVERYONE gets dressed downstairs which means piles of clean and discarded clothes all over the place. A few months back I put a hamper in our dining room figuring that (although most likely a huge decorating NO NO) looked better than the strewn about clothes did. I was right. Worst case scenario it looks like you were just about to do laundry. While that solved the nightgowns and PJs piles it didn't address the clean clothes on the stairs or waiting to be folded on the chair.... that is if they ever even made it up from the mountain of clothes in front of the dryer.

After some brainstorming I decided to give this little furniture switchero a shot. So far this seems to be a success. We were fortunate to have on hand a dresser that fit the space and the decor (enough) to be put into use without seeming out of place. If this doesn't in fact help to keep the kids clothes off the floor, while still keeping them close at hand, then those drawers might be converted to toy & game storage.

23 comments:

Jaime said...

Brilliant!

Mrs Furious said...

bi0nicw0man,
Thank you! I really am very proud of myself for this one. It had seemed that the laundry issue was pretty much insurmountable before this stroke of genius ;)

Anonymous said...

this is something that we should do as well! I can't even begin to describe our winter coats/hats/mittens/boots/diaper bag situation....it's making me nuts. I like your solution very much!!

michelline said...

I like it. It's a beautiful piece (and looks just like my nightstands, LOL)

Jaime said...

Actually, it gives me the idea that we need to do this in our entryway. Our new house doesn't really have much storage for coats, shoes, etc so I end up keeping stuff up in the office. I can't imagine if we had kids!!

Right now we have a bench in the entryway that winds up with crap piled all over it...so maybe if I had something with drawers...

hmmmm..... food for thought!

Anonymous said...

Such a good idea! Our bedrooms are on the second floor, our laundry in the basement, and the kids tend to get dressed on the first floor because that is the bathroom we use for teeth/hair/etc. We have a hamper in our dining room (gasp!) and it DOES look a LOT better than clothes everywhere. I tell dh all the time that everything would be neater if we only had a 1 story house, or if the laundry was on the second floor (but i'm sure something else would happen..we just have clothes everywhere but where they should be!). And very cute dresser!

BTW, you had posted a while ago about the "new" treadmill routine you were doing to mix it up from the intervals...just curious what you came up with!

Heather said...

Nice solution!

Liz said...

Cool idea. What I appreciate about your blog is that it shows you keep going - you keep coming up with new ideas and trying new things, without getting too discouraged. Nice job!

Deb said...

I like the solution! In my house, I fear it would simply become a new hot spot. But it sounds like it's solving a HUGE problem for you!

Mrs Furious said...

Michelline,
thanks it was my great-grandmothers.



kt,
I hear you. I there is nothing I want more than a "mud room"!



Marie,
We've got the same situation here. I sometimes wish we had an upstairs laundry room near the bedrooms than all the clothes would stay on one floor (and a floor no one but the family ever sees!).

I'll post the new inclines in a bit.

Mrs Furious said...

Liz,
Oh thank you! :)


Deb,
it is hard to tell from the pic... but it is behind the gate that blocks of the stairway/well so it is out of reach for normal hot spot action ;)


thanks Heather

Mrs Furious said...

Marie,
I lied. I'll post it tomorrow... I don't want to do a half-assed job! But if you check the comments HERE I give Tina a couple new incline workouts.
Where are you at with the inclines now?

Mr Furious said...

I said it the night we set it up, that this move would be a game-changer for us. It has been.

Dirty clothes can go straight into the dining room hamper, clean, wearable-one-more-time clothes can go right in the drawers.

It might not work from moment to moment, but it allows an easy clean-up at the end of the day if nothing else.

Otherwise it was the old, hang on the railing, stack on the stairs...

Mrs Furious said...

Mr F
"but it allows an easy clean-up at the end of the day if nothing else."
word


and actually the house may be a wreck in the day but the clothes component is no longer part of the problem.

Unknown said...

nice idea!!!

I always like storage that has good solid wooden doors (instead of glass) so that I can dump things into it and still have my home look clean.

way to go !!

Smita

HC said...

Excellent idea -- functionality first! Although, it's a nice looking piece so you haven't sacrificed any fashion either. I am slowly figuring out how I live in my space and adjusting it to make life easier, but I think it's one of those things that evolves at its own pace.

emmyjw said...

I think it should do the trick! I wish we had a place to put a dresser on the main floor, Nolan hangs pants and ties and shirts from couches and chairs, it is just such a long trek upstairs...and don't even get me started on the balled up socks I find under the desk and the couches and chairs.

Mrs Furious said...

Smita,
dump ability is an important feature ;)



Haley,
" I am slowly figuring out how I live in my space and adjusting it to make life easier"
May it be a somewhat faster process for you then it has been for us!



Emmy,
Several years ago Mr F put a dresser down by the washer and dryer for his stuff (and I'm sure he'll protest) and he can't even get that system to work.

Mr Furious said...

Several years ago Mr F put a dresser down by the washer and dryer for his stuff (and I'm sure he'll protest) and he can't even get that system to work.

[groan]

It's all the way across the room from the washer/dryer...

And if you've seen our basement you know that can be daunting, if not dangerous.

Preppy Mama said...

Love it!! What a beautiful piece!

Mrs Furious said...

Preppy Mama,
thanks :)



Mr F,
yes... but you have surprisingly little sympathy for the fact that I have to get my clothes up 2 flights of stairs!

MommyTime said...

I LOVE THIS IDEA. How clever. It makes me want to run around our house and rearrange furniture into more unorthodox and more practical ways. Thanks. :)

Mrs Furious said...

MT,
I was thinking of you when I posted this. I remember you saying you had similar clean laundry issues. One week down and I'd give it an A+.

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