This, in lieu of a mudroom [Alternate title: How to scare off a producer at The Nate Berkus Show]

Ben and I spent a good chunk of our weekend purchasing storage containers and dumping the contents of our bedroom closets into the center of the room. You guys, our marriage? What can I say? David Copperfield called, and he wants his magic back.

I also cleaned and organized Whitney and Heidi’s room. I placed four Rubbermaid bins outside their door and labeled them: Keep, Donate, Toss, and Send Out for Bio-Hazard Testing. At one point, Whitney wandered in to check on my progress and noticed I’d thrown out a coupon flyer she’d swiped from the kitchen. She attempted a valiant rescue and recovery effort of that piece of junk mail, until I stepped in and threatened to eat all her chewable vitamins if she didn’t drop the piece of garbage! Then, I mumbled to myself, “She’s like a hoarder in here!” As she turned to leave, I heard her, like a crazy-hoarder-woman intent on keeping her cats’ empty litter bags, mumble back, “I’m NOT like a hoarder in HERE!”

Speaking of hoarders...I was recently contacted by a producer of The Nate Berkus Show wondering if I’d be interested in further discussing my housework ineptitude, although I think he politely referred to it as my “situation.” I responded by making some lame crack about our “situation” resembling an episode of TLC’s ‘Hoarding: Buried Alive,’ thus compelling the producer to reply with deafening silence.

Anyway, along with sorting and purging a collection of random, nondescript black cables which Ben’s been schlepping around since 1998 [OH HAPPY DAY, we finally found his Palm Pilot charger!], I also got to work in our foyer. We’ve sorely needed a way to keep track of the kids’ shoes and jackets, because getting them off to school in the morning shouldn’t require me lying on my stomach with a flashlight while sweeping a baton back and forth under the couch. However, without a proper mudroom, I settled on this.



A hook and a bin labeled with each of their names. I got the idea after Ben dropped Whitney off at school and made the remark that she’d dutifully hung her coat and placed her bag into her labeled cubby. So really, design credit should go to Whitney’s K-4 teacher. Those wily teachers! I guess that’s why they pay them the big bucks.

The new hook and bin system worked well both coming and going today. I merely had to say, “Girls, get your coats and shoes on!” one time this morning and they were at their bins as though those containers were now also the official storage place for sugarcoated Polly Pockets wrapped in Fruit Roll-Ups. So, while the bins are getting the job done, I’m not crazy about the utilitarian look of the plastic containers. However, I’m sticking with them, for the time being, until we’re out of the beta-testing phase. Then, if everything continues to go smoothly, I’ll upgrade to baskets or something.

Also, I’m not thrilled that the bins are out in the open, but at least they can be easily moved into the nearby entry closet, if need be. I’d prefer to keep them in the closet at all times, however, the entry closet isn’t all that functional. It’s small, and dark, and has two bi-fold doors which can bring me to the brink of an emotional collapse whenever I attempt to retrieve a jacket, or one of those reusable grocery bags which inevitably falls behind everything else trying to cohabitate in there.