One small porch but many functions

Our home is slightly less than 850 square feet, so space is at a premium. Until now, our living room was doubling as office, toy storage and playroom, but with a quick trip to Ikea and a motivated mom -me-, our living room is reclaimed for living and computering...with a small basket for a few toys.

Now let's visit the porch. Already in place was an entry shelf (made by me and my brother Ryan) and cedar chest. I considered moving the cedar chest down to the basement, but it's sometimes nice to have a place to sit, and I'd rather use it then have it sit down in the dungeon. Note, the photo collage is in progress and has been for two years...

Next is my sewing studio. It's tucked over in the corner, but the way it's set up now hides the electrical sockets and cords from my sewing gear. A win win for having a little one toddling about. I also considered setting up shop in the basement but quickly realized I would never want to sit down there and sew. It's not a lot of space, but I have another bigger table set up downstairs for cutting and ironing.

Lastly, the playroom. My trip to Ikea left me with an Expedit bookshelf to put together, which I can proudly say I (with some help from Josh) accomplished after Harper's bedtime without waking him up! Not a small feat when it involved a hammer. I didn't purchase any baskets yet and am still deciding what I want to use in a few of those cubbies for smaller toys. Remember that yellow and orange table I bought awhile back? Harper has learned to climb on top of it via the bench, so the bench and stools are currently living in the basement but were brought up for the photo. 

So what do you think? Not bad for a little rental, huh? Depending on how long we're here, I might consider some window treatments in a couple areas to add more interest and color. I'll take a better picture to post when it's not after 11pm with horrible lighting for taking pictures.

Next project: the dreaded basement. (This photo was taken after some initial organizing. Yikes!) Talk about airing some dirty laundry.