New House Organizing Ideas

roses25

Hi Everyone,

I'm excited to be able to share that we are building a house! The work started in May, and I'm not sure when our house will be ready. I'm of course hoping for June as that would be perfect to not be busy with working and not trying to move at the same time. I have a heck of a deal because I don't have to get a construction loan, but still have so much say in the planning of the house because I'm close to the person building our house. We will have a full basement that will partially be finished. I can't even imagine the room we will have in our new house and can't imagine going from one bath tub to three bathtubs! We picked out all of our stainless steel appliances today.

I'd like to hear what you love about your house/apartment and what you dislike. I also have some questions to ask.

1. Would you ever do white painted cabinets with kids? Debating white painted cabinets with glaze vs. a darker color with maple wood.

2. Does that wood looking laminate floor scratch easily, etc.? Considering that for the kitchen/dining room vs. the other laminate floor patterns

3. Does anyone have just a shelf above their washer/dryer? Do you like it?

4. At what age would you separate a girl/boy to separate bedrooms? They still sleep in my room.

5. I'm considering a Dr. Seuss themed playroom (also doing a chalk/magnetic painted wall). At what age do you think Aiden would outgrow that?

6. I'm also considering a dragon/knights/princesses/unicorns/castles shared girl/boy room for the kids with their bunk beds. I haven't been able to find any pictures of one themed like this, so if anyone sees one like this could you please share with me? Aiden wanted a dragon bedroom so I thought this could be a way to make it a shared bedroom. I could also separate their own bedrooms (by separating bunk into twins and put playroom downstairs but I don't know about the idea of a playroom downstairs at their age.

7. Anybody have one of those pre-made screen doors with a doggie door? Do you like it? They say for dogs up to 100 pounds. We have a 50 pound black lab (maybe not full grown yet as she's 1 1/2 years old), but I still can't imagine her fitting through one. They look like they'd have to duck down a lot? Our pup loves the ability to go in and out as she pleases, but goes nuts by jumping on windows/doors if she doesn't have instant access to the house.

Thanks in advance. It's so exciting for the kids and I to be able to watch the progress this summer. We've watched concrete be poured, boards go up, trusses go up, home depot truck deliveries, etc.

Carolyn

K&H

Playroom downstairs = first floor, or basement?

jennanderson

As far as white cabinents go, I hate ours. I'm either going to strip and finish the wood underneath or paint them some crazy color. White shoes all the fingerprints and dirt. Just a personal opinion though!

Shanny

I've never seen white cabinets as an issue. Of course I also have a white sofa and a white rug in my house so I may not be the best person to ask.

I hate laminate flooring and prefer real hardwoods. Though I don't have a dog.

My washer and dryer are in the garage so I don't have a lot of say in the design element there! There is a cabinet above my washer but since I started making my own laundry soap it is in a big bucket on the floor and I don't even use the cabinet anymore.

I don't do "themes" in rooms other than a pleasing, versatile , color scheme for the exact reasons you mention - kids outgrow it and your stuck with a bunch of decor that wasn't "needed" to begin with.

Congratulations and good luck. I hope the whole process goes smoothly and you are in there right when you want to be!

roses25

Playroom downstairs=basement

starfish2318

I am in love with the look of white cabinets...I would choose that option in a heartbeat.
I would avoid laminate. It will not hold up over time. If you are somewhere temporary I love it, but when building a house, I wouldn't do it.
We have always had our kids separate. With decorating, I would decorate in colors that can be switched to other themes. For example, Noah had a dr. Seuss nursery, and it has been changed to a superhero room now that he is older. All we did was swap bedding and a few decor items. Easy to change without a high cost. The room is the same color, and all shelves/lamps/etc. Are the same. I only theme with items that don't blow the budget.
Chalk walls are great, and I don't see a child outgrowing playing with chalk. But just beware because chalk is messy and gets everywhere. As long as you're okay with that type of mess on a continual basis, I say go for it.

blkbrd3

I love my white kitchen cabinets. I chose a durable paint with quite a bit of shine to make cleaning them easier. I spot clean ocassionally and wipe the bottom cabinets down with a wet sponge about every six months.

If I were creating a themed room I'd rather paint the walls a color that would last for years and then decorate with specialty sheets, posters, toys, and perhaps christmas or rope lights. These things can be easily replaced every other year without breaking the bank or sucking too much time.

MNmommas

Also they make wall-clings, like giant stickers for your walls that will peel off. We don't have any, but when one of my good friends bought her condo, one of the rooms was decorated with a dinosaur theme. They had painted the walls like normal and then stuck giant wall-clings on to create the theme. Looked really neat IMO and it was easy for my friend to undo, they all easily peeled off. No clue how expensive something like that might be though.

