Another tiny peak at my basement

A few weeks ago I posted about some projects I was working on in the basement, specifically finding a place for all of our Halloween costumes-turned dress up clothes, and I alluded to other projects that I would share when they were finished. 

Part of what drove me to hang all of the princess costumes in the first place was my distaste for the cluttered look that comes with these clear storage bins. In previous houses I've used them inside closets and it didn't bother me so much, but having them on display, with all of their contents on display, really really bugs me.

I would have loved to replace them entirely, but then I had an idea of how to jazz them up- and it was much cheaper than replacing them all together. I decided that if I could just hide the contents of the drawers, I wouldn't mind having them out in the open so much.  Yes it's nice for my kids to be able to see which drawer is for shoes and which one is for barbies, but sometimes a girl's gotta put fashion before function. 

I found some cute blue and teal polka dotted tissue paper, and thought that if I lined the drawers on the inside, it might just do the trick.  I trimmed the paper to fit just the front face of the drawer, and then lined the heck out of it with clear packing tape.  That way, stuff can go in and out of the drawers without tearing the paper.

The result?  Ta-Daaaah!

Doesn't that look so much better??? 

The clear blue storage containers on the shelves are new too (from Target)- and yes I know they are see through, which was the whole thing that I hated about the drawers...but I like the blue tinted plastic, and for some reason it doesn't bother me the same way.  These bins replaced some falling apart boxes, which looked even worse, so the blue plastic is a step up. I guess in this case I put function before fashion!  

Anyway, it was a cheap and easy project. and even though I can see in this picture that my polka dots are a TINY bit crooked...I'm still happy with the results.

I'm continuing to move stuff around in the basement, eventually maybe I'll be happy with where everything is. I think that I finally have it so that the majority of the smaller toys are confined to one area, and there is kind of a play "nook" in a very large room, rather than just toys sprawled about in all directions.

I'd love to get a nice soft and colorful rug to put in this area to make it feel a bit more homey. Then hopefully at some point we can use some of the rest of the space (on the opposite side of the room- not pictured here) for adult furniture to make it a nice place for the whole family to relax.

At this moment, we have camping chairs. Classy I know!

P.S. This picture shows my basement at THE CLEANEST IT HAS EVER BEEN.  Thank goodness I got it on film because it lasted about 2 minutes!