Creative Organization, Part 1 - Wonder Boy's Room

In my efforts to get ready for little baby Sweet Pea's arrival in less than 2 months, I have been trying to get our home organized. This task may not have been as important - or daunting - if we had been dealing with any amount of baby stuff for the past 8 years. It is also a challenge to do this while spending as little money as possible.

Let me make a side note: Our house is about 2000 square feet. I'm not complaining. Only about 1/2 of that is currently usable, though, due to some water problems we're resolving in the basement. We have three bedrooms. Organizing would probably be less challenging if I could: 1) Use the basement, and/or 2) Shove baby stuff into a nursery. However, my two children happen to be of the opposite sex, and at an age where they really should not be sharing a room, for modesty's sake. Though, they do love having "sleep overs" in each others rooms! Thank goodness for that $5 garage sale cot!

Ok. Now on to some of the possibly slightly unusual (I like to think they're creative) things I've done to create extra storage in our home. These ones might not be so odd, but they get a little more creative as we go:

• Both kids have bed risers now. I was fortunate to find one set at a yard sale for $2. Under Wonder Boy's bed: Our large suit case, filled with his winter clothes. Suitcases have to be stored any how, and if you already own them, are less expensive than plastic bins that are sold for "under the bed". He also has a couple of bins of toys under there (Legos and Match Box cars). I still have room for a little something under the head of his bed - I'm sure I'll find something to stash there!
  
• In WB's closet: Two queen-size sleeping bags (on the shelf), bins of baby clothes, and the bin of my "regular" summer clothes. This is along with the shelves that hold an as-of-yet unorganized assortment of model train parts, remote control vehicles, and whatever else WB has shoved in there.
• The game cupboard is also stored in WB's room. This cupboard is about 5' tall and 18" wide. Whatever games don't fit in there don't stay in the house. The only exception are a couple of good family games that are in larger boxes. Those are in another location (but I'm rethinking that).
  

Typing this out has made me realize two things: I still have room under the bed and on the closet shelf, and I really need to get the toy shelves straightened out - maybe I'd find even more room!