One of tips that I've learned about keeping the house oganized and clean is to have a "home" for everything. The idea is that if there is a specific place that things go, it's a lot easier to put things away than having to find a place to put it every time you tidy up. We have an eat-in area right off the kitchen with a round table and four chairs where we usually set up our laptops. Its proximity to the kitchen and being able to watch TV from there makes it the central point of the house. It also happens to be the place that gets cluttered with random stuff. When we come home from work every day, this is where we plop down our bags (my purse/Dave's backpack), our lunch bags, mail, and anything else that gets brought into the house.
Following the organization tip, I decided to set up a separate area that would serve as the place where we can plop down our stuff. Many houses have a small mud room in between the garage and the house, but since we don't have one, when we enter the house from the garage, we step directly into the family room. However, there is a small space right by the eat-in area that would actually be perfect to set up a "plop space."
To get some ideas, I went on Pinterest and started searching for "mud rooms." It became very obvious to me that the key to functionality in a "mud room" is a bench and hooks!
I found Hook rails at Target with 5 hooks, and then I looked on Overstock for a bench:
The dimensions of the Cubbie Bench (on the left) worked better for the space, and thanks to Overstock's free shipping coupon and fast service, it was here in no time! The only downside is that the cubbie bench didn't come with baskets. Luckily, during my infamous trip to Target when I was forced to roam the store as I waited out a heavy rain storm and as a result spent too much money and got a ton of stuff, I found the baskets to go in the cubbie bench! This was my cart at Target that day:
Dave hung the hook rails and I put the bench right under it for a make-shift "mud room" area. The nice thing about the hooks is that I can hang my purse(s) as well as Pluto's leash so we're not always looking for it. The bench works well for Dave to set down his heavy backpack when he gets home from work. And the baskets underneath actually hold Pluto's toys and other miscellaneous things.
This area used to be completely empty except for Pluto's bed (which got repurposed
because he destroyed it):
With the hooks and the bench we solved half of our organization problem. We still needed somewhere to put the stack of mail that we get every day. I really like the letter bin that's part of the Pottery Barn Daily System but at $54 (or even $44 on sale) I couldn't bear to spend that kind of money on an accessory.
So I started looking at alternatives online. Of course, my first stop was Pinterest, where I found this and this:
We liked the letter bin on the left because of the little hooks to hold keys-- another problem solved! Dave is always looking for his keys and these little hooks would be the perfect "home" for them. I actually found something similar to the letter bins on the picture on the right at Home Goods, but I decided it was too big and we didn't need four slots for mail.
After searching for a while and not finding what I wanted, I conned asked Dave nicely to build one for me. On a random Sunday after eating breakfast, I told Dave that I was going to paint one of the other bedrooms and he could help me paint...or... alternatively he could build me a letter bin. Guess which he chose? (Dave HATES painting) I showed him the pinterest pictures for inspiration and we measured out the wall to determine the dimensions. Using his awesome Google Sketchup skillz, he designed and drew up this 3-D model of the DIY letter bin within minutes:
Then Dave immediately got to work on cutting the wood in the garage. We had leftover plywood from the bookshelf so all the materials were free!
Because we don't have a table saw, it was difficult for Dave to make the cuts that he needed based on the design. But with some creativity, he had this baby put together in no time! Dave used wood putty to fill in any holes or uneven surfaces:
After he was done constructing the letter bin, I started my usual task of painting. I used the same painting strategy as the bookshelf and mantel shelf of primer, 2-3 coats of Behr high-gloss paint in Decorator White, and a coat of protective coating:
We were too lazy to go to Home Depot to buy hooks, so I had the ingenius idea of repurposing the hooks from our kitchen cabinet that we don't use. These hooks came with the house and I assume they were used to hang mugs in this cabinet. Since we don't use this cabinet for mugs, the were pretty much useless in there.
Here's the completed letter bin mounted with Dave's keys hanging on one of the hooks and our new Netflix.
TADA!!
Our new "Plop Space!" Now we have homes for our bags, mail, keys, and even a sitting area to put on shoes.
At least now our eat-in area is a little bit tidier and less cluttered. Not only is this our "Plop Space" it is also now Pluto's too.
