Rescuing the Coloring Books

At our house crayons and coloring books reside smack in the middle of the kid zone, as opposed to some of our other art supplies which I prefer to keep less child accessible, if you know what I mean.  I thought if I just put the coloring stuff right where the kids could get to it then anytime they want to color or draw they could just do it... I wouldn't even have to guide them to the supplies.

But over time, I think you can see this drawer has become a bit of a black hole...

(I've been debating all day whether or not I should mention the fact that this photo was taken after I did some actual straightening and clearing in the drawer-- really the papers were floating to the brim of the drawer and threatening to escape.) Obviously this is not the 'no hassle, self sufficient' coloring I was hoping for. This is just more mess for mom-- definitely not my intention.  So I decided it was time for an overhaul!

I saw an old dish drying rack on pinterest and thought that might be just the trick for us too.  I just had to find one skinny enough to fit in the drawer. And, while shopping, I realized magazine boxes could hold the loose drawing paper and notebooks we also keep in that drawer.

Here's a stand alone picture of the filled drying rack. It works perfectly!  Now they can leaf through the coloring books without making a disaster in the drawer.  The kids were very excited to see coloring books they hadn't seen for ages because the books had been swallowed up by the abyss.

And here's how it looks after I put everything in place.  You can actually see the bottom of the drawer! It's kind of amazing, I keep going back to look at it...like it was a mirage or something.

That's Cuteness helping herself to some coloring stuff!  We've suddenly has a burst of coloring excitement now that the girls can actually find everything.  This was such a quick simple fix! I wish all my other organizational needs were just a matter of a drying rack and two magazine boxes!

If only!