When you move around a lot it’s hard to get passionate about home decor.  Constantly spending money on furniture to fit house after house after house isn’t wise. But living out of boxes isn’t fun either.  The secret is to aquire pieces of furniture that can adapt to the space you find yourself in.  Specifically I’m speaking about dressers.  Yes,  those chests of drawers that most people have in bedrooms to hold clothing.

The humble dresser is so multipurpose.  I’ve used them in the traditional sense – to store clothing. I’ve used them in the living room as a television stand.  I’ve used them as an aquarium stand.  I’ve used them in an office space as storage.  I’ve used them in the dining room as a sideboard.

The trick is to purchase several dressers in varied sizes.  You’ll want them to have good drawer space and not be too tall.  The best one I own is about 2 ft wide and 4 ft high.  It’s made of real wood (no pressboard!) and has great dovetail construction.  It’s rather plain and has been painted white.  Each time we nick it moving it about we slap on another coat of paint.  Each time our needs change we move it to another room.  It’s currently in my daughters room, holding her clothes…before that it was in our spare room and prior to that it was in a living room.

Watch for second hand ones and snatch them up when you find them.  Older pieces tend to be better built and don’t worry about how they look. Painting them up is easy and it’s inexpensive (and fun) to change up the handles.

We also have a really large (it’s about 5ft long) dresser that’s suited us well – I bought it at a yard sale for $25.  It was the famous 70s brown wood finish so I painted it up in creme.  We’ve used that in the master bedroom, in the nursery as a change table and now it’s in our dining room.  It has so much storage that I don’t see us ever living without it.  It’s housing our table cloths, placemats, important paperwork, gift bags and the kids craft materials.

Uses for Dressers:

In the bedroom for clothes
In a closet for toy storage
In a diningroom as a sidebar
In the kitchen as an Island
In the living room to hold the tv, magazines, dvds, games etc.
In the baby’s room as a change table
In a den to hold a stereo/lamp

As your homes change so can the placement of your dressers.  Move them from room to room until they’ve served just the right purpose and are just the right fit.  Keep them painted up nice in a neutral color (grey, white or creme is best) and you’ll be able to plunk one down just where it’s needed!

-Now that you’ve read Heather’s ideas, have you re-purposed anything in your home? I know we bought a cabinet to make a pantry in our small house on post where we have none, and kitchen cabinet space is at a premium. It turned out after we fell in love with the cabinet we realized it’s really a media stand. It didn’t deter us from the purchase. Our current TV stand leaves much to be desired after wear and tear of several years and kids. This new purchase comes in very sturdy at 200lbs (we didn’t know until we read the carton when it was delivered). Whether we use this piece as a pantry, sideboard, or media console, this one piece will serve us well.

Heather blogs about life in Calgary with her family on her site http://hometoheather.com .  She has an interest in home decor, and wine – lots of wine.  Subscribe to her rss  feed to keep up with her!

1. Be aware of your surroundings. If there’s a name plate on the front, toys in the back yard, a wind chime and pinwheels out front, and a welcome sign hanging on the door, chances are people live in the house next door.

2. Common Courtesy. If there are people next door that you share space with, don’t just swoop in and take over. This extends to giving a heads up that your semi sized truck will be parked in front of both houses and blocking the shared drive way all day when you get your household goods.

3. Common Sense. If space in the back yard is shared and you choose to hog the storage area, your neighbor is not responsible for your things on their side that you placed there without asking.

4. Rank doesn’t matter. I don’t care what rank you are.  At work, feel free to let your Napoleon complex shine all you want. It’s why junior officers are complaining about the senior leadership right now. At home, I don’t care who you are. A bad neighbor is a bad neighbor regardless of rank.

5. Keep track of your children. I’m not your babysitter. Your three year old shouldn’t be wandering across streets alone.

6. Be polite. If you ask a neighbor who has lived here for years information about the area, don’t whine that 30 minutes is too far to travel for anything. If that’s your attitude, you’re going to have a very boring tenure since due to traffic it takes about that long to get to anything good. You have to get off post to experience anything truly fun.

There you have it. A short list, and really pretty common sense if you ask me. And yes, I find as I get older and deal with more and more of these move ins I become more of a curmudgeon. Can you think of anything to add?

Hours I’m stressed about all of this – endless.

Logisitically, this is going to be a nightmare without several months notice. It’s often very hard to get in with new doctors, especially the specialists. Hell, we’re STILL waiting for the Intermediate Unit to evaluate our 3 year old to see if he needs early intervention services (I’m thinking he does since he’s severely OCD). His initial referral was April. His speech evaluation that he failed was the end of June. I’m supposed to get a call this month, but it’s the 20th, and I’ve called and was told December, and they’d call me back this month with a date. I have yet to get a date. My biggest concern is that I’ll have to start this whole process over if we move, and we’ve already had to wait 6 months with at least another 2 months to go.

And housing. This is the only place I’m told in our state with officer housing. There’s only one other Army place we’re aware of in the state that has any military housing – period. If we leave this area, we’re definitely going to be on the economy. Do they not know what the housing market is like? Do they not know how hard it is to find places to rent? This is certainly not the time to be buying a house and trying to flip it in 3 years.

Is it just me? Is it because I’m married to a logistician that I think like this? Honestly, I don’t care about pack dates. Shove our stuff in boxes and let’s go. That’s the least of my worries. It’s the doctors, specialists, finding a school district that can meet our son’s needs, and a place to put our stuff on the other end that’s concerning me.How do you other milspouses cope with this? My husband is even antsier than I am.

*I live on a post that the majority of residents are LTCs and COLs. You would think at that age and stage in the military there would be more common courtesy. Not with the last group who lived here. It varies year to year.

There was money in the stimulus package that was passed for military housing and construction. This is the 2nd oldest Army post. It needs updating in the worst way. Being on the BRAC list put construction projects back a few years. Now that everything is moving forward, there is no communication. No communication not only amongst the housing company that our housing is privatized through but also to the residents. Last I knew, they were putting War College students and their families in these houses come July and August. Why would they start to gut houses in the middle of a block if there are supposed to be families living here this summer? Wouldn’t you think they would consolidate everyone so that the occupied and empty houses are together? Of course this IS the Army we’re talking about. Not only that, but if we’re supposed to be moving this summer, a little notice would be nice. It’s March people. This class is done in June and July is the transition month. That’s not all that far off. I’d like to know if I should stop trying to organize my house and just try to get it back to where it can all be packed up again. Especially since we’re going to be gone that last part of June, and I have a husband who will be gone the ENTIRE month of July. Is it really that hard to put out a memo or pick up the phone?

*Blog blast sponsored by Big Tent and The Parent Bloggers Network*

Zach had a good first day of school at his new school. He got to keep his tag on the behavior chart on green. I still need to write his teacher a note and give her a heads up on his quirks though.

I found out I’m having an allergic reaction to something. We have no idea what it is though. Being as I have eczema to begin with, it makes me more sensitive anyway. So, I’m on prednisone and if that doesn’t work then we need to look at what’s in this house since that’s the new thing in my environment. I REALLY hope I’m not allergic to the house. I don’t want to move again.

Speaking of moving, I found the kitchen timer. I was beeping for a straight 9 days. Too bad I was trying to find my cheese grater.

I’m still trying to find my flip flops and Zach’s croc-like shoes. That’s really bugging me.