This is where it starts...the finale!

Four days shy of two months and our project is completed!!!!

Roo working out what stays and what goes

After A LOT of discussion and A LOT of work these crates and the shelving are finally done and installed. MANY thanks to my father-in-law who so graciously helped out with building the shelves for our crates. MANY thanks to Mitch who spent many an hour staining and polyurethaning these crates to make them withstand the hardest users. It truly is amazing what this project has taken from our house and what this project has given back to our house. 

What it used to look like with the long couch on the long wall

And the short love seat on the shorter wall

This was a great set up at the time, but unfortunately these couches are as old as our marriage and have worn out in certain spaces because Sheldon always sits in the same spot! You laugh, but it's totally true! When you sit, and others always in the same spot it's logical to believe that those couches will wear more in those areas. Yes, that is a totally Captain Obvious statement. Well, after about eight years of wear in the same spots things tend to break and tear. My mom suggested that if we also move the living room around we might instill, over time mind you, a wearing of the couches in different places, and be able to keep the leather couches longer then we might have expected. Another Capt. Obvious statement, but it needed to be said. Also the fact that our cats have pockmarked the top of said couches seems to add that overall extremely "well loved" and totally "lived in" look that our house SCREAMS when visitors drop by for a visit.

Never fails....no matter where we move the furniture.

So while we took a day, and some more discussion we finally figured out that we'd give the room a little move around to see if this, oversized furniture for the room, would fit the other way. What we found out was that it was down right WEIRD! Being used to something for so long and then changing it has its visual drawbacks. Seriously, this is going to take some getting used to.

Plus when you only have two shelves done out of three you end up with this for a day or so.

Yes, we found out AFTER we first bought these couches that they seriously were too big for the living room, but what we paid for them, and driving up to Michigan to pick them up, we realized that we didn't care and they weren't going back. We made the most out of the space...and then with three loving and adorable children we ran out of space. Have I mentioned we need a bigger house?

Prepping for the area to be utilized to the fullest extent

Cinderella vacuums to her  heart is content.

And the sisters slack. By the way she LOVES to vacuum!

Roo prepped the area so that tomorrow they would have the space to play, granted we still don't have all the room in the world, but it is better than it was. The rest of the toys will be going with my bestie to The Crisis Nursery of St. Louis. She decided that she has a couple hours a month to donate her time to a great cause, and I love her for that. I might not have the extra time to donate, but GOOD LORD do I have what the Crisis Nursery needs which is toys coming out our ears, clothing for little girls, food stuffs, extra diapers, wipes and craft supplies. Please if you are interested in learning more about the Crisis Nursery please click this link:

 http://www.crisisnurserykids.org/

They also have a wish list:

http://www.crisisnurserykids.com/wish_list.htm

These little ones can use all the help they can get and if I can help Jen help them by donating our extras, than I'm ALL for helping. Remember, every little bit helps. I was informed that when a child goes to stay at the Crisis Nursery it could be anywhere from a couple of hours, to a couple of days, to a couple of weeks. Those little ones sometimes don't know when they are going to see their parents again. The great thing is, when they do get picked up by their parents they are allowed to take one toy home with them. Sometimes that's the only toy they have. Breaks my heart, but it makes me feel better to know that if you have extras they could go to a great cause like this organization. 

In the end that awful space now looks like this. TA DA!!!!!

I'm going to go with "It's a cozy space"

We still have more to give, but for right now it's manageable.

Thank you all for letting me share my neurotic tendencies with you! Makes me feel better to vent, and  to get to show you the before and after. It's amazing what projects can be completed AND can grow with our family as we grow. When these crates are done holding toys, we'll get to reuse them for whatever strikes our fancy. For now, I know that it was well worth the time and effort it took to complete these, and I'm totally happy that we didn't end up going with buying the crappy plastic stuff from China!