My Home "Office" is one of those rooms that is ALWAYS getting cluttered and messy! It was pretty much a disaster when I began this process, but disaster was pretty much the norm for this room! Since I have gotten it decluttered, it has been much easier to maintain. (Although right now as I type, I am looking around and I see it needs some work!) But even when it does get messy, it's been so much easier and less time consuming to clean. This is because; 1) I got rid of LOTS of Clutter... so there is less "stuff" to junk up the place. and 2) Everything that I kept now has a "home", or a place it belongs.
First of all, getting rid of the junk and organizing everything else meant pulling EVERYTHING into the middle of the room and sorting thru this huge pile;
Then I spent a long time sorting through everything, throwing a lot of stuff away, and sorting the "keep" stuff into piles so that similar items would be grouped together. This kind of decluttering can be time consuming, don't expect to get thru a pile like this in less than an hour. It helps to break it up into small 30 minute work segments, and give yourself breaks. My whole office organizing project took me all week, because I would work on it for an hour or tow a day, 30 minutes at a time.
Here are the before and after pictures;
Side of Entertainment Center. BEFORE
Side of Entertainment Center AFTER
The upper shelf now holds all photo albums & scrapbooks
The lower shelf has two plastic bins, one for photos that have not been placed in photo albums or scrapbooks, and the larger bin holds all of my scrap booking supplies. These scrap booking supplies used to be in a different bin under the craft desk, which you will see in later pictures.
Under the entertainment center - BEFORE
Under the Entertainment center - AFTER
Just DVD's and CD's. All that other stuff either got thrown away or found a new, more organized home to live in! (organized elsewhere in the office)
Just DVD's and CD's. All that other stuff either got thrown away or found a new, more organized home to live in! (organized elsewhere in the office)
The corner behind the door. BEFORE
The corner beside the couch - BEFORE
I am showing you these two areas, because well, obviously I wasn't making very good use of these spaces. The corner by the door held NOTHING, it was just where random stuff would get placed and where cobwebs would collect.
The bookshelf next to the couch? Well it wouldn't fit anywhere else in the room, so it had to go in sideways. Which resulted in it not being used very well for a storage area, because it was NOT accessible.
I am showing you these two areas, because well, obviously I wasn't making very good use of these spaces. The corner by the door held NOTHING, it was just where random stuff would get placed and where cobwebs would collect.
The bookshelf next to the couch? Well it wouldn't fit anywhere else in the room, so it had to go in sideways. Which resulted in it not being used very well for a storage area, because it was NOT accessible.
BUT! When I realized that I could move our File Cabinet to the empty corner, I also realized that if I moved the file cabinet... it would give enough room to place this bookshelf along a different wall and it wouldn't have to be placed like this.
The problem was, this is where the file cabinet was;
Corner Shelving - BEFORE
Yep... the messy corner. This is where the majority of that stuff piled in the center of the room came from. I took everything out of this corner, threw it in a pile in the middle of the room, and started sorting it. THEN....
Corner Behind the Door- AFTER
Corner Behind the Door- AFