I Win The Cabinet Showdown

For now, anyway.

In my classroom in my new school, I don't have any closets or cabinets.  I have one bookcase that doesn't have any kind of doors. And the shelves are rickety.  And I had to get a hammer to bang the nails into the plywood on the back.

It's the strangest thing.  There is nowhere to put anything out of the sight of kids.

The former teacher didn't take them with her; she didn't have them either.  And she put up with it, as many in the building did.

I will put up with no such crap and I've been telling anyone who will look at me what a sorry state of affairs I'm in.  Seriously, anyone who even turns their head my way gets an earful.

I'm not one of those teachers who locks everything up and has to wear my keys on myself at all times to unlock cabinets, closets and the like.  I do lock my classroom because it's the rule but even that really bothers me.

And it's not that I have top secret things that need to be kept out of the sight of young eyes.  But I do have things like French games and DVDs and things that wandering children might feel the need to take or get into when I am not looking.  Or , GASP, get into when there's a sub in my room.

I want a closet or two.  With doors that close and shelves that hold things.  I don't even care if they lock.  But they have to be of substance.

I've asked my principal and she says I can have one and she's working on it.  I've talked to maintenance and they are working on it.  I've asked the office and they are working on it.  I've asked other teachers and they are working on it.

I'm working on my last nerve.

So, when my uncle's Rubbermaid closet became available for free, I grabbed it.

I took it apart and gave it a good scrubbing, but then k-ster and I disagreed on the shelving.  There is apparently some Rubbermaid shelving you can buy that is custom made, but I don't think I should have to spend money on what the school says they will provide.  I wanted k-ster to make a really basic wooden bookshelf from scrap wood but we don't seem to have the scrap wood I wanted to use.

Buying a bookshelf to go in it really seemed like it would defeat the purpose.  And without shelving, this cabinet would really be a big mess and basically useless.

As luck would have it, I found myself the perfect size shelving unit to go inside.  I didn't really want to spend money but I thought it was a great deal for the quality.  I like this kind of metal shelving and I have had one for a long time with excellent results.

And, when they finally give me a real cabinet, I could give this one away and keep the nice wire shelving unit.

I was so thrilled that this one actually fit inside.  I might put something underneath to raise it up because there is a lot of space between that top shelf and the top of the cabinet.  If I just start stacking things, it will be a big mess.

Clearly, I am not a fan of mess, because I've mentioned it about 5 times.  I seem to have clutter everywhere I go, but because this is a new space to me and basically empty, I have to start off on a non cluttered foot or it will just go downhill from there!

School starts in a couple of weeks and I'm trying to sort things out.  With nowhere to put the stuff that was shipped (in 37 boxes which I don't even dare count because if even one is missing, someone is going to get a big spanking) I feel like I'm going in circles.  I have taken the boxes that they stacked and put them all around the room so I can at least open them and see what's inside.  But then there's nowhere to put the stuff!


I am slowly making my way and this cabinet plus a larger shelving unit that I bought will make a big difference.  When I have it all together, I'll post some pictures.  I painted a few things the other day (but not my walls because that's forbidden!!) and started to feel like maybe I will survive this move.

But then I looked at my non existent closets and had to go home.

It's going to be a weird back to school season!

Linking here:
http://www.lovebakesgoodcakes.com/2013/08/lets-get-social-sunday-34.html#more