Happy Monday! Have you noticed that these posts keep creeping up to later and later in the day? I'm sorry! As soon as we get settled in the new place (next week!) I'm hoping to return to earlier posts. Hoping.

In the meantime, I'm doing everything I can to get some last "after" shots of the apartment we're still in. Some of them will have moving boxes as part of the artfully arranged decor, but c'est la vie.

So back to Lou's room! Lou's room has always been a challenge. Even when we're at our most organized, we seem to just have one or two things too many to put neatly away.  I did everything I could to pare down her toy collection, but Lou really loves what's left. There aren't any more obvious candidates to rotate out or donate. So I also ended up going for less in the way of "decor" than I had originally planned (back when I wrote this these grand plans for Lou's room). With so much going on visually, it just added to the clutter. It was visually overwhelming to me, let alone a 3-year-old.

So I pared down on throw pillows, wall art, and the like. These were my fave pillows to keep - you can see how I made the covers using place mats here.

With no available closet (that door is a closet, but our homeowners use it), we converted a small mirror stand to serve as a wee wardrobe, and used a wreath hanger to hang Lou's bike.

Then, I pulled out all my tricks: using wall space, like for the art display and dress-up hooks above. We also looked for collapsible toys and furniture. Instead of a big or dedicated art table, we use a tiny side table that's a jack of all trades. When it's not pulling cash register function at Sweet Lou's, it's serving as a space for tea and dinner parties, a place to color or learn, or just a regular old night table for holding water and books.

When it is coloring or party time, we use these little collapsible stools. We have cute pint-sized chairs (in storage, and coming soon to an apartment near us!) but these are a great alternative to buying furniture with a short shelf life and a big footprint. No, they're not as cute as a Pottery Barn miniature (though you can find surprisingly nice-looking ones), but they sure do tuck away nicely and allow for some flexible floor space.

Similarly, we have some collapsible toy options. A tunnel Lou spends an inordinate amount of time in folds up neatly (you can spot it resting on the (non-operational) heating unit a couple photos above; this set of baby doll gear collapses and hangs from S hooks on a back-of-the-door organizer.

So that is how we organized Lou's room. And guess what: we're moving her into about 2/3 the size. So that should be fun. Can't say we don't love a challenge.

Any questions about anything you see or want sourced, let me know, and have a great day!