The Many Uses of a Repurposed Piece of Furniture

I have always been one to try and figure out how to use what I have when a new need arises rather than purchasing something.  I can think of lots of examples but one sticks out in my mind that I thought I would share. Even when something seems on it's last leg (pun intended - you'll see why), it can be repurposed.

When we found out we were expecting twins the shock of needing two of most things was a little overwhelming.  Two car seats, two cribs, two high chairs, twice as many diapers, etc.  One thing that we did not need two of was a dresser and changing table to begin with.  We were gifted my husband's bedroom set from his parents and so decided to use the mirrored dresser to hold abundance of clothes that we were gifted with through 3 baby showers and many, many gifts.

We still needed a changing table and with two babies, wanted to keep things close at hand.  We had an old 6 drawer dresser on legs (much like couch legs), but one of them had broken off.  Other than that minor problem, it was still very functional.  It had a shiny veneer finish so painting it really wasn't an option for our nursery.  Even if it had been an option, I was not going to be painting while pregnant and secondly, I ended up on bedrest by my second trimester.  My husband and mother in law were both working full time and I was working part time.  There really wasn't time to ask them to sand it and paint it for me.  Once the twins arrived, I would be too busy anyway.

So my husband bought wood and enclosed the bottom of the dresser so it wasn't going to wobble (the last thing you need with a squirmy baby).  He also enclosed the top of the dresser with wood about 3-4 inches high.  We purchased a changing cushion to fit on top and then he put a wood divider at the end of the cushion, leaving a smaller section on the right end where we kept diapers, wipes, lotion, baby monitor, etc.  We used cloth diapers except for when we were away from home and for two babies there were quite a few, so those filled 2-3 drawers.  Other drawers contained towels and washcloths, onesies and pajamas.  We used this changing table/dresser combo for several years including adding another baby almost 2 years later.

When it came time to move in a bigger dresser and we no longer had a need for a changing table, we moved this piece into our play area used it for books, toys etc.

When we outgrew that need it moved to our school area, where we used it to house math manipulatives, craft supplies, crayons,  construction paper, etc.    Eventually we put up some hanging cabinets and we transitioned those supplies to that location for storage.

Again, we had a piece of furniture that was still function, while not pretty but hated to just toss it and we knew that no one would buy it.  So this time we moved it into our utility room in the basement.  It tucked nicely under existing open shelving and we were able to finally corral all the tools and household maintenance items that find their way to any house.

To say we have gotten our money's worth out of this piece of furniture would be an understatement.  Too many times in our disposable society, we think nothing of discarding something when it no longer fits our needs.  I, too am guilty of this - particularly with regards to electronics, which have planned obsolescence.  I, for one, am going to try to think of more ways that we can use what we already have.

What Happens When You Cut Back on Social Media - You Get Things Done!!!

I know I spend a lot of time on social media.  Finally being home for many days in a row and working on cleaning and decluttering the house for Confirmation last weekend, I was forced to get off social media and do more things that were on my to do list.  The house got mostly cleaned (except for a couple non-public areas), more real meals were made (with the help of my daughters and MIL and even today (our crockpot and stockpot)).

Having moved forward this week, we are trying to finish up school for the year, get the filing under control and decluttering some more before we have another weekend activity.  For my birthday I got a new label maker (handheld) because my old one only printed half of the words and I have been using it to label files and set up a filing system for all my homeschooling information and ideas.  About 1:30 today,  I ran it completely out of label tape.  Hoping I can find some at Shopko this afternoon so I can keep going with this project.

Next up is the office purging and filing.  Better get two label refills for that one.  Once the office is doing better,  Also making a list of curriculum to purchase for next year at the homeschool conference that is next weekend.  Always feels good when I have purchases our curriculum and can start planning out our next year.  Hard to believe but I have one graduating in 2 years and all three kids will graduate within 4 years.

Sadly, I have not posted on my blog for over 13 months!  Vowing to change that and hopefully spend a  little less time on Facebook.  I have always dreamt of writing and while I still want to write a book (I have ideas and notes started for two of them), I think blogging is a great foray into that realm to see if I really have as much to say as I think I do.

Hoping to set up a blog calendar of topics so I am reminded to blog more regularly.  Look for more pictures, more recipes (LOVE Pinterest ) and maybe even more political commentary (you can skip if you don't want to read it).

Did Ya Miss Me?

It has been 13 months since I blogged.  How bad is that?

Life gets hectic and while I come up with a lot of blog posts ideas in my mind, I rarely find (I mean make) the time to blog.  Probably because I feel it has to be something important or newsworthy or something worthing of making commentary on (ie. a current event).

I do a pretty good job of taking a lot of photos and need to do a better job of sharing them here. Business, homeschooling, church and other commitments keep our family on the go, a lot but we try to do as much as  we can as a family.  Today, we waited a bit before deciding, but did attend Homeschool Day at the Capitol in Des Moines and listened to several speakers.  Bill Federer has an almost encyclopedic knowledge of history and we could have listened to him all day.  We also listened to Steve Deace, who challenged us to not become complacent in being active in the political arena and being devoted to protecting our freedoms and not just talking about it once a year and not being eternally vigilant the rest of the time.

I hope to get on a regular schedule for blogging, so perhaps you will see more posts from me.

Where to start????

Things have been pretty much nonstop around here over the last month.

My 25th High School Reunion
4th of July
Family Reunion
Trips for the kids to stay with Grandpa and Grandma in Nebraska
Installation of our New Pastor
Hosted a speaker here on our farm
County Fair

I have tons of pictures to post and will put those into a bunch of blog posts as I find time.

Hoping to work on decluttering the house and get some rooms repainted and put together and then work on lesson plans for the year.  I already have the books, just need to do the planning.