How To Organize and Utilize A Cluttered Space--Day 1
In my home, there is a room on the second floor, next to our master bedroom, that would normally be the 4th bedroom. I guess it could also be used as a guest room—if we ever had guests! But ever since my mother (in 2004) and my oldest son (in 2005) moved out, it has transitioned into a home office, then a sitting room, and now is a complete disaster. This is the room where all the crap goes that I have no other idea what to do with. And not all of the crap is, in fact, “crap.” Some items are electronics, some are personal—like pictures with and without frames—scrapbook materials of all kinds, computer accessories, books, my CD collection, odd porcelain figurines, various other bric-a-brac, dolls...you get the idea. This is not the only location in our home that is full of “stuff”, but it is the room with the most, second only to the basement. But that will be another hub entirely!!
Anyway, I started working on this room around mid-morning. I began by taking pictures of the room as it stood before I began this major project. As you can see, this room is wall to wall stuff. And most of it is stuff that has been with me for years upon years. I am, at times, one of those people who will pick up an item I haven’t seen in a long time and say “Hey! I wondered where I had put this! Cool. I’ll just put this here so I remember to use it LATER.” Yeah, right. I am slowly but surely getting past that little quirk. I sell items on eBay as it occurs to me to do so. It's not going to make me a millionaire, but every little bit helps.
I've started this hub in MS Word 2007 because I need a break from the mess up there. Besides, I know that if I hook up and try to post directly on HubPages, that would bring all my work to a grinding halt. HubPages usually sucks me in and renders me quite useless for long stretches of time. Too bad I don’t use that time for writing most of the time, eh?
Anyway, I really must get back up there shortly. I need to utilize my “cleaning demon” persona while it lasts or else nothing will get done!! I have almost completely emptied the 4-drawer, tall and wide filing cabinet. It is like a light almond color—we got it years ago from a friend of ours who was in charge of closing down the warehouse where he used to be upper-level management. I was going to trash it because it is slightly an eye sore—not really in bad shape, but I’m tired of looking at it. Instead, I may see if I can paint it a far more attractive color. Then, if I can get it to turn out right, I can use it anywhere in the house, for just about anything. I know if I get rid of it I will regret it later.
As I go, I am removing pictures that I’ve had hanging on the walls. They are basically serving no purpose as this door is closed most of the time because having to look at the mess every day when I walk by the room gets on my nerves! The walls need some scrubbing and spackle and fresh paint. The carpeting is dirtier than I imagined it could be, and because it is such a light color (in the white family), I really need to find a good way to do a thorough cleaning of it. We cannot afford new flooring right now, and likely not for the foreseeable future. Why I ever thought we could pull off cream colored carpet in this house is really beyond me!
Probably the hardest part of this project will be deciding what I can keep and use, what is good to sell, and what I can trash. If I play my cards right and something ticks me off properly, that will usually push me past the hurdle of uncertainty, as far as my belongings and which of them to get rid of is concerned. Do any of you have the cleaning reaction to anger? Perhaps that is why my husband tries so hard to piss me off all the time? I will come back to add to this a little later this afternoon....
I’m back. It is late afternoon now. The shredding of BS is done. I always let all the junk mail pile up, along with all the kids papers from school during the year. Anything with anyone's name or more gets shredded. I should shred the bills, too! Okay. Probably not the best idea; but it is tempting!
I have managed to separate some things for safe keeping. I am thinking the next thing I should do is bring all the stuff down that I have set aside to sell on eBay. There are sweaters, jeans, computer mice, adapters and chargers—like I said, a varied mess of items that I either need to put up for sale, donate to a worthy cause, or put out to the curb.
Here's what I managed to get done so far:
- brought all loose hangers downstairs and hung them in the laundry room
- stacked wall photos and empty picture frames in the closet
- temporarily packed all the scrap book supplies into the pink supply case.
- bagged all clothing items for sale or donation and moved them downstairs to be photographed.
- boxed all miscellaneous electronics accessories for my father-in-law to look through or to put up for sale.
- moved my little figurines to the wide window sill, dusted the dresser and shelves, and sorted my books.
- started clearing off my work table--the one place besides the armchair that seems to attract large piles of "stuff"
This break has been long enough. Onward and upstairs I go. **I have included some of the photos from the "before" session. When I have the project done, I will include some "afters" as well. Well, anyway, wish me luck for tomorrow! Thanks for reading!
