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...of hacking it

A friend asked me recently how we organized all three kids' clothes in their room since they all slept together. Since moving into our new/old house, I've had to get even more creative, but it's really worked out pretty well! So I thought I'd share what we did just in case it might be helpful for anyone else. 


First of all, all three kids in one room is definitely awesome. Some people fear it and, depending on your kids, it just might not be possible for you. For us, it just worked out. We traveled so much and the kids were in all different kinds of beds and sleeping scenarios that they were pretty flexible. And now, after a year of them all sharing a room, we are able to have a pretty epic happening with one child in the room while the other two sleep right through. We will eventually give Selah her own room, but that won't be for a few years. So here we are, with three kids in an 8x10 ish room, sharing our tips with you!

I knew we wanted a Kura bed from IKEA because we needed a low bunk, since we also have low ceilings and ceiling fans. We ended up finding an already hacked Kura bed from someone and painting it white. 
They actually took two Kura beds and just used the bed part on the bottom. Added drawers and then basically secured the second bed on top of the base of the first one. It gave us two big drawers for clothes storage, but got Abram a little closer to the fan than I would have liked. But their room is pretty cold anyway, so it worked out. I love that I'm still able to say good night to him easily without straining myself to get to him in a really high bunk. 

The problem was that the family that sold us the bed must have had theirs in a different corner than where I needed ours and the end of the bottom of the bed didn't have panels to cover the inside where the drawers are when they are shut. So I thought about covering it with fabric or cardboard and then realized I needed a third "drawer" for a third kid, since the two bed drawers were going to be used for pjs, underwear, and socks. Simon is too little to deal with those big drawers anyway. Enter the IKEA Trones shoe boxes. 
These are screwed into the frame of the bed, so they aren't going anywhere and they are perfect for Simons pjs and socks (underwear won't be added for awhile).
No pinched fingers, super easy for him to open and just the right width of the bed with two of them. So that's pjs and underwear. 

This is the rest of the clothes:

Each kid has a tops and a bottoms box. My motto is, if it's too full to close, they have too many clothes. Actually, I just made up that little ditty just now, but the thought process is long standing. Those medium Trofast bins can hold enough clothes for a season. Changing seasons gets a little tight, but it's worked out well for the last year. They all know which ones are theirs- even Simon and he's gotten really helpful with getting and putting away clothes at not even two and a half years old. So that's great. 

Speaking of Si... We thought he was ready for the side of his crib off and he seemed to handle it well for about a week. Then, his new found freedoms got the best of him and we had to revert, but maybe just temporarily. So I didn't want to keep taking off and putting on the crib bars. So, I just turned the bed around. The chair rail makes it a little wonky, but he hasn't even really tried to push the bed away from the wall and sneak out but once and a stern word has kept him from trying it again for at least a week. 
It may not last, but for now it's working, so I'll celebrate. 

And finally, the one open wall space has a shelf for books, baby camera, sound machine (an integral part of a three kid sleeping room), some artwork, a hamper, and their stuffie storage. Although that's not doing much. We counted tonight and Selah had twenty stuffed animals and dolls on her bed tonight. Abram had 13 and Simon had something like 8. So that stuffy storage needs to start eating some toys or I'm going to force feed it. 

Alright. I'm getting really tired and dreaming about the stuffed animal hamper turning into Audrey Too. Better go to sleep. I'm hoping that this midnight hour will see an end to the 4th of July fireworks that have been keeping me awake. 

Happy July 5th!


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