School Room Before and After

I'm super excited to show you a little organizing project I have been working on.  I brought some before and after pics.  Here's the scoop...

Lately our school room has gotten out of control.  The thing is, our "school" room is also the dining room.  We do have a large school closet, and it is pretty well organized, but somehow every single day our dining room table was a disaster within the first couple of hours of school.  It was really getting to me.  It wasn't only the stuff all over the table but the floor too.  I realized we were going to need something in the room to hold some of what was spilling all over the place while we worked.

Before:

This is our school table and how it looks much of the time.  

Here's the chair I've been borrowing the last few weeks to hold some of the books we are currently using.

Remember I said the stuff in the floor was bugging me?  That's the pencil sharpener you see there in the back.

And, in another corner of the room there are Legos.  Ever stepped on one barefoot?

After:

I bought this cubical at Target and I kind of  LOVE it!  It's from Closetmaid.

I corralled the solution manuals and teacher guides into this basket.

I stashed away lots of supplies in this box and found a basket for the play money.  

Another basket for craft stuff and one for stickers.  I'm using a round basket with a lid for the little bottles of paint.

I picked up this cheery little flower at Hobby Lobby.  I love that it has a clip to hold notes, verses, or just about anything you want to put there.

I plan on changing this little note holder often to make sure I keep things interesting.  I think this will be a great place for a verse we might be memorizing.  For now I put a card that reminds us who we are in Christ.

See that lady bug on the leaf?  I've always called my little first grader "Lady Bug".  It's the perfect addition to our school room.

I gave up one of the cubes to house the girls' Legos.  We'll see how this goes but it sure beats having Legos scattered on the floor.

Here's hoping we can keep things neat and tidy!

What do you think?  It feels really good to get things cleaned up and cleaned out and organized.  The dining room table and floor are all clear now and there is more room in the school closet too.  (And I no longer need to stack things in the chair!) I've got lots more of these organizational type projects in my future.  I will keep you posted!