Victory Is...

When most turn to shopping, I turn to decluttering. And one thing I was determined to declutter? The bane of my existence bookcases.

Yeah, that monstrosity.

Well, if you're up to date, you'll know The Hubs liked the aesthetics of those bookcases in that little random space. This is one thing he stood his ground on. One thing he did not account for is that my stubbornness often outlasts his. So in a fit of frustration, I moved the bookcases. Since he's relatively lazy laid back, he sat on the couch asking me not to. Too late. I had them moved in less than a minute and pleaded for a chance to just try it out. Initially, I claimed I just wanted to see if all of the toys would fit onto one bookcase. I knew he would be skeptical, so he just ignored the situation. Again underestimating me, I got all of the toys to fit on a single bookshelf AND still have it be somewhat organized with only getting rid of one doll and a couple books. With the bookcases moved, and one now emptied, it had been enough time for The Hubs to mentally move on. It wasn't worth the fight to him. A carefully plotted win on my part.

I let those bookcases sit in the middle of the living space over night. You see, I knew I wanted to try out the full bookcase in each boy's room, which would require The Hubs' help. I didn't want to test his patience all at the same time, so again crafted a plan to continue on to a bookcase-free family room. With the arrival of the next day, I was ready. Measuring tape in hand, I first measured Noah's closet. Technically, it should have fit like a glove. In reality, not so much. Of course, this is after I had The Hubs take off closet doors meaning he'd be angrily cussing while trying to get them back on. Welcome my first obstacle to No Bookcased Living Room. After much cussing and wondering if I'd be buying new closet doors, we all took a few minutes to calm down. Surprisingly, The Hubs didn't retaliate much. I even got his help and opinions as to where to officially move the bane. Slowly, I moved. Eventually, victory was officially mine!

Here's how we reconfigured the boys' rooms:

The keyboard got moved into Noah's room, which forced the kitchen into the closet and the ghetto dresser plastic drawers out of the house. You can see Noah's two drawer organizer boxes in the closet now. I love that it's so high up that I can stop re-folding undies and jammies ten times a day.

Keegan's room is now home to the bane. Even with the crib and drum set, the kids still have a ton of space to play. The best part? Less toys are being taken out at a time, and the ones that do generally stay in their rooms.

After a quick victory dance, I noticed an immediate concern. The couch. After moving around most of Noah's first year, we eventually settled into an apartment where we needed furniture. Being the cheap ass frugal gal I am, I couldn't fathom spending about a grand on a new sofa or sectional. Instead, we took a hand me down from a family member. It is far from our style of clean lines, modern, and generally Ikea (because like we could afford anything nicer!). I sucked up my snooty tastes and accepted the couch into our home. Big mistake. Both The Hubs and I have yet to find the thing comfortable at all. It's stiff and lacks what I like to call "butt space"--when the seat cushions are long enough to allow a good slouch without feeling like your ass is falling off. Yep, it's the opposite of that. The back cushions are over stuffed and almost force you to have good posture. Not cool when I want to be lazy and relax.

But we sucked it up and made do for the whole year we were in the apartment. Then we bought our house, and even more problems arose. Since the couch is an L shape, there wasn't a great spot to put it. Plus, the two pieces never stay interlocked. Now that both boys are overly rowdy, the two pieces are apart the second they are put together. To remedy this, we have just kept the two pieces separate, making our decor look even more awkward. What looks most awkward? How we have it now.

The couch & TV used to be on opposite walls but certain monkeys learned how to climb from the sofa through the cut out and onto the kitchen counters.

You see how I put the small piece where the banes used to be? It's weird there. However, I like how much more open our living space feels. What would you do with a space like this? Being a minimalist, I LOVE open space. I hate having useless items, such as the small section of couch (ok not completely useless as Tess uses it, but that dog has two other beds). I love saving my money. I hate spending money just because I'm a perfectionist. At the end of the day, I'd much prefer to have items I love in my home over items that make me scowl. Once that idea pops in, I'm hit with the harsh reality that anything I love will be destroyed by every human fluid.

And the children have struck again! The victory of the bookcases was only glossing over the real war from a combatant I didn't even consider. Sneakily, the children's plot of house domination was completed. Bookcases and toys moved, yet they've still won by essentially forcing us to keep a ho-hum sofa or threaten the integrity of any nice, beautiful couch we choose.

Touché, Wild Boys. Touché.

*Sorry for the bad pictures. Again. It's the crappy lighting, especially at night. Why are our light bulbs so massively yellow? I have no clue!