Moving back to the US has been a whirlwind to say the least, and thankfully (thankfully thankfully), we were able to sell the house we had lived in before the Panamanian adventure. I do miss my house, but looking back through ‘green’ eyes, it had a lot of unnecessary space. Since we’re renting a smaller townhouse now, my girls sharing a room, all of us sharing a bathroom, I’m finding it’s not how much space you think you need, but how you manage the space you have (although, I would LOVE some built-in bookcases, but you can’t have everything…)

That being said - I need storage! Rather, my kids need storage - their cloth baskets are overflowing with dolls, and the book piles look more like the leaning tower of Dora. This is one issue I don’t mess around with - since we’re still in a state of housing-flux, I want something that will move with us and stay put. I covet the Via Toy Box storage system on so many levels. In a world of MDF and particle board furniture, it’s a breath of fresh air to see a product that uses real wood…Via uses birch wood from Russia, using a process called ’selective cutting,’ a sustainable practice that only uses trees mature enough for production. Paints are water-based, non-toxic, and kid and time friendly, meant to last for years of use and abuse. The boxes come fully assembled, except for the box fronts, and use minimal hardware.

Basically, the Via system rocks. A true modular storage system, you can buy Via boxes individually, in sets of six, or in pre-designed complete sets that incorporates everything from bookshelves to cabinets. Your kids can put their junk inside without worry about lids closing on little fingers, and the awesome shape fronts helps little ones learn shapes and colors. Put feet on the bottom and make it a table…hang them from the wall for that floating box look. Or, set them up in endless configurations, with endless choices of interchangeable doors and cubby cut-outs. Did I mention endless? Choose from twelve colors - natural, white, blue, red, chocolate, lime, pink, hot pink, yellow, orange, green, and lavender - that matches any decor or color obsession of the moment. You can even change the fronts of the boxes as tastes as that fairy or pirate theme finally phases out…