Embracing Home - Seasons With Little Ones


In this Embracing Home series, I wanted to talk about embracing our seasons of life. This may be a season of apartment living, renting, owning, tight budgets, little ones, etc. 
Personally, we are in a season with little ones. Our home has evolved as they have become mobile and are able to get into more things. This has meant putting breakables up high or in storage, moving most of my plants to our bedroom, rearranging furniture, etc. I adore my boys but they definitely challenge the way that I once did things. 
Here are a few ways that we have adapted our home to having little ones. 
In our living room area, I found it was very easy for it to start looking like a daycare with all of the toys. Toys everywhere! I am not a super tidy person but the chaos of all of the toys drove me insane. Our storage system has evolved and probably will continue to.
I currently have two toy storage boxes in the living room. My rule is that if it doesn't fit in these boxes or in the cabinet under the TV, it has to go. Our home is small and it very easily becomes cluttered and overcrowded. I go through their toys about twice a year and clear out things that they don't play with anymore. OrI put certain things in the basement for a while and then switch things out so that it is new again. 
 
For their books, I just cleared out the bottom shelf on our bookshelf and they put them there. 
This helps keep me sane. Everything is contained, my living room doesn't look like a daycare, and it keeps us accountable to not having too much stuff. I've even involved the boys in clearing toys out. There birthdays are in November and January with Christmas in between so right before this season, we go through and pick out toys they haven't played with to give away. 
 
Another thing that we have recently added in the living room is this shelf that my husband made to hold their shoes, bags and coats. It is by the door and all at their level so that they can grab AND put away their own things (with lots of reminding 😉).
 
Now on to their bedroom. Our boys share a room which has worked out great so far. The only challenge has been their tiny closet. The way I currently have it set up is that one boys' shirts are hung up on the right side and the others' on the left. I have shelves in the closet where I put pants, undies, pjs. Again, one boys' stuff is on the right and the other on the left. It works for now. As they get older and their clothes get bigger, we will have to figure something else out. But for now, this is me embracing what we have and making it work for us. 
Lastly, I wanted to share their room. This too has evolved over time. Actually, I made that branch with the birds on it for the nursery. I debated taking it down as they are older now but I loved it so much. Soon after I took this photo, one of them threw their blanket up on it and broke the branch when they yanked the blanket off. So that is now gone 😂. 
I added the gallery wall with family photos and art with the phrases 'be kind', 'be wild', and 'be brave.' I point the 'be kind' one out often. 😉 The family photos were important for me to add because our youngest is adopted and I wanted him to have constant reminders that he belongs. 
I wanted to add a map because our son is from China and their daddy lived in West Africa for 4 years and well, who doesn't like maps?
My husband made this toddler bed from an old door. It saved us money, our son got to choose the color (red is his favorite), and I love that it has storage underneath. I originally intended to store toys under it. But during bedtime they were too much of a distraction and our boys ended up playing vs napping😄. So it currently holds blankets. 
These shelves were added to hold some of their keepsake items that I'm not ready to put away yet. The shelves are up high and out of reach of little fingers. The red chest was Kerrys's grandpas. I originally intended it for toys but the lid is heavy and I can see little fingers getting smashed easily. So it currently serves as storage for off season clothes AND as a platform that the boys are constantly jumping off. 😄
 
These are just a few ways we have embraced our season with small children. I would love love to hear some of the ways you have embraced your current season in your home. Any tips on how you have adapted and made things work for your family? 
 

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