Abby and Hannah’s room is basically an on-going tackle for me. Not just getting them to keep it clean (which is a whole other issue), but always trying to find the best way to fit two kids into what is really a fairly small room.
Before we moved the girls in together, they each had previously had the short, wide kind of dresser. But given that floor space was now at a premium, I decided that going ‘up’ was going to work out better. I was lucky to find two 5-drawer tall chests on clearance and they’ve worked out fairly well for holding the girls’ clothes.
Until now, anyway. Why they make dresser drawers with what are basically cardboard bottoms, is beyond me… The actual dressers themselves are holding up just fine, as are the drawers – except for the bottoms. Abby’s dresser is especially bad – mainly because as she’s grown, so have her clothes. The drawers just aren’t big enough anymore, and as the clothes get crammed down to make them fit, they push out the drawer bottoms. Ron’s already put one of hers back together, but we knew it wouldn’t hold. And it hasn’t.
Last week, when Ron washed all of the girls’ clothes at the same time, I discovered that there was literally not enough drawer space for all of their clothes to be put away at once (and it’s not because they have a huge amount of clothes). Time for Plan B.
I’ve spent a lot of time scrutinizing that room, trying to see where we can eke out more space. The closet is a tackle waiting to happen already, so no luck there. Between the 2 windows and the 2 doors, there just isn’t any more wall space for additional chests or dressers. But recently I realized something else.
The bunk bed that the girls have is somewhat higher off of the ground than a traditional twin bed frame. We haven’t done much with that space – I keep a couple of plastic tubs under there with the girls’ school papers and artwork, but otherwise it fills up with toys and stuffed animals that find their way underneath the bunk bed. Or which are taken there by a certain 5-year-old who likes to crawl under there to hide. But if you clear out all of the toys and miscellaneous ‘junk’, then it’s just wasted space.
Or an opportunity waiting to happen. Here’s the before:
Yes, I know that the girls’ floor is a disaster right now. Part of this tackle will be to have them clean their room, but that probably won’t happen until later in the week since we have evening activities almost every night. This is just Phase I…
My original thought was to find a set of ‘under-the-bed’ drawers, but we can’t afford that, and I don’t have time to go searching for something that will fit right in this space. And plastic drawers are pretty limiting – you still have to shove everything in to make it fit so the drawer will close. So this is a good solution for now. Pants and shirts are taken care of, and when I can get Ron to move Abby’s dresser out, we’ll consolidate the rest of their clothes into the one remaining chest of drawers. Hopefully it’ll open the room up a bit more too and make it not feel so crowded with big pieces of furniture.
I was hoping to find bins that would match their room a bit better, but the size I needed only comes in blue. I think I’ll get some fun stickers and let the girls decorate them a bit.
And oh – the toys that were scattered all over their floor in the first picture? Shoved over onto the other side of the room until the girls can get it cleaned up. One extra little benefit of this arrangement is less space under the bunk bed for stuff to get lost in… 
What are you tackling this week? And check out other Tackle It Tuesday posts over at 5 Minutes for Mom!
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March 18th, 2008 at 9:29 am
Nice clean up job ladies!!!
March 18th, 2008 at 9:43 am
Look at all that pink — definitely a girls’ room.
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March 18th, 2008 at 9:52 am
Nice work! It’s no easy task keeping up with kids clothes and toys!
March 18th, 2008 at 10:24 am
It looks good! Happy TT.
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March 18th, 2008 at 11:06 am
It looks so nice. My neighbor recently accomplished the same task. She found a dresser on the side of the road – took out the drawers and used them under the bed. Her husband is planning on putting little wheels on the bottom to make them mobile. Great job!
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March 18th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
Way to go!! All three of my kids share a room. Our house is old and has a super steep stair case. I have abandoned using the bureaus in their room for a much simpler solution. They each have a “clean” laundry basket in the laundry on the first floor. Nothing gets folded and everything is clean. It makes it much easier from my perspective. When they are older, and we have put an addition on, they can use bureaus. But until then I am in charge of the laundry and the picking out of wardrobes.
Love all the space saving ideas! I also love my small old house. It keeps me on top of all the *crap*.
March 18th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
Great idea!!
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March 18th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
You go girl! Ya’ll inspire me!!
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March 18th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Tag, you’re it! See my blog for more info!
March 18th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
UGH those dressers.. Princess one dresser is doing the bottom falling out of it thing also. It has lasted a long time though, because before Princess got it, it was mine growing up and before I got it it was my dads cousin so I guess I can’t complain to much. great tackel
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March 18th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
I think under-the-bed storage is an excellent idea. I just recently did that with my boys’ rooms, and you’re right, not only does it work great for storage, but it keeps toys from getting under there, too.
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March 20th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
Great job! When you have the girls put stickers on also label what is in the tubs with words and pictures so they know where the clean clothes go!
Yep – that’s part of the plan too!
March 22nd, 2008 at 1:07 am
What a great idea! How about putting a skirt on the lower bed? It would hide anything you wanted to under the bed. lol
Good job!
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