Writing Center/Lego Closet

 
Remember this closet?

It's halfway down our hallway and was completely empty when we moved in.

The landlords gave us the thumbs up to installing shelving.

Here is how it looks now.
 
One of the first things we did was change out the knob on the door. Our son picked a crystal one at Home Depot. The clip to the right of the door is to hold a remote for mountable LED lights.

We installed three tap LED lights from Costco under his bottom shelves at the same time that we added shelving to the closet.

We originally planned three wall shelving at two levels for a total of six shelves. We just never finished the cuts or installation on the top level. Maybe we'll get there sometime in the future? As it stands now, the shelving isn't full presently.

To the left inside the closet is the writing/drawing center. There is a table (and chair) with construction papers and a drawing pad. Next to the table is a small bin for collecting paper waste. The small organizer on the table has scissors, glue sticks, scotch tape, and rulers.

Hanging above the trash are two mini clipboards for any work that might require a moveable writing/drawing surface. The lower shelf holds colored pencils, large markers, mini markers, crayons, gel crayons, pencils, and glitter glue. Hidden behind is watercolor pencils and chalk pastels.

In the back corner of the shelving is a large roll of paper. We tear off pieces for drawing or painting. Whatever art related thing that strikes our fancy. There is extra construction papers and spiral notebooks, different notepads, ruler style stencils, envelopes, and word strips. That area is really meant to offer a variety of things to write on in hopes of encouraging writing practice.

To the right of the closet is our lego table. Beneath it is a bin full of legos! We have smaller containers to organize out different pieces (people/pets/accessories, small building pieces, etc), and a small bin for various kit instructions, although the large bin does not stay as organized as I would like.

On the shelving, starting from the word strips are small mailboxes for each member of our family. I got those in the $1 aisle around Valentine's Day a few years ago. It was a wonderful way to encourage writing, even just scribbles, when our oldest was developing the skill.

The green tub is full of stickers. And I mean full. Hiding in the corner is sidewalk chalk. The rainbow tubs hold various paints. Washable crayola tubs and my ridiculous collection of acrylics. The organizer has painting tools and brushes. Then an art kit from Grandma (Michael's Crafting store), and some kits from various relatives that we have yet to use.

Upper shelves have things like Moon Sand and clay as well as extra large construction papers in People colors, and really cool pieces of past art that we've stored in a bag to keep.

So, that's our Writing Center/Lego Closet. This space is a pain to keep clean, but it sure is functional when it's in order.