He Has Been Evicted

When we bought our house 5 years ago, it was actually Sam who did the shopping. At the time, Spencer was just 6 months old and, I can honestly say, was one of the worst babies I have ever met. It wasn't really his fault, he had colic and acid reflux and was miserable, which made us miserable. Anyway, putting him on a plane to shop for houses was out of the question, so Sam went alone. We picked out several houses on the internet beforehand and then, with video camera in hand, Sam flew back to look. After looking for days, he finally found our house, really liked it and made an offer.

The first time I saw our new old house (1930) in person was the day we moved in. Well, Sam did a really good job and the house was great with two exceptions: the kitchen was minuscule and there was no closet space. Since moving in, we have remedied both problems. The old kitchen is now a bathroom and Sam and I have separate closets.

Originally, Sam and I shared the master bedroom closet, but, ultimately for the sake of our marriage, I evicted him. Yep, I kicked him out. We are similar in a lot of ways, but not when it comes to organizing, so out he went. He now has a very spacious closet, actually it is the biggest closet in the house, but it's in the basement. It really is not as bad as it sounds because the basement is finished and we now have a shower on the first level...remember, the old kitchen? With this set-up, I don't even go into his closet; I just put his clean folded laundry by the door and walk away. It sounds harsh I know, but it's really is for the best.

I thought we had everything resolved, but I have since learned that Spencer takes after his father in the organizing department. He tries hard to put things where I ask, but it turns out he is a saver. He saves everything and puts it in piles on his desk. When I say everything, I mean everything: wrappers, old school papers, bottle caps, rocks, paper scraps, stickers, everything. It drives me nuts, so kicked him out too. This took a bit more orchestrating because, with the beds the way they were, the boys didn't have room for a desk.

Sam had been wanting to get the boys bunk beds, but I was afraid one of them would get hurt. I must say that my fears began to subside as the desk problem grew. I started looking and decided I wanted a blue one, but I didn't want to spend $1,200 for a Pottery Barn one, so I got this new one from E-bay (I thought it looked safe with the nice tall railing) and painted it blue last weekend. Peace has been restored yet again.

Photos: Before, After, Fish pulls I found for the drawers, "The Desk" which goes with the dresser anyway