chaos contained

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it seems as if thebelfry is always in a state of an in-between sort of chaos. the number of times over the past few years that i have rearranged rooms & bookcases boggles the mind. & yes, i am at it once again. nearly every room is currently half torn apart.

having two children (of vastly different ages) actively homeschooling necessitated a revamp in storage. i dug into my collection of baskets, & hit the thrift shops to find what i needed; the beginnings of which you see above.

the basket labeled library books, does, in fact contain our library books. funny how that worked out, would you not say? it also holds a jar of pens, & a stack of bookmarks. the pens have nothing to do with the library books - they are there merely to keep them out of a certain toddler's grubby hands. because i did once lose a library book, i am a stickler about keeping them together. the only other place they are allowed to be left is on the bedside tables; & then only the one that is being read. 

beyond that basket is my recent thrift shop find. it looks to have held files (there is a lid that i am not using) originally. in it i am storing both boys' to-do clipboards, & whatever they are working on. temporarily separating their things is a sturdy piece of cardboard. eventually (yes i will, stop laughing) i am going to cut it down to size, & cover it with paper or pages from a book, so it will be fancy.

i need one more basket of a similar size & shape. having the boys share a basket is fine for now, but larger binders won't fit. if i can give each his own, then i can store their items facing the other direction, which would allow for binders. 

all of this is kept on the long table which sits behind the sofa. because both are within the arch that separates the big room from the dining room, this is the most handy of spots. not only is it centrally located, it can also be used as a work station when the dining table is being used for other things like sewing. or dining. ;)

how do you corral your papers & projects? i would love to steal see your ideas.

~peace.

ps :: the first used to be a picnic basket. the lid broke off eons ago. if you would like to do this, check thrift shops before buying a new picnic basket. i see them there quite often.