The climate where we live can be pretty brutal in summer. It is over 40 degrees for about 7 months of the year, so when the cooler weather comes, we make the most of being outside.
In our rental, our backyard was feeling like we lived in the middle of a red desert. Hang on, we DO live in the middle of a red desert! Everything is stained by the red dirt, has those lovely cyclone shutters on every door and window (that all serve a very important purpose) and balls and outside toys tossed everywhere. It all looked pretty dismal.
Something needed to be done! Something organised and something pretty.
After seeing THIS fantastic project from Jen at I Heart Organizing, I was inspired! So I set to work creating an Outside Storage area for the kids toys and sports equipment/balls.
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Firstly I worked out what we wanted to store and organise, what size tubs we would need to do it. I also searched high and low for a large racking style system for all the tubs to sit on outside.
With limited shopping options in town, I could only find a few shelving units from Kmart for $39 each but they work well and I sourced some assorted tubs from Woolworths, Kmart and Red Dot. I decided to stick to a blue and pink colour scheme as it seemed to be the colours I could buy the tubs in at most stores.
After working out what items were going where, I organised and ordered some labels from the lovely Kate at Pretty Paper Label . The larger tubs have the labels directly applied to them, the others I made some cute tags out of card stock and then laminated them . The green gives the area a nice little punch of pattern and colour .
Now everything is all stored in one convenient spot, its kept tidy and it looks pretty :)
As well as sporting equipment, sand and water toys and a few other play items, we also like to store commonly used items. These include bike accessories (more for my husbands bike) , pumps for balls , Suncreams and Aeroguards, hats and stubby holders (for those sunset brews).
In an effort to mix up the look a bit , as well as the laminated tags, I also needed a few tags for the Medium sized blue tubs. They had to be water resistant and durable and still sticking to the colour scheme! Hmmmmmm the thinking cap was on!
After seeing a display book in the supermarket, I had an idea. Plastic and not too tough to cut. Perfect!
So I set to cutting out some new tags and applied the labels accordingly.
Done! (The kids have loved playing with the rest of the display book and it was only a dollar or so.
The new organised area has made such a difference to our patio , and to the kids outside play sessions. They love to get out a tub and take it to the lawn area to play and I love how everything is kept organised and tidy! I think any way you can encourage more outside play and physical activities is a good thing and this makeover has certainly done that!
And the test? We completed this project over a month ago now and its still working and kept tidy! Win!
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