New Backpack/Homework Area!

Now that Chloe is in school again and Josiah is starting PreSchool (and thus bringing home papers too) I decided it was time to have a designated spot for their backpacks, papers, upcoming events, etc.  For the past 2 years Chloe has just been unloading her papers onto the counter and hanging her backpack on a dining room chair.  And while that was fine with one kid… I could only envision chaos with 4 kids hanging their backpacks on the chairs every night!

So, after much pinning on pinterest and dreaming of an organized, beautiful space I had to bring myself back to reality and actually find a space to put this much longed after backpack area.  Not to mention scouring the house to find items that we already own since I didn’t actually want to spend REAL money on the project.  The space that made the most sense was next to our garage door and back closet.  That’s where the shoes and coats go anyway, so it would be a one stop drop.  Unfortunately upon further inspection of the area, there really wasn’t space for 4 hooks.  So, we decided to just put up three for now.  By the time baby #4 is in preschool, who knows if we’ll still be here or if Chloe will be “too old to hang her backpack with the little kids…”  😉  So 3 will work just fine for a number of years.

And here it is!

I’m not overly pleased with my little name tag signs, but the beauty of that is I can change them out whenever I want.  And it has made after school unloading and finding school papers a breeze.  Organization makes me happy!

Oh, and I would also like to give a shout out to my talented husband, who made the beautiful hook board–he took a plain, rectangular piece of wood look fancy.  Using a router on the edges and sanding it and making pretty corners (and then of course paint).  You should have seen my cheaper idea (A.K.A a scrap board I found in the garage).  Tim laughed at me.  Literally.