Brick wall, meet my head

I've been doing this for almost 11 years. And you would think by now, I'd have it down. Something would have clicked, all the bugs would have been worked out, it would become like clockwork. But still, after more than a decade of children, my house looks like this:

I just don't know how it happens. We spent all Saturday morning (and then some) doing chores. We were out of the house practically all day yesterday. And five days a week, the kids are gone more than seven hours. It's just me here--am I really that messy? What do I do all day?

Over the years I have come up with organization and storage strategies in the hopes of tackling the clutter. The children have ample space for their clothes. There are baskets and boxes and shelves. I frequently ask the kids to fill a grocery bag with items from their room to just throw away. Yet still, I am overwhelmed by the clutter.

But I am not giving up. Oh no--I will keep trying, inch by messy inch, to get this house under control. My latest endeavor was the front closet. This is where the children keep their backpacks and mittens/gloves/hats/scarves. The rickety shelving system I had put in just wasn't cutting it. The backpacks are too big, the cubbies too small, and this led to never being able to close the closet door (one of my pet peeves).

I needed a custom closet solution. Enter Glenn. My handy hero.

Really it was quite simple. Just two shelves that run the length of the closet. Wide enough for big backpacks. That's all I needed. I think Glenn was ready to run with an elaborate shelving set-up, but I reigned him in and he built just what I needed:

Simple, yet satisfying. I love that I can close the door. At least for now. The backpacks are currently out of the house, and we'll see what happens after the afternoon rush.

My expectations are kind of low. In hopes that they might actually be fulfilled. A decade of effort without much to show for it has kind of jaded me.