Yep I finished. I had some serious doubts that I’d be able to. I mean, look at this:
I couldn’t even get into the room! Once I moved the stroller and stuff, you can see that there wasn’t even a path to walk.
YIKES! It took several days to just dig through what was there to see what I had. Lots of it got put away and then I just cleared it all out to start from scratch.
This was the guest room, but now the bed is in our room (not that a twin bed is useful for guests anyway, since most of them are married people). Then I decided to make it a junk room. But then we quit playing in the playroom (because frankly, we painted it dark so that it would be a good TV room; it’s not so inviting as anything else and without a TV…).
The yellow paint in here is much cheerier and so I decided that I really just needed that room to store baby stuff & clothes, have a place to sew, and work on my various other projects where I can either close the door on the munchkin OR have her play in there with me doing her own crafty projects (i.e. making a mess).
The outgrown baby stuff & clothes are currently packed FLOOR TO CEILING in the closet and I can close the doors and not have to see it 
. The dresser remains in here with her out-of-season and too big clothes. I also have a box under the table started for currently outgrown clothes and there is a box on top the bookshelf for outgrown shoes. When those are full, well, I’ll have to find them a home because the closet will hold no more.
The dresser is next to my sewing machine and has a large plastic drawer that I recovered from the goodwill pile. It holds the plethora of sewing related UFO’s — matching fleece poncho’s for Lil’ Bit & I, leg warmers, towels to be turned into dishcloths, place mats to complete, etc. On top is my crocheting & knitting projects in process, and my mending (with my wedding album separating them. My sewing machine is on the desk next to it with my sewing box right there, ready to go. I may finish Bones’ pants soon! Woot!
Anyway. The only thing I purchased was the $20 bookshelf to store the homeschool stuff that I’ve already bought for Lil’ Bit and my misc. project binders. It’s a bit sparse now, but I KNOW that I have things all over that will find their home here as I come across them. The table is going to me my workspace and the big bunch of canvas is our rendezvous tent — I need to make a bag to store it in. Once I’ve done that, I can put it under the stairs with the rest of the rendevous stuff and that will be gone as well. The box underneath is our rendezvous clothing.
There is a large toy box (well, that’s why it was built anyway–it’s much too big as you can see). It has a cushion on top to be used as extra seating OR I can take off the cushion & have extra workspace. More cushions are stored inside. The drawers beside it hold scrapbook supplies & the totes holds Lil’ Bit’s art & craft supplies & the box hold more of my UFO’s (unfinished objects).
Questions-
- What was the hardest part of the challenge? Honestly, starting was the worst. It was 3 feet deep with no paths! There was no good or easy place to start. Everything that I didn’t have time to deal with was in there–office supplies, paperwork, party supplies, projects, stuff from our business, clothes to grow into, clothes grown out of, stuff for sale. I ended up starting at the door so I could at least get in!
- Tell us what kind of changes/habits you have put into place in order for your area/room to maintain its new order? Some of the habits that I have put into place to maintain it’s order is to only work on one project at a time, having a place for everything so it’s easy to put stuff away, and making everything accessible so that mentally I can’t get overwhelmed by having to put away outgrown or new items. In the past, I haven’t had a “home” for these items and I work on projects all over the house. I think even my 2yo is insipired by the clutter free space; she loves being in there with me!
- What did you do with the “stuff” you were able to purge out of your newly organized space? Quite honestly, some of it still needs a new home. When we got rid of our TV and all the stuff that went along with it, our DVD’s/CDs, etc were left homeless. They are currently in the former TV room with the toys that are not in the current rotation upstairs. The craft supplies & projects were all organized and left in the room. The office stuff is on my desk awaiting attention (down to one box thankyouverymuch!). The rest of it (a small pile about 3×3x2–it was 10×12x3
) needs to be seriously analyzed and probably given away.
- 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 an existing dresser to hold a drawer of projects started that I recovered from a goodwill pile. I decided to actually use some of the storage in the student desk for items that previously have never had a home. I also put a cushion on a large chest for extra seating or extra surface area and put another chest under my main work table. It works really well to have the multipurpose space and the hidden, yet easily accessible storage as well. I’m really excited about it!
- Why do you think you should win this challenge? I think that I should win this challenge because the work that I did fit well with your criteria & I wasnt necessarily trying to do it that way! First, I did an excellent job transforming the space. The room was full of EVERYTHING 3 feet deep. Now the room has clear purposes and is a much more inviting space. The room has a home for everything and the frequently used items are all easily accessible, removing the mental “it will take too much time to do it right” barrier. Second, I was able to use items I already had in different ways. Since the room now has a purpose, it made sense to use the desk drawers for items. The sewing projects are near the sewing machine, homeschool projects have their own home, scrapbook & craft supplies are near each other and the room is now very open for any large things that may need to be done (present wrapping, etc.). I feel excitement & promise whenever I peek in that room .
