Talk back...

Ok all, I have some questions for you!  Of course I've been thinking alot about our impending move and thus, the house we will be moving into.  There are a few areas that I'm just not sure what to do with.  Or I have too many ideas and need to get them narrowed down.  So this is where you come in!  If you have anything to say on any of the following areas of decoration/renovation/organization, I'm all ears!  If you can include links to pictures (pinterest perhaps?) that would be even better, though I'll gladly take suggestions without a visual if that's what you're offering.

First up: laundry area.  Our laundry area is located kinda as a short hallway between the main floor bathroom and the rest of the house.  It is fairly out of sight from the rest of the house, but everyone who uses our bathroom will pass by this area.  As is, it is about closet sized with top load washer/dryer on the bottom and a set of three darker wood, outdated cabinets on top.  I LOVE that I'll have cabinets to hide laundry soap and stuff in, but it's not very pretty.  What would you do?  Paint the cabinets?  Cover it all with a nice curtain?  Something else entirely? 

Next: Master bedroom closet.  Picture this: typical double sliding door-size closet, without the doors.  I'm seeing huge potential.  Built-ins anyone?  Yup.  That's my goal/dream.  All I'm wondering is, do I go with lots of space to hang stuff and just a few shelves?  Or do I go with more shelves?  Do I make specific shelves for things like shoes?  What kinds of things do you store in your master closet and what would your dream closet be?

Moving on: Cloth diapers.  How do you store them?  Right now mine are sitting in a pile, spread eagle, on top of my diaper pail.  They're easy to grab and use, I'll give my system that much, but they sure don't look pretty.  And one of the best things about cloth diapering is how pretty all the fresh, clean diapers are!  So do share, where are your balls of fluff between being laundered and being used?

Entrance: being a bi-level, our entrance leaves much to be desired.  We are fortunate enough to have a closet at the end, but foot-room is lacking.  SO, if you have a small entrance, how do you keep the crazies out?  How do you keep things organized and looking beautiful?

Basement: wide open spaces!  One half of our basement is bedrooms and bathroom.  The other half is open!  I'm hoping to make myself a little craft area (need a table...) but the part I'm thinking most about is the tv area.  See, we sold what little basement furniture we had when we moved from Altona.  We have but one 2' square cushion for the floor and that is IT.  We have no tv stand.  We have no couch.  And I'm kinda hoping we have no chairs either (Nathan has a dorm chair from his days at Bethany that I'm kinda hoping doesn't survive the move...).  Anyone have any decently inexpensive ideas for making the basement a comfy family area without tons of furniture?

Kitchen: this one will probably be the lowest on the priority list, but remember those dark, outdated cabinets that I mentioned were in the laundry area?  Well, I'm pretty sure they were taken from the kitchen at one point cause that's exactly what's in there.  New counter tops (YAY!) but old wooden cabinets.  Has anyone tried painting cabinets?  What were the results?  Would you recommend trying to beautify what I have (paint, new hardware) or should I just leave it completely alone until we can redo the kitchen with new cabinets (probably 15 years down the road!).

Let me know!