We have made great strides in the schoolroom. Technically we can move back in for school but there are more things that could use attn as time permits. For starters I am becoming a container freak. I have this deep drive to gather like items into baskets and bins. (don’t think I could be nesting do you?)
I remembered this classroom and REALLY want to finish my bookshelves this way. We have twenty feet of floor to ceiling shelves. They are currently organized by topic but I am not enjoying books standing individually next to each other. If you take more than one or two books from the center of a long shelf it spells trouble. It is also easy to slip a library book in with the rest. It is not so easy to locate a specific volume from a series or genre. You must look through every title in that region of the shelves. I started gathering some similar sets of books like readers and series to help resolve these problems. Now for more containers…. I would prefer natural baskets for this project too but I fear it will be far too cost prohibitive.
The Clutterfree Classroom site has lots more good ideas. I am intrigued by the idea of covering some of the shelves. We need to use the books but not daily since the dailies are already gathered into – you guessed it – baskets and crates. This would free up lots of vertical space for calendar work, thematic posters, felt board etc. Things I enjoy but could not use due to lack of wall space.
Another fun find was Teacher TV. There is a video here that discusses the merits of a visually soothing classroom.
More classroom organization sites.
The Moveable Alphabet has just posted pics of her schoolroom. Very inspiring. Full, but not overwhelming.
Starry Sky Journal 
Thanks so much. Exactly what I need!
Our schoolroom has been my focus for weeks. Thanks for the links.
All those little neat baskets, WOW! If only, if only, I had more time. Maybe at our next break. Thanks for the links.
I am slowly doing this too…Here are some very random thoughts…
I found that we could put so much more on the shelves, we could find what we needed faster and it was so visually uncluttered to group things together. More often than not the books go back because even the little ones can “match” them to the other books. A picture on the outside of the container would help the non-readers….
I used a few large magazine holders for some materials (I have one of these for the geography books alone and it works great!) I also used a few small crates from Michaels…I do like the look…but I ran out of $$ to get more. (…but if you keep using those weekly coupons…)
I would rather use baskets, but have not been able to amass enough from the thrift store and various yard sales this summer (the square and rectangular ones with the handles cut off…and no blood was drawn in the process …haha) What I do have basket-wise, I scattered here and there amongst the bookcases and what I have finished looks nice. I can see that painting the baskets or crates would be great for color coding if necessary.
(orrrr..could you imagine decoupaging the outside of a crate with art images for art appreciation books for example…etc)
I even like the idea of using key tags for i.d purposes tied in a nice ribbon on the outside…so maybe color coding the tags would be more befitting my decor… hmmm I am still thinking on that one…
I just freecycled a bunch of ribbon so why not try??
On a cheapo note, I just posted on freecycle for Clementine crates….I plan to put a bit of felt on the bottom of each crate and smooth any rough edges so no one and nothing gets scratched. I really could play around with these for a new look….
Ok now I am rambling…
please….keep sharing! Let the good ideas FLOW! :o)