Around The House

Last week we decorated for Christmas (even the boys' bedroom window got some holiday twinkle!).  

In addition to decorating for Christmas, Josh also got a bunch of things knocked off his "Honey-Do" list from his adoring wife. 

Like hanging this new trio of shelves I got for less than $15 from Target.

I've had these letters for the twins' names since I was six months pregnant with them.  Last year I painted them to match the photo boards Aunt Julie made for their bedroom here in Alaska.

And now they finally have a place to be displayed.

I don't have letters for Wyatt (and they wouldn't fit on this tiny shelf anyway) so this adorable picture of him from our trip to Anchorage in October 2011, when he was four months old, will have to do.

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In addition to sprucing up the twins' room, Josh and I have been working recently on making the arctic entry more user-friendly.  A little help (also from Target) in the form of a shoe shelf and an adorable wall shelf, and voila! Our arctic entry is suddenly awesome!

The shoe shelf has made use of the vertical space under our hanging jackets, freeing up floorspace for all the bodies we have to squeeze in this tiny space when we're gearing up.

This wall shelf makes me smile every time I see it.  I used to have to pull down a giant Rubbermaid tote each time we got ready so the boys could choose the correct gloves, scarves & hats for the weather.  The tote was heavy, which was annoying, but it was also a space-eater, cutting the arctic entry's square footage in half when it was on the floor being rifled through.

Now the boys' baseball hats sit atop the shelf, their assortment of gloves sit in their own individual baskets, and their hats hang on tiny hooks under their baskets. 

This is the view now when you step into the arctic entry.  

Organized and clutter-free.  

(And can I just say how much I love my seasonal "Welcome" sign Julie made me?!?  

The Christmas wreath for this month is beautiful!)

I added one (perhaps strange) addition to our wall shelf.  Clothes pins.  

(How? Me & hot glue... we're best buddies!)  We only have seven hooks on the wall below the shelf, and when we all have full gear on (snow pants, sweatshirts & winter coats) those hooks fill up quick!

So the wall shelf having a space for the boys' hats was great, but I still didn't have a space to hang gloves that needed to dry.  Enter the clothes pins I bought over the summer.  I put two on each side, and two in between the hat hooks.  Now there's a spot for every glove, and the hooks below remain free for larger items.

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I am so happy with our little room re-do's!