In my continuous quest to make something out of what I already have, one of the things I do most often is to make the most of my space. In my world, there are no small homes, only smaller versions of the ideas meant for much larger homes. For example: take a gander at my mud room (pictured).

This is the newest addition to the Bradley house and something I’ve wanted since discovering how much clutter comes with having school-age children. This space used to be a wall unit of shelves and drawers and cubbies, until I yanked out the center section. Voila!  Instant mud room.

My boys still raise an eyebrow when I refer to this space as a “room.” They say: “Um, mom, that’s the kitchen.” To which I reply: “No, that’s the kitchen (pointing to the right). And that’s the laundry room (behind the wine colored curtain). And that’s my potting shed (a small wire rack in front of the sliding glass door). And, now, that is the mud room.”

Gloves and hats and scarves go in the drawer under the bench. Library books go in the small, white basket. Homework and paper and pens, and all the sundries that accompany them, have their own cubbies. A place for everything and (on most days) everything in its place.

(sigh) I wish I had a way of organizing all the potentially messy things I have in my life. Children have cubbies. Adults need something along the lines of a virtual Silkwood shower – a space for peeling off whatever residue the world has left on me; a means of removing all the toxins and potential poisons, before they do any damage; an attractive space for tucking away all the crap in one neatly organized corner of my world.

I wonder if Ikea has anything like that?