(Bracken’s favorite wooden car, handmade by Vermont Branch Company.)

 Last week we got a wooden shelf secondhand for a good deal. I had an idea of where I wanted to put it, but when we came home I changed my mind. I rearranged some things and found a spot for it in the living room. We turned it into a place for keeping Bracken’s toys and books. Before they were kept in baskets on the floor and he usually didn’t want to dig through the baskets to get what he wanted. Having his things easily accessible on his shelf was wonderful. He started getting out his toys more and playing with his wooden cars (making them run into each other and saying “boom”, a new favorite word), playing with his favorite pull toy, and grabbing out book after book for me to read to him. Bracken seemed very happy about his new shelf. 

Then something amazing happened…. he started putting his toys back on the shelf after he was done playing with them, without any prompting from me. (And books too.) Sometimes he helps me pick things up when we sees me doing it and if I ask him for help, but doing it on his own was a very nice surprise! Of course there are still plenty that remain on the floor, but each and every one he puts away makes me want to cheer. 

We’re all enjoying our living room a lot more. Now our floor space is more open and somehow it just feels better. And now to see Bracken’s toy shelf…

 (Pull toy in the background from Armadillo Dreams.)

 (Wooden figures also from Armadillo Dreams. Remember Jeff’s twin?)

 Posing for the camera in front of his new shelf.

 What I like to refer to as an “artfully blurry” picture. Wanted to show him rearranging his new space.

 Another “artfully blurry” one, getting out a book to read.

 On the bottom shelf I put this wooden basket (that I got secondhand for $2!) and filled it with all the rest of the toys that didn’t fit on the top two shelves. (So there is still a basket to dig through, but the toys he plays with the most are on the first shelves where he can easily get them.)

 (Our pictures on this wall are always crooked, which happens every time we open and close the door on that wall. I’ve come to think of it as part of our home’s charm. It wasn’t that noticeable before the shelf was there. Now it accentuates “the charm.” hehe.)

 A view of Bracken’s shelf after he did some rearranging. (With some drums in front and a special stool my mom gifted to Bracken which was painted by my great grandmother.)

And lastly, yet another “artfully blurry” picture of our living room with the new shelf. (Getting clear photos in our house with our camera is really tricky, which is why I enjoy taking most of my pictures outdoors.) I did not tidy up before I took this picture, but seized the moment to snap a picture when the sun was shining in. I looked at it and thought “I really should have picked up before taking that”, but the sun was gone by the time I did and I thought I’d share it anyway. Over on the left is where our woodstove is, with a gate around it. (In case you’re wondering what that thing on the edge of the picture is.) 

It’s amazing what a little rearranging can do to change a space, isn’t it? Our whole family seems to relax more when our space is more organized. Especially this time of year when we spend more time inside.