I may have to check that Charlotte Moss book out. I am addicted to decorating magazines and books it seems. Still waiting to see if Country Home is going to release another magazine. They teased us with 2 or 3 copies last year and then nothing more. So frustrating.

Well, apparently this wasn't a big hit with you mommies, but I think this poem is a wonderful tribute to the fearless, adventurous innocence of toddlers, and if I hadn't used up all my son's baby pictures already, I would make an album using this poem! :)

I haven't used any of the ideas yet, but hope to show some of the ideas to our remodeling contractor to incorporate as we proceed on the remodeling of our new (old) house. One idea I thought was particularly clever is the use of space beneath a staircase. The house we will be moving into has a staircase up into an attic room. In the book, they use the space beneath the stairs in creative ways such as building regular or pullout drawers of various sizes tucked in under the staircase. Another idea I liked was using the taller part of the understaircase area as a small, but efficient home office. Other ideas include a small bookcase built in between the studs just above a doorway that I thought was very clever. There are many ideas in the book that make use of space between wall studs, thus diminishing the effect of having yet another piece of furniture poking out into already limited room space yet still providing storage or display space. For a couple of projects, she shows space that is shared by rooms on either side of the wall. She has one where there is a washer/dryer that goes through a wall in a sunroom and emerges on the other side as part of a covered bathroom vanity top (hard to visualize, I know). Another clever idea shown is a one-can width pantry covered by a sliding barn door type mechanism. One project in the book says you can have spacious undersink drawers beneath your kitchen sink instead of the traditional cupboard if you reroute your pipes and trap towards the back of the cabinet. If other posters have come across other innovative books on small house storage, I sure would appreciate sharing the titles.

No I don't want to go back to the days pre computer. I wrote my masters thesis on an electric typewriter with carbon paper. Computers are a god send, sometimes. I don't know if others are like me - but when I say I miss library cards, Readers Guide to Periodicals and such, I am really saying that I miss the magic libraries once held for me as a child and young adult. For a lonely child who often didn't fit in, it was a place that opened up the world for me. I think of how I used to browse the shelves at the library. I'd start with the As and look for books that intrigued me. I ended up picking some classic literature, good literature, and just plain good reads that I never would have found if those books were culled because no one was checking them out. Now, these types of books are so seldom on the shelves or seldom recommended, that I do my browsing at the local indie rather than going to the library. Then there is the culling of staff, and the lack of personal attention. I still remember a wonderful lady named Pricilla McCloud, the children's librarian who later became the head librarian at our branch. I could always depend on her help when I wanted books on a subject, or just 'whats a good book I should read" and she'd find a few which would lead her to more ideas... Librarians like her knew my name, knew my interests, knew what authors might intrigue me. Now, the librarians are replaced by computer check out machines. There is one librarian at the reference desk who is usually helping out folk on the public computers. >public libraries are meant to serve the public. By and large, that same public is checking out the bestsellers rather than classics and when space is limited, such as at a smaller branch, it only makes sense that the shelf space is dedicated to books that patrons will read bookmom I agree to an extent. However the library should still have good copies of the books that have been popular in years passed (not necessarily books that anyone 'should' read) or at the very least books that are being required by school districts. And they should have librarians who know what's out there, ones who are available to help the public that they are catering to. Unfortunately budget cuts in our community have severly slashed the libraries ability to run. There is a bond election in May that will determine whether or not two of the three libraries in our area will close. And this is such a conservative area that I suspect it will fail.