Storage ottoman

When it comes to decorating and design, I consider about 500 items/sources/magazines, think some more, and then finally decide to buy. Since we are in the process of staging our house to sell, we are trying to pare down items, find items for a smaller space, and use furniture that is multi-functional. Enter ottoman. There are a million to choose from and yes we could have purchased a really high-end, long-lasting one but since none of our other furniture is high end, we wouldn't want the rest of the room to be jealous. This one's from Target and about about $80. We have it as a quasi table (with a tray on for a level surface), but you can also use it for additional seating, and you can store blankets/pillows/junk inside.

Pottery Barn's daily system

I'm not a shopping snob. I will take Target anyday over some yuppie store where a tube of shea butter hand creme costs $37. However, I have done enough research to know what I want when it comes to storage, and frankly, Pottern Barn has done their homework. Overall, the company's approach to decorating small spaces (they have an entire line of furniture and storage systems devoted to this) is really smart. Therefore, it's worth a little bit more money knowing I've exhausted all of my cheaper options. The daily system offers lots of storage ideas and you can customize and buy only the options that will fit or that you can use. I just bought the letter bin and last year I also purchased an all-in-one cubby that kind of resembles this, however, I would never spend $399 on it; mine was sold at PB but they don't carry it anymore. It was also more useful because it had magnetic chalkboard doors and cost about 1/3 of this price. I know I've seen them online through JC Penney. Update: Kim bought the magnetic calendar and you do have to order the rod to hang it on (it doesn't have books on the back).