It’s cold outside baby - Blanket Storage

​“It’s cold outside baby.” In Texas, in February and it is 17 degrees outside. The schools have been canceled just with the potential idea of ice and snow coming down. You've got to be kidding me. I was born and raised in North Carolina, ice and snow came every year. We had to wake-up at 6am and check the news channel to see if they canceled school and just because we could see 6 inches of snow on the ground, didn’t mean it was a guarantee it would be canceled. 
 
I will say this, it was nice to have the kiddos home and chill'n in front of the TV, not having to think on a school day. However, we always have this debate in our home. My husband and daughter are the cold-blooded-I-am-freezing-all-the-time people and my son and I are it-is-always-hot-unless-it-is-65-degrees people. It is an unless debate. 
 
My daughter is really feeling alone with this debate because her side-kick debate team member is gone. My husband is deployed right now. Which really translates to she is never going to win. Although, even when he is home they still don’t win. And the reason is because logic is on my side. And here is my logic: “You can ONLY take off so much. However, you can put on a lot.” Honestly, people my birthday suit is as far as I can go and my kids don’t need to be scarred like that. But if the house is cold you can layer away and snuggle under a nice blanket until your heart is content.  And I am an awesome momma, I have -like a million- throw blankets around the house. They can find one in just about every room in the house. I have so many of them, I keep thinking I need to donate some of them to others. Every time I start to this hot-cold debate comes up and I dismiss getting rid of them. I don’t want any excuse for the two of them to think they might win the debate. Blankets stay!
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So, then the dilemma is what do I do with all these throw blankets. Baskets, blanket ladders, trunks, hidden storage ottoman, the ideas are out there, but which one works for me. Well, I have done them all I think. And for us the basket that allow easy and quick access has been the best. Although, I have this constant “if you don’t fold the blankets…” rant with the kids, it still has been the best for us because we have a nice size living room.

But what if you don’t have a large living room. My favorite is the blanket ladder. This is an easy DIY project too. It doesn’t take up a lot of space and it is pretty.

Materials:
3 - 8ft 2 x 4
Wood Glue
16 - 2 inch wood screws ​
​Wood Stain or chalk paint - (I used Minwax Gel Stain in Chestnut)
​Sandpaper

Equipment:
Sliding Miter Saw
Kreg Jig pocket hole system
​Power Drill

Instructions:
Step 1 – Cut the pieces to length. See the diagram below for measurements and quantities. You will need the following pieces:

• (2) approximately 6.5′ or 7′ long 2x4s – for the structure of the ladder
• (4) approximately 1.5′ long 2x3s – for the rungs

Step 2 – Sand 
Step 3 – Lay everything out. 
Step 4 – Screw everything together.  We used (2) screws in each side of each rung. We made the holes using the Kreg Pocket Hole system.
Step 5 – Angle the legs. We made a 10 degree cut on each leg so the ladder would be more stable leaning against the wall.
Step 7 – Stain or paint. . And I always recommend applying messy products like this with gloves and outside. Once everything drys and you have the look you want…

There are always some wonderful hidden storage solutions too. I love these. The only thing I caution is think before you buy. If you have a ton of things that need to be store and you only have one thing (the storage ottoman) then that probably is not going to work for you. So, think about what you want to store before you buy. Yes, there is the basket thing…okay if you are going to go this route make sure you find a basket you are going to love. After all you will be looking at it every day. And, make sure it goes with your style and décor. There are a million different baskets out there…find the one you LOVE! 
Okay, so if you have some amazing creative ideas for throw blankets tell us…

Until next time,
​Chandee