K&H

Yeah, I would do a room together and a playroom upstars rather than in te basement at this point. Maybe in two or three years a playroom in the basement will be better.
We have off white kitchen cabinets and I hate them. They're always dirty.
If possible I would definitely do hardwood floors, but if it has to be laminate then I would do wood looking laminate.
I also hate theme rooms. I would do bright colors if that's what you like and just accent with a few things. Do they like dr seuss, or do you? It's your house, do what you like!

Kari

1. Would you ever do white painted cabinets with kids? Debating white painted cabinets with glaze vs. a darker color with maple wood.
I have light wood-colored and they show a lot of stains. My kids are amazing at spilling things.

2. Does that wood looking laminate floor scratch easily, etc.? Considering that for the kitchen/dining room vs. the other laminate floor patterns
Not sure; I have tile

3. Does anyone have just a shelf above their washer/dryer? Do you like it?
LOVE IT!! Actually, I have the shelf with the rod underneath, and I hang all the kids and my clothes there as I'm washing them, and on Sundays I move everything back to their closets.

4. At what age would you separate a girl/boy to separate bedrooms? They still sleep in my room.
Probably around 6 & 8 I'll put them in separate rooms.

5. I'm considering a Dr. Seuss themed playroom (also doing a chalk/magnetic painted wall). At what age do you think Aiden would outgrow that?
Probably within a few years. Around 7 or 8 most boys I teach seem to idolize superheroes vs. other characters.

6. I used wall clings with J & J. Juliet has butterflies from the Dollar Tree. Justin has Mickey Mouse characters I found on amazon. They have lots of dinosaur ones as well, usually in the $12/set range. I check the reviews to make sure the glue is good (not going to fall off or ruin the wall).

Zen

Congratulations on the house!

1. I have light-colored cabinets and wipe them down as needed. Darker would show less dirt but would not be any more clean!

3. I have cabinets above my washer and dryer and they are great. I store the laundry soap and kitchen towels in there out of sight.

4. I can't practice what I preach because Shiloh is 5 and prefers my bed to hers. But I think by 5 they should be comfortable and happy to sleep in their own rooms. I hope to have Shiloh settled into a sleep routine before kindergarten starts this fall.

5. I love themes and don't think kids outgrow them as much as interest shifts. I'd recommend a decor that can be changed easily. Like ... bedding, wall hangings, peel off decals, etc. If you like painting then redoing walls is not a big deal but I hate it so I try to abstain there!

7. I just re-screened the patio because our puppy constantly ran through the screen panels. They're reinforced now so she has to wait for us to open the door. I would have LOVED to go with a doggie door. Mine is a 1-1/2 year old 50 pound golden retriever so I may look into changing/modifying the door in the future.

michelle.malott

I prefer unpainted kitchen cabinets, I had white ones before and they tended to show dirt more around the handles and knobs.
I never thought I would like it, but I have a high end vinyl floor in my kitchen and dining room, and love it! Looks good and cleans up in a breeze, as well as not being very slippery when wet.
Doggie doors are very convenient, I love mine and don't know how I ever lived without one.

old mama

One idea for your room décor is to try e-bay for vinyl wall decals...make sure NOT to get the stickers...they are thinner and very hard to peel and stick to the wall. The decals are heavier better quality and easier to place and readjust if you need to. I just redecorated my whole house. I used a lot of the wall decals to make a fabulous look. Have your yardstick/ruler in front of you when you order so you know exactly what size they are selling the photos will show larger sometimes in their ads.

cata888

Congratulations on the new house!


1. Would you ever do white painted cabinets with kids? Debating white painted cabinets with glaze vs. a darker color with maple wood.

I bought a house that had white painted cabinets. The paint was already peeling in some places when we moved in. I ended up buying a Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations kit to darken the color. The new finish hasn't scratched yet,. Of the options you mentioned, I would go with the darker color with maple wood.

2. Does that wood looking laminate floor scratch easily, etc.? Considering that for the kitchen/dining room.

I had laminate flooring in most of the rooms in my old house. It held up well with two dogs and two cats, but in the kitchen, the laminate swelled/bubbled in two spots: one in front of the dishwasher when it malfunctioned and overflowed, and one spot where a bottle of windex spilled. The bubbles got smaller, but were still visible. As long as you catch any spills quickly, laminate can be pretty durable.

3. Does anyone have just a shelf above their washer/dryer? Do you like it?

I had nothing above my washer/dryer, but recently put up cabinets.

