Saving the Study

This is my entry for The Organizing Junkie's Whole Room clean up challenge.
Are you ready? It's not for the faint of heart, I assure you.

Ok then, you asked for it.

I apologise profusely...I know...I know.....here, let me hold you until the horror has passed.


A picture speaks 1000 words and so there is not much more to say. This is the culmination of a couple of weeks worth of dumping. I do tidy it fairly regularly but without a good system it would get trashed again in no time. We have a teeny tiny house with exceedingly little storage space so when there is a need to dump, it inevitably ends up in this little shop of horrors. Since there is not a lot of sunlight in that room, I generally don't use it, so it is the dumping ground and very little else. We have to pass through it several times a day though, and it really does give one a sinking feeling. Here it is after several frantic searches for something. You can tell that the garbage bag was open and ready to go...

Here's the other side of the room:




And after..oooohhh....ahhhh...look, even the sun is shining!




Unfortunately this still appears cluttery. It's something about photos and papers..they don't play well together, but really it is soooo organized now. It is a thing of beauty and a joy forever.

And! But for the printer, is now clear and lovely under the dresser (you can tell a smidge from this picture)

We were so inspired by the clean up that we got a long intended project done. Since my family are all in South Africa and Australia, I stole my mom's idea of three clocks. We don't live in New York but we are on EST and we just thought New York looked so much cooler then..Ohio. Wouldn't you agree? Indeed. So now I am so exceptionally organized, even my phone calling habits are organized. No more midnight phone calls mom. I am sure you are so sad.

1. What was the hardest part of the challenge for you and were you able to overcome it?

Getting started. It was a depressing room filled with papers of varying sentimental value. Sentimentality has always been my downfall. I knew tough decisions would have to be made.

2. Tell us what kind of changes/habits you have put into place in order for your area/room to maintain its new order?

Well I have tossed a bunch of stuff. As flylady says, "you can't organize clutter" so I just got rid of a lot of it. We tossed a bunch of cords and even a CPU we did not need there to make room for the filing system. Getting it off the desk means I can use the desk for work , rather then the couch. Now I am closer to where I need to be to file stuff and it does not build up into chaos. The paper shredder is now easily accessible, and plugged in (!) so I can get rid of stuff immediately. That has been a delight.

3. What did you do with the “stuff” you were able to purge out of your newly organized space?

I threw it away or donated it. I have a rubbermaid tub for sentimental things that I really really had to keep and I added a few things to it.

4. What creative storage solutions were you able to introduce in order to create additional space as well as establish some limits and boundaries?

I used the baskets I had more effectively-designating one of each large one to each "theme" in my life-soccer club, church, kids. I put brown paper of varying shades (to coordinate with the wall hanging) in the fronts of the plastic set of drawers. This makes them opaque and makes the whole room look better. When they were see through, it just added to the image of chaos and made me less motivated to put things away.

5. Why do you think you should win this challenge?

Because I pushed through with a dreary and dreadful task on an exceedingly dreary and dreadful day. I was so exceptionally depressed that day but I did it anyway. Even my children are thrilled with the results so even if I don't win, it was completely worth it. I have created a whole new viable space in my home rather then the messy walk in closet it was before. Since I have to walk through it several times a day it makes my heart sing each time.

I'm reading: Saving the StudyTweet this!