Without a doubt, this move has required us to make actual priorities in terms of what we tackle first. Of course, you always do that, to some extent, but the sheer size of this job (so. much. stuff.) really meant we were not going to knock it out in a day or two. So we prioritized, as one does, placing a premium on the kitchen, hallway/closets and Lou's room. That doesn't count unearthing our toothbrushes and soap early on, but we're still using a duvet cover instead of a real shower curtain, so that tells you that food, clothes and a settled preschooler are important to us.

Anyway, I'm thrilled to report some progress on the hallway closet front.

Sorry, this photograph isn't great. None of them really are; it's dark in there and I finished this project with only a little time to blog about it before I pick up Lou from preschool.

And on its own, the hall may not be impressive. But when you consider that we went from an overwhelming collection of filled suitcases to relative order pretty quickly, it becomes a little more so.

So why clothes as a priority? Keeping in mind that we haven't found our silverware yet, it may seem strange. But I hate, hate, hate living out of a suitcase. I don't think there are any huge fans of it, but I become completely disoriented and disorganized immediately upon packing things in a box with a zipper. I can't find anything I'm looking for - even if I know it's right there - and I tear everything apart into a hopeless jumble. Neither one of these pictures actually do this "before" justice, because we've been living out of suitcases for a whopping two days, and already this area looked like a bra-and-underwear-and-tights monster had had a vicious case of food poisoning all over it.

So to find a place for everything, move a dresser into this (surprisingly wide) corridor for drawer-bound things, and actually end up with functioning closets was a huge sigh of relief. We decided Bret and Lou would share the slightly larger closet, and I'll have one to myself, leaving the third closet, beyond the doorway, on the left, for storage.

So that's the story of how we organized one part of our lives. I think this whole little hallway area will be pretty cute after I get some pictures up and add some stuff - probably jewelry related - the dresser top. Which is kinda fun; how often do you think about styling a hallway?

Both the kitchen and Lou's room have also made substantial progress too, but this is the first room we can check off the list, functionality-wise. Hooray!

And for those of you wondering what was for dinner yesterday, it was takeout, which I foresee for a few more days. We sort of think it's part of moving to a new 'hood - checking out the food scene right away. But we should be back to WFD on Tuesdays next week. Thanks for reading!