The Hub

This is the nerve centre of our home. This is where calendars are co-ordinated, school notes are pinned, awards are displayed and keys are hung. Handbags, sunglasses, scarves, hats, recipe books, cool drawings, postcards and random stationery all hang out here. The Hub. Our lives would spin off their collective axis if we didn't have this centre of operations.

It started off in life as a faux-walnut bookshelf in which the shelves kept on falling down because it was so badly made. We called it the "self-cleaning bookshelf" because every couple of weeks all the shelves would collapse on top of each other.

In a pique of temper I removed all the books to other places and threw the shelves out. The top shelf is fixed, so it was allowed to stay. I painted it "Mud Puddle" by Dulux. Everything else in the house turns out dirt coloured after the kids get to it, so it may as well start off that way to begin with.

School reports, chore schedules, thank you notes, The Life Cycle of a Frog (v.important to have on hand) all get their day in the sun.

The bottom shelf makes a great hidey-hole when you're trying to sneak some yoghurt, hoping no one will see you.

We painted the sliding door next to it for a make-shift blackboard. All manner of things get posted here. I haven't taken a photo today, but it says "Greenwich Mean Time is 0 degrees; International Date Line is 180 degrees." Random.

I found this ceramic vase/jar thingie at IKEA - it's great for holding all the chalk.

Stationery baskets - IKEA take another bow.

Lovely notes and postcards from friends and family.

Today is The Inspired Room's Beautiful Life Friday. In order for me and my family to have any semblance of a beautiful life, a modicum of organisation is required. This does not come naturally to me, but this re-born bookshelf has certainly helped. Even if all it does is centralise the chaos.

Hope you have a beautiful weekend.

Meredith. xo.