4. At what age would you separate a girl/boy to separate bedrooms?

Mine have their own rooms. DS is 9 and sleeps in his room. DD is 3 and ends up in my room most nights.

5. I'm considering a Dr. Seuss themed playroom (also doing a chalk/magnetic painted wall). At what age do you think Aiden would outgrow that?

Probably around age 7.

6. I'm also considering a dragon/knights/princesses/unicorns/castles shared girl/boy room for the kids with their bunk beds. I haven't been able to find any pictures of one themed like this, so if anyone sees one like this could you please share with me? Aiden wanted a dragon bedroom so I thought this could be a way to make it a shared bedroom. I could also separate their own bedrooms (by separating bunk into twins and put playroom downstairs but I don't know about the idea of a playroom downstairs at their age.

I'd go with something easier to change as their interests change.

7. Anybody have one of those pre-made screen doors with a doggie door? Do you like it? They say for dogs up to 100 pounds. We have a 50 pound black lab (maybe not full grown yet as she's 1 1/2 years old), but I still can't imagine her fitting through one. They look like they'd have to duck down a lot? Our pup loves the ability to go in and out as she pleases, but goes nuts by jumping on windows/doors if she doesn't have instant access to the house.

I have no experience with doggie doors personally, but there was one on our backdoor when we moved in. The previous owners had a large dog that somehow made it through the door when it needed to go out.

palegreen

1. Would you ever do white painted cabinets with kids?
We had cheap white laminate cabinets in our last house that I despised. Just as others have said, they were hard to keep clean and showed lots of dirt around the knobs/handles (even before we had kids).
On the opposite side of the spectrum, we almost went with espresso colored cabinets in our kitchen when we built our house, and I'm now so grateful that we went with medium ginger colored cabinets instead. I was afraid they would show dust way too easily...and I was right. DP wanted the espresso cabinets in the kitchen, but I couldn't commit to that, so I agreed to do the espresso cabinets in all of our bathrooms upstairs if we could go a little lighter in the kitchen. The bathroom cabinets do, indeed, show dust easily.

2. Does that wood looking laminate floor scratch easily, etc.?
This depends entirely on the quality of the laminate you get. I would take a sample of the flooring home and put it to the test (use it as a drink coaster, hit it with various items, drag your keys across it....etc.)
We let the kids ride toys in our house on our laminate floors and they're holding up marvelously. I would be weary to put laminate in the kitchen in the event your refrigerator, sink or dishwasher ever had any leaks it would likely ruin your floor. We went with tile in our kitchen, half bath and foyer....then laminate everywhere else on our main floor.
I have the same advice for the floors as the cabinets, the darker the floor, the more likely it is to show dirt/dust/gunk.

3. Does anyone have just a shelf above their washer/dryer? Do you like it?
Yes, we have a white wire shelf above our washer/dryer. I'm not in love with it, but it doesn't bother me either. I think it's a better use of space to have cabinets, but those can always be added later. Some day, when we are done tackling all the other 900 expenses that come with moving into new construction, we'll try to find some decent cabinets at the habitat store or on craigslist to put up in there, but it's definately low priority because we have plenty of storage in other parts of the house.

4. At what age would you separate a girl/boy to separate bedrooms? They still sleep in my room.
Only time will tell...

5. I'm considering a Dr. Seuss themed playroom (also doing a chalk/magnetic painted wall). At what age do you think Aiden would outgrow that?
I'm not a big fan of themed rooms either, but the vinyl wall decals are what I would go with for sure. That way, it wouldn't be a huge deal if he wants to change it in two years.

7. Anybody have one of those pre-made screen doors with a doggie door? Do you like it? They say for dogs up to 100 pounds. We have a 50 pound black lab (maybe not full grown yet as she's 1 1/2 years old), but I still can't imagine her fitting through one. They look like they'd have to duck down a lot? Our pup loves the ability to go in and out as she pleases, but goes nuts by jumping on windows/doors if she doesn't have instant access to the house.
I would consider a sliding door doggie door insert in a heartbeat (our friends had one and it was awesome), but I am having a hard time seeing the usefulness of a screen door with a doggie door. Maybe because we don't ever leave our doors open?

Jen727BF

Congrats on the new house!

I personally would not do white cabinets. K loves trying to open the doors and is always rubbing up against them. I can just see little fingerprints everywhere.

We have a cabinet (not a shelf per se) by our washer and I love it!

mysweetangel

For sure have the playroom upstairs. We have a basement playroom and it's not ideal for younger kids. Plus my knees are very, very sad lol.