BEFORE:
AFTER:
Those boxes on the right are all Christmas things, so they won’t stay there. The dogs are usually cluttered like that, nothing I can do about them. Oh, this felt good to do. I worked for HOURS in my room and still didn’t get everything done. It isn’t even that evident in these pictures, but my room had gotten out of control. I maintain a pretty tight rein on the rest of the house (Lala, of course, has her room to mess up just like I do mine), and it’s usually pretty neat and clean, but my room was filling up with clothing and yarn piled up on the floor, papers piled in leaning stacks…..
You can see in the top photo above the printer my horizontal filing system. I have a method that works for me — I stack all completed paperwork and get around to filing it maybe once or twice a year. In the meantime, the pile leans and pushes against the sock yarn basket, making skeins jump behind that bookcase, which I hate, because it’s always the skein I need next.
Instead of simply filing that pile and starting over, I went to Ikea and bought pretty paper boxes to maintain my system. Isn’t that kind of sick?
I didn’t touch the yarn, though. I was recovering from being sick. I’m not crazy. That’s a big commitment, one I’m not sure I’m yet ready for.
Other exciting news: In addition to having gained two pounds since her spaying, Miss Idaho, now eight little plump pounds of spazzy love, can almost not fit in my yarn bag. It amused me to make Lala hold it on the sidewalk:
OOOH! I forgot — I also got the organizing bug for the front sunporch. It’s been a completely unutilized room in our house — a dumping zone for boxes and things we didn’t know what to do with, a broken toilet tank lid (now that I think about it, why the hell didn’t I just throw that out?), a rope swing still in the box, a tent, boxes of papers and books to recycle, boxes that need to be kept but had no other home. It was ugly and I hadn’t ever gotten to the point where I could completely go blind to it, and it was visible from the living room through the inside window (which I love), making it that much worse. So I took a bunch of junk out, covered the stuff I can’t move yet with pretty fabric and set up a writing spot.
The chair will eventually be replaced with a comfy armchair from the thrift store or Craigslist, but I haven’t reached that point yet. Soon.
This room now makes me happy. That’s so cool. I love home.
awwwww…it looks FABULOUS!
Come on over if you have the organizing bug…
I’ve got PLENTY for you to do…
tee.hee.
and REALLY good chocolate 😉
Miss Idaho looks wonderful! And loving! (I love seeing little dogs poking their heads out in unexpected places). House looks great too – such a nice feeling to be able to sit and enjoy.
So need to do the same in my house… I could start watering the plants on the porch maybe.
It feels so good to get organized, doesn’t it? We’ve been doing it in preparation for our impending move. I can’t wait until we get a new place to make our own.
Nothing like Sorting Stuff Out. Second only to Throwing Stuff Out.
Oooh. Nothing quite like the feeling of a fresh start. Your room(s) looks great. I love a cozy “me” spot, too. Your porch looks like a lovely spot for writing. Enjoy!
I just bet Lala was rolling her eyes wasn’t she??
When we get back from our trip I have much to do organizing etc. wise. So much I don’t know where to start in fact – want to come waaay east for awhile (oh for a month or so at least – told you there was lots to do…lol)
I like your home too. I love looking at people’s homes and planning mine in my head. I’m 23 with a rented shoebox, but one day I will have a home and it will be GREAT.
The sun porch is so pretty!
Excellent work on the organizing! I tend to go in spurts like that too, where it’ll stay a mess for weeks, then suddenly, poof! It’s all gone. I especially like the writing area in the sunroom. I’m very jealous. 😀
It looks wonderful! It’s freezing cold and dark here, so I am imagining myself knitting on your sunporch,lovely.
Don’t it feel good! Yesterday, I sent you an e-mail (from my work e-mail) for participating in a recipe exchange. I was stuck for a 10th cooking friend to add to the list and thought of you and your frequent mentions of yummy yummy food (especially last week’s casserole). Hope you don’t mind. I don’t usually participate int his sort of thing but the lure of easy delicious recipes was too much to resist.
Looks just wonderful. I really love what you’ve done with that cozy porch. Yay! Here’s to loving home! (and I really should go clean out a room or two….)
There is nothing so gratifying as putting things in pretty boxes. It is a personal favorite pasttime of mine- shuffling papers from unwieldy stacks, into tidy containers with lids that hide all. The part I suck at, sadly, is re-visiting the papers after they are out of sight. Once they are concealed, it is way too easy to NOT deal with them further.
We took a full truck load of stuff to Goodwill on Sunday, and I am reveling in the open closet space that was left behind. Did you know we have a closet in our downstairs hallway? A big one, even. It serves the purpose that your old sun porch/new writing nook did.. it has housed things that are “one their way out,” the box the blender came in, camping gear, miscellaneous whatnot. It was so crammed full with years of accumulated give away stuff, that it took us almost an hour to get it all out of the house.
Ahhh, to dance in a long closet, and not risk breaking an ankle. The cats are beside themselves.
But I digress- as usual. Congrats on your newly organized, fresh, clean rooms. Enjoy!!
xoxo
P.S. It appears that Lala’s head has been detached from her body in the picture above. Is it in the knitting bag, too? Just wondering where that cup of coffee in her hand is going, without a head to drink it. That is all.
congratulations chica! what an amazing feeling… i have been doing bits and pieces in my crazy-disorganized study, but i long for a good, satisfying deep-clean and organization. the end of the year is the time for that… time to start fresh! after the holiday travels it will be me & the johnny cash box set & files. and yarn. yikes.
Wow. Very nice job! I agree the yarn stash organizing is best left for a day when it’s the only thing you do! I have had the organizing bug, but no energy to actually follow through. I hate this time of year, not for the holidays, just for the long, dark nights (and sometimes days, too!)
I read your post where you moved your visitor info to your knitting blog, and checked that out – can’t believe I never scrolled through the whole thing! Anyhoo, I saw the fair isle sweater from February 18, 2005 (the one knit from Artfibers Alpaca). Is there any way to get a pattern for that? It made me squeee!!!
Want to come over here? I’ve got plenty of clutter to amuse you with. I can provide free wine for your troubles. There’s just that little detail of a transatlantic flight to worry about.
I love your porch spot — it makes me smile just to look at it. Doesn’t it feel great to lavish a little [tough] love on home? Why don’t we do it more often?