You put that WHERE?!

This is the statement I got from a couple of you, when I described the main level of our house and how I've re-arranged and re-organized it. Yes, I got rid of the coffee table. Yes, the blue cupboard fits in the kitchen. And yes, I am a bit crazy because I wanted my piano moved across the room. But the end result is SO lovely and spacious and so much more "put together" AND a lot more Hadassah friendly, that it was worth having a turned upside down house for three straight days.

We got a lovely remnent bound into an area rug for our living room and that was the start of it all. Tim cried every time Hadassah cried when she fell back and hit her head on the hardwood floor. "She's GOTTA have a soft surface somewhere in this house". But in order for her to enjoy the soft surface, the rather huge (used-to-be-dining-table) coffee table had to go. And so did the baskets of toys underneath. Out comes the storage bin/toy holder from the baby shower London threw for us, downstairs went the table, and since Jen was on a role anyway, why not change things up in the dining room and kitchen, too?

And so one evening of Marty and Tim making use of their muscles, two boxes of stuff for Goodwill and three days later...voila:

The picture above and below are (probably VERY obviously) our kitchen. It's much more spacious, I can get into my far cupboards easier, and it's just lovely all around. But I could use some help from you guys - what do I put in my three-tier wire rack? If we were a family of 12, I could load it up with fruit...but alas, it would rot before the three of us got to it all. I used to have all my dishtowels in it in an attempt to be creative and have good storage at the same time, but now they're all in the blue cupboard pictured below. So...suggestions requested. Oh, and someday I want two gorgeous plants in that wicker planter. I just need to get a green thumb first!!!


Below is a few pictures of the living/dining room with the purpose of giving you a "panorama" view. Disregard the icky hardwood floor, please. We covered up the nicest part of it with the new area rug. Note the piano on the other side of the room (moved because of that weird sticky-outty beside the red wall...it made more sense is all!), the fact that we swung the dining table around, all the room for Hadassah to play, and even organized bookshelves. (Ok, it may not look too terribly organized to you, but I followed the BHG suggestion to put all picture frames on the same level of shelf, which meant taking the whole bookshelf apart, changing the heights of the shelves and putting everything back on...whew!)






I really should've taken before (much more cluttered), during (complete chaos...seriously, there were piles of stuff EVerywhere!!) and after shots. Oh well. Next time. And knowing me, that'll be in, say, three months? ;)

So now you know! Those of you who I talked to on the phone yesterday, trying to describe what I was doing, now have a visual.

Next? The basement.....