The "taming of the shoes" :)

Meet my nemesis:  The shoe pile

I organize this area, weed out the shoes that don't need to be in the kitchen and yet in no time at all it has grown to this mess.  Add to the shoes the coats, backpacks and other random items that get dropped when we walk in the door.  This corner of the kitchen and I have been fighting for quite some time.  I've looked at many different ideas but none of them quite worked.  for one thing we have lovely old radiators (you can see it in the far right of the picture) and large low windows that don't leave any space for large storage options.  I had this cabinet between the two windows

this seemed to just add to the problem.  More things would get piled on the cabinet and soon that whole wall in the kitchen just looked messy.  Enter Pinterest!

I love browsing Pinterest and have used several ideas and recipes with great success.  I decided to search for storage and organizational ideas.  I found many but again, most I couldn't use because of the space restrictions.  Finally I happened upon a pin that showed a bench with large storage baskets that I thought might work.  After showing my husband (and finding out that the bench was on sale) we ordered it.  My husband also made a coordinating coat rack and shelf.  So here is what the area looks like now.

 The cabinet has been moved to the dining room and makes a great place to store fresh fruit and place the water pitcher during dinner.  We still have a rug with a couple pair of my husbands shoes (and space for visitors to place their shoes.  But all of the other shoes are neatly stored away.  The backpacks are off the floor and the shelf provides a nice spot for the kitchen radio.  I will be making new covers for the cushions (they are already quite dirty) that are more kid friendly.  I now love this area and the kids love the fact that they don't have to dig thru piles of shoes to find their shoes in the morning.

Another great organizational idea I found on Pinterest was something called a "family command center".  Basically an area to have all the lists, schedules, etc in one place.  I loved the idea and set out to find the supplies.

I found the calendar board at The Christmas Tree Shop.  The smaller "frames" were  for pictures but I simply printed up backgrounds on card stock for these areas.  One for a shopping list and one for our menu.  The frames below were also found at The Christmas Tree Shop and work great as chore charts.  I simply write on them with dry erase marker and then change up the chores as needed.  I customized each one with each child's name and a Bible verse about working/labor.  Here are a couple close ups of the chore charts.

So there you have it.  I definitely have a lot more work to do; especially upstairs, to really feel organized but this is a nice start.