The publishers of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine are lucky....no, blessed! We often get to 'pick what we personally want' to review for the magazine and website. I had heard of Storage and Display Solutions' Homeschool Organizer (sdunits@shentel.net) and knew immediately I must review it (plus I needed one desperately!!) . First, let's talk about the company's customer service. Keep in mind, I am going to be honest, here. Completely honest. TOSâ„¢ is known for its objective reviews, so please believe me when I say enthusiastically, "I will yell it from the rooftops! Homeschool Organizers need to be in every homeschool house in America!!" What is it? Well, it's a huge piece of furniture, and when it arrived at our office, it had to stay outside until the trusty co-publisher, Paul, could get around to bringing it in and assembling it. This company is amazing. First, they are NICE. I liked them right away. Great attitude, friendly demeanor, I just LIKE them! Do you think they sent us the small model? Noooooo. The company went 'all out' and sent the Deluxe Tall Model. It's fantastic. I have never seen anything like it before. This thing swivels and has useful shelves and baskets everywhere (tons)! As you turn it (and it's huge!!), you find that there are baskets with liners, thick shelves (sturdy!), a dry erase board, a message strip, hooks and more. All four sides are brimming with 'cubby holes and/or baskets' everywhere. The shelves are deep and the wood is durable MDF board, with an emphasis on durable. I have seen and used other pressboard shelves -- this gives 'pressboard' a new meaning. It weighs 110 pounds and came shipped in two boxes by UPS. It's PRETTY. I thought it would be "guyish" (no offense but sometimes men don't create things practical AND pretty). As Paul was assembling it with our three boys, I could hear him muttering, "very thorough directions"..."high quality"...."this is NICE"....."easy to do".... and things of that nature. He worked quickly, explaining the steps to our sons, putting it together with ease with their 'help'. We have had SO many things we have purchased in the past which need to be assembled (and sometimes we want to pull our hair out!) which have undecipherable directions or steps missing. Because of this, I was a bit apprehensive about Paul putting this 'new toy' together for us. After laying it out on the floor and giving the easy-to-understand instructions a once over, he assured me with a grin, "This thing's going to be simple to put together!" And he was right. To the 'envy' of just about every friend who comes over (including the pesky Senior Editor, Jenefer Igarashi, who would steal it if she could lift it), I have the most beautiful homeschool organizer in existance! It's white, sturdy, beautiful, and MINE. It swivels! I can't get over that part! My kids are NOT allowed to ride it but they would if they could!

We get so much curricula and books in all the time from awesome companies to review. For the longest time, we had stacks everywhere. Now, up on the top two shelves, I have about eight boxes of AOP's Lifepacks, Lost Classics and Lamplighters' books on bottom shelves and in upper level/lower level baskets, kids' books from publishers like Crossway Books and Harvest House, Handwriting stuff from Getty & Dubay, Bethany House's Men of Faith series AND their cool Trailblazer series (multitudes of series will fit in this organizer!), gobs of workbooks from AGS and Continental Press and K12. ...the whole line, practically, from Advance Publishing (20+ books), BJUP (Digital Learning Network) kindergarten books, Christian Liberty Press items....the list goes on forever. Can you believe all that stuff fits in one corner of my living room?? And it looks pretty? Seriously! Believe me, MORE than a full year's worth of curric will fit here (ten years??), complete with spaces for art supplies, paper, EVERYTHING. It's complete, it's beautiful, it's practical and every homeschooler could use one. In fact, Jen Ig "offered" to let me "buy her one" by insisting I offer free advertising to this company. Nawww, let her buy her own. (haha, and she could use one with the truckloads of review items she receives!) Storage and Display Solutions has impressed us with this fun contribution to the homeschool market -- This company is worth its weight in gold! Homeschoolers, it's a green light! Go get one!