Storage Oh Glorious Storage!!

After we painted the living room/kitchen

and re-arranged the furniture set up,

the cabinet that housed our TV

DVDs, and all that good stuff

felt dwarfed and out of place

Plus it kind of just blended into the white half wall

mehhhh & blah are the words that come to mind

I still love that little antique cabinet

with all it's curves and details

and plan on finding a spot for it downstairs

I know that I could have re-painted

to pop against the white wall

but for all it's prettiness & curves

it doesn't have a lot to offer in the storage department

and with 2 little ones under the age of 5

we were in dire need of storage

and I wanted pretty storage...if that was possible

We talked about built ins

we talked about Expedit Shelves from Ikea

or even Billy Bookcases made to look like built ins

like this lovely lady did at MiniManor

We liked all these ideas, but the main problem is

we live 3 hrs from the nearest IKEA...and with gas prices

that would kind of defeat the cost savings

and to be honest we don't get 6 hrs we can blow

without the kids very often...and the idea of 6hrs

in the car with the girls kind of makes me shudder

as they think the ride to town (25 min) seems long

We talked about building them ourselves

and both really liked the idea...but didn't know when

we would have the time as I'm taking a class

and after I work all day, then spend time with the girls

put them to bed, I study...

and of course as soon as my class is done

Scott is starting up coaching for track season

which means his extra time will be nil

One day while browsing the aisle in Target

I found the solution with their 6 cube Horizontal Organizer

I liked the look, loved the baskets & oh man just look at all

that wonderful storage and best of all - it's pretty!

After work on Friday I convinced Scott

and the girls to go to Target with me to "just look" at it

(yeah just look totally means BUY with me...but I have to

ease Scott into going to the store first before I do my pitch)

Scott actually really liked the look of the cubes

and even found this while we were browsing the aisles

He liked the idea of the electronics being covered & protected

from dust and bonus for me that it offered even more storage

So we did the math while standing there

trying to contain 2 kids who were absolutely DONE

with Target and sitting still in a cart in the same aisle

while Mommy & Daddy hemmed & hawed over furniture

WARNING - never do math in this situation

According to our "math" we could just fit

2 horizontal cubes & the entertainment center

so we loaded it up and got it home...

measured with an actual tape measure

& realized we were waaay off.

But my lovely husband volunteered to run back to Target

after the girls were in bed to switch out the horizontal cubes

for the vertical cubes

(cuz you can't just flip the horizontal ones

up...they don't work that way).

Wow...long story but in the end this is what we have

Just look at all that storage!

I was pleasantly surprised by how sturdy these cubes were

they are heavy!

These baskets are awesome and offer so much "pretty" storage

apparently I have an obsession with Nora Roberts books...

I love that the girl's toys are now readily at hand

but so prettily hidden when not in use

Oh and I put the TV stand together all by myself and it was

by far the best store bought put together piece of furniture I have

encountered.  The directions were awesome, it's very sturdy

(like I can sit on it without worrying about breaking it sturdy)

and best of all they included EXTRA screws, bolts, etc!

And the drawers hold a crazy amount of DVDs

Now I just have to work on the "art" for the walls

cuz the picture above the TV now looks pint sized