Real Life Solutions: Epic Fail

Just last week I was just sharing (#smeb) about my Real Life Solution for recycling. And then my roommate came home this past week one evening to find this:

That’s right. That is Suzie, head stuck in an oatmeal container that she fished out of that very recycling solution I was bragging about.

I should explain that Suzie likes to fish out and chew flat milk jugs and plastic juice bottles (a habit I take full responsibility for), so she regularly fishes through the recycling container to see what’s good. Apparently this day she was trying to lick those last crumbs of oat out of this container and got stuck. Really stuck. 

Leslie said she was racing around crashing into walls, furniture, everything. Absolutely nuts. After laughing and taking pictures, Leslie rescued her from the predicament. 

A couple hours later I went to the basement to do laundry. What a mess!! The vacuum was knocked over. The borrowed carpet cleaner, knocked over. The laundry basket, knocked over and clean laundry strewn acros the floor. Ironing board toppled and laying on it’s side. My first thought, of course, was that I’d just been watching a crime show where someone’s house looked similar… and then I realized the basement gate had been left open that day and Suze had been tearing around the house desperate to get out of that oatmeal contained, and probably even more terrified as she ran through knocking stuff on to herself.  Oh Suzie. 

There you have it. The irony of Real Life Solutions at the Homestead.

To keep me humble

I browse a lot of home improvement and home decoration blogs. I enjoy the ideas and the gorgeous work people do in their homes. While I aspire to have one of those model, photograph-able homes at any moment… sigh… I’m not even close. The last year of my life has been a very intense one where I can barely keep up on life, much less get ahead (I’m pretty sure I just get more behind).  To keep me honest and humble, here’s an area we need to find a workable real life solution for:

The entry way.

Yes, that’s a dozen pairs of shoes strewn everywhere. That’s a big bag of flour I haven’t put away. And my gardening bag full of garden tools that I used for weeding last weekend. On the hanging shelf, you can see candles from our last power outage, keys, and the dog’s bike leashes hanging there ready for the next ride. And look! A new rug! Isn’t that cute?  Yeah, new rug aside, we need a better solution for the shoes. I keep thinking we should each keep a pair or two of shoes there by the door and everyone else should just keep the rest in their bedrooms. But I know I am the worst offender! I have my tennis shoes, my work shoes, my slippers, my yard shoes, my dress shoes, and a pair of winter boots in that stack. Ugh.

So I’m dreaming of a mudroom:

And pretty entry ways…

And pondering solutions….
…. while still tripping over shoes. 

See? Real life at the Homestead. And still looking for Real Life Solutions. #umeb

RLS: Dog Toys

Here’s my next Real Life Solution. And this one is for containing dog toys. For years I’ve said I’m going to teach my dogs the command “pick up your toys” but somehow that hasn’t happened yet. In the meantime, we are a home with dog toys. And when Suzie is bored, she takes all the toys out… and I can’t even be annoyed about the toys being out because it usually means she is occupying herself and not getting into something worse. 

When I redecorated the living room a year and a half ago, I got this great ikea expedit bookshelf. It is fabulous and perfectly meets my living room shelving needs. It houses cookbooks, regular books, pictures, plants, candles, kids books, toy bins for the munchkins, and last but not least, a dog toy bin. 

It works great. Rather than having a separate basket like I used to that traveled around the living room whenever the dogs used it, this one remains neatly in the bookshelf and with the half height bin, the dogs can reach in and get their toys whenever they like. I should note this solution occasionally causes problems when toddlers visit and assume those nicely accessible and colorful toys are for them to chew on… ewww. Yeah, in those cases, best to move the dog toys out of reach and show the kids the bin of blocks. 

And now if only I could actually teach the dogs to pick up their own toys… 

Real Life Solutions

Does anyone else have the issue of how to deal with trash, recycling, and returnables? Well we sure do. Most importantly, these bins need to be within easy reach. Otherwise there are cans on the counter, recyclables in the trash, and a twitching Reenie. 
Although I want one of these:
http://ana-white.com/2010/01/plans-recycling-center-pottery-barn.html

Here’s what is working at the Homestead right now:

It is as simple as having two small mesh garbage cans next to the big garbage under the kitchen counter. This depends on having a bigger recycle bin in the garage to dump the small can into when it overflows (and often there’s the small can plus the paper bag with the overflow next to it). Nonetheless, this is our simple, unglamorous solution to a simple, unglamorous issue (trash). 
There you have it: my Real Life Solution of the day.