I know what you're thinking: This blog is nothing if not inspirational, nay aspirational. This is a shot of my daughter's room about 10 minutes ago. It's sorta normal kid clutter, but the thing is, it ends up feeling cluttered pretty much all of the time. This is a sure sign that it's time for an overhaul, and luckily, Lou and I are always up for such a challenge. We've been putting our heads together about a new room for Kindergarten for several weeks, and we have some good ideas. But, This isnt' our only challenge:

Is this even recognizable from the little pink haven of homemade illustrated labels we shared last year?

Barely.

This closet was almost still functioning for us, even as Lou's clothes have gotten bigger, through careful file-folding, purging, and re-categorizing and labeling as necessary. I knew it was only a matter of time that Lou's clothes would fit into those tiny shoe boxes, but I was hanging on. Then, Lou cheerfully announced she was going to reorganize her closet last week, and this was the result. (As a side note, I hope you all appreciate the parenting test to which this subjected me. Let her destroy all my hard work, in the name of "self-expression," "learning," and "initiative?" Rejoice in the fact that she really has inherited the organizing gene/learned by watching and gets as much joy out of the process as I do? Or, seeing exactly where this was heading, tell her no, and preserve my own hard work). As I say, I think you can see which way things went. She spent an entire afternoon folding and re-categorizing and reporting to me on her progress. It was adorable.  A day or two later, when I asked her to please put away her laundry, she sighed deeply and said she had just put all that stuff away! It was an important life lesson about the inexorable forward march of laundry.

Looking back up at the pictures, I want to be clear that Lou's original attempt at organizing was top-notch and everything was neatly put away. But she completely transformed the system, and I have all her new school clothes and laundry and so forth to put away, and it's clear that none of it is working any more, and I had zero interest in trying to make it work, when a $35 investment at IKEA would solve the whole mess.

All of which is to say: we are off to IKEA for a real dresser with real drawers today. I just read this post by (one of my favorite bloggers) Dana at House*Tweaking, and she too has made the move to actual closed clothing storage. It was like a sign that it's really time.

And so, to make the 2 mile trek, we will take two buses; the way back will involve an Uber Family, which comes with a carseat, and a bubblebum. There will be lunch, some playing in the kid zone, and lots of looking at all the different rooms, which Louisa loves as much as I do. I asked, really, if she was sure this was how she wanted to spend the very last day of her summer vacation.

Unequivocal "yes." So we'll be back, with tales from our travels and yuuge, really yuge, plans.