Hiding The Junk In The Trunk

With the addition of another member into the Crain household there was also an even bigger addition to the stuff we have in our house. We did our best to limit the amount of baby gadgets that we brought into our home, but of course the pile is always growing as Eden grows. 


One of our goals when choosing baby items was to find things that would fit "seamlessly" into our house. Obviously a bouncer is going to scream "A BABY LIVES HERE!" but we also believed that we could find a bouncer (or any baby item for that matter) that would blend in a bit better than its bright colored counterparts. Now, of course, if you happen to live in a home with bright colors, maybe the bright colored toys would be perfectly suited to your style...however, we have chosen muted colors so a toy that is bright red may stick out like a sore thumb. There were definitely some items that we brought in that were brightly colored since we wanted to make sure that Eden had toys that were visually stimulating as well. We liked the challenge of making those toys blend in as well. Let's just say, we have learned how to get a bit creative in finding storage. 


Since we do all of our living in (can you guess it?) our LIVING room...seriously folks, I know that is surprising...we had to get extra creative in terms of storage. While we do keep a good amount of stuff in Eden's room, there are a lot of items that would be inconvenient in there so we choose to keep it out in the living room.


So, I mentioned the bouncer earlier on. This wasn't necessarily intentional, but it really is a good starting point since it was the first item that we put on our registry. We chose to only register for a bouncer and not a swing...I had my reasons, but one of them was because I didn't want to have an extra item to take up our precious square footage (we are only working with 830). We LOVE our bouncer and hopefully I will finish up the post where I proclaim my love for certain baby items that have really been essential in our household so I can give you a summary of why I adore this bouncer. Anyway, our bouncer was essentially a two-in-one item since it was a stand-in for a swing and it was easy on the eyes. We even have had friends come over and not notice it sitting in the corner. Here it is in all its glory.

See how cute he is all tucked up next to the fireplace? Although Eden has pretty much grown out of using the bouncer (and in its place is a GIGANTIC but cute jumperoo) we still have it lying around because it just makes us happy to look at. 


Oh, yes. That bright colored object in the right hand corner of the photo has caught your attention hasn't it? Well, let me tell you more about it.

Eden's play mat is the only true "girly" object that we own in terms of large baby items. It was on sale and we figured, hey, why not. So how does this girl stomach having such a brightly colored object in her otherwise neutral house? Oh, that's simple. It is because we store it here:

Yep, if you were to come over to our house and feel the need to sneak a peak behind our sofa (hey it happens) you would see just a hint of pink behind there. The thing we love about this play mat is that it just folds flat and fits right behind our sofa and no one is the wiser....well, besides those peeping toms curious folks who happen to take a look back there. It is so easy to just hide it away when we need the house to be clean, or pull it right back out again when Eden is in her playful mood.


Our #1 favorite place to hide objects is our storage ottoman from here. 

We used to have a rectangular coffee table right in its place, but since we knew a baby was on the way, and that babies learning to walk seem to find the sharpest corners, we figured it was best to just replace it. The ottoman has been great! It stores objects that we don't want to be seen (and we always are on the lookout for extra storage in our teeny tiny abode), but it also makes a great place to rest weary feet and set drinks down on occasion. In short, if you need a place to hide things, run to the store and get yourself an ottoman...we currently own three and I am sure we will be adding more to the family. Inside our ottoman is a basket full of toys as well as some nursing supplies and a giant heap of blankets to keep our toes warm in the winter. Want to take a peak inside our ottoman? You know you do. 

Now, the point of this post wasn't "how to hide the fact that you have a baby that has taken over your lives and your house," it was more just to show you that just because you have a baby doesn't mean you can't still have a beautiful home. Besides, we think the baby toys just add to the beauty. I love seeing one of the many pink rattles scattered across the floor. I am proud of our baby girl and I have no problem showing her off. I just like to also believe that I can know where to stuff items so that visiting guests are none the wiser have a clean house if I want to. We know Eden will only continue to accumulate "stuff," but this just gives us even more of a reason to expand our creativity which is always a fun challenge. 


So, to all of you out there bringing in a new member of the family (pets included) we encourage you to get creative and see if there is a way to seamlessly add in more "stuff" without having it overtake your home. Trust me, it's kind of fun. Or maybe I just have a sickness for organizing? Nah, couldn't be.