Simple Home - Buffet Storage

I have a horrible time making decisions. Seriously. It can literally take me years to decide where to hang a picture. Case in point, we have lived in our current home for almost a year and a half, and up until last week, our dining area wall was empty of furniture because I couldn't decide what kind of buffet I wanted. And then I stumbled upon Southern Shab on Facebook, a small business in Caney, Oklahoma that specializes in repurposing furniture and building custom farmhouse tables.

Before

The "Before" picture caught my eye. I knew it would be the perfect kind of storage for me because of the number of small drawers. Since I do have such a horrible time making decisions, I sent a picture of the rug that I use for the color palette for our house along with pictures of our open Great Room/Kitchen. And this gorgeous piece was delivered a few days later! I just love it! Thank you, Southern Shab!

After

I love this piece for two main reasons. 1) It is a refurbished piece. I have always been an environmentalist, and I love the idea of giving something that is old a new life. I want to add my own story to it. Bonus - it can be a lot cheaper to have an old piece made to look like new than it is to buy a newly manufactured piece.  And 2) I love the shallow drawers because they work for my needs. Because I'm not using this buffet in the traditional way to hold my table linens and other dining accessories. I am using it for my homeschool center!

Previously, I had many of my supplies in my closet. And to get to that closet I had to go through my bedroom and then the bathroom and then sort through the walk in closet. That's just not practical storage! We do a lot of work at the dining table, so keeping items in the buffet is optimal for our family. And it works with my personal organization rule: store things where you use them!

Math manipulatives

Art supplies

The shallow drawers allow me to break down my homeschool supplies into small categories so everything isn't mixed together. I have a drawer for flashcards, a drawer for stickers, a drawer for notebooks, etc. I don't keep our textbooks here because they are heavy, and I have them in one basket in a cabinet near the table. After just one week, I have seen a great change in our homeschool structure because I am not constantly running from the room to grab supplies. I can set up the 2nd grade math activities and simultaneously grab a Pre-K alphabet puzzle without any hassle. 

Don't be afraid to organize your house in a way that may not seem traditional. Each family is different, and we have to do what works best for each of us!