Controlling the Chaos

The last couple of weekends have been about trying regain control of the space we occupy. It's amazing how quickly things things can get out of hand (or how they never were under control to begin with, in some cases). So here's what we've been doing:

• Jeff acquired a very nice executive desk for his office, to replace the plastic folding table he's been using for the last three years. It actually has drawers and everything, which I'm sure he'll use eventually. 
• I unburied the bench, counter and one of the dryers in the laundry room, and I'm amazed at how much usable space I have in there now! 
• The big boys and I also took on the garage (not for the first time!) and were able to clear a not-quite-van-sized path. But, it's close, and I have faith that I may actually be able to park a vehicle in there sometime in my lifetime. And the kids were totally impressed...because now they have so much more room to pile up their myriad toys. We'll work on that later.
• Making no small mess, I changed the filters in the water filter system all by myself. As a bonus, the floor in the utility room got a nice bath.
• I claimed a small section of the home school room for myself, which I set up with a desk and a bookcase, giving me a workspace that keeps me accessible to the kids during the day but clearly segregates their stuff from mine. 
• I found the floor in the storage closet upstairs, though that room still needs some serious attention. But a victory's a victory, no matter how small, so I'll take it. 
• Jeff installed some fabulous racks in the garage for storing our plastic folding chairs, further clearing up floor space in the garage and making his wife very happy indeed. 
• When we had to relegate one of the bar stools to the garage (this may be why it never quite seems to to reach it's full car-parking potential) because it was deemed unsafe for children to sit in, I decided it was finally time to bite the bullet and get some new ones. They should be arriving in the next couple of weeks, and in the meantime, the current stools and the table they go with will find a new home (freeing up a bit more space in soon-to-be-clean garage).
• Jeff changed all the AC filters. You know, you should really do that once in a blue moon, whether it needs to be done or not.
• The furniture in Clays' room received new positions, to prevent him from further damaging the blinds while he waits for someone to get him out of his bed. 
• We have talked to a landscaping company about coming out and giving us a consultation. In this case the chaos is not actively being controlled, but we've taken the first step, and that's something.

What do you do/have you done/will you do to control chaos at your house? And don't act like you don't have it, 'cause I know you do.