{Day 20} Real Home: Double-Duty

My sofa, which doubles as a child-swallowing fort.

Back in the early days of my blog, I did a lot more posts on decorating and home stuff. I love all things home. I always have. And while I still think a lot about decorating and design, I don't write as passionately about house stuff as I do about heart stuff. 

But that doesn't stop me from dishing every now and then about our home. 

I've already talked about my real house and the usual state of affairs here so any pictures you see are likely to be lone vignettes in a sea of chaos. Just keep that in mind. 

When you're trying to live large in a small space, it's important that pieces can do double-duty. 

Our TV console-thingy is actually two bookcases pushed together. 

The bookcases hold our history and science books and because it sits in the middle of the living area, the books are easily accessible to the kids.

The bookcases used to be our nightstands... 

I look forward to reclaiming them as such once we get something from IKEA for the TV. But until then, these bookcases / former nightstands {from Wal-Mart} do the job just fine.

My rehabbed hutch does double-duty for our homeschool and craft supplies. 

Baskets are miracle-workers in my house. I realized I have them everywhere. They hide junky stuff like cords, batteries, and flashlights.

They're perfect for magazines,

toddler books,

and library books.

Baskets keep me semi-organized and bring lovely organic texture to a space. Most of mine came from thrift stores or Big Lots.

This is our homeschool desk. I've written about it before and though it's purpose is school, it's also my laundry-folding table and craft table. When we've had guests, we just pulled the tables away from the wall and voila, an extra place to eat or a buffet. It's totally multi-purpose. 

The desk is actually two table tops from IKEA pushed together. They are $5.99 each. The legs are $4 each and I splurged on the shelves that hold our books.

As we acquire new pieces or replace things, I want to look for items that are multi-functional. 

But let's not get carried away.

There are some things that should never do double-duty. 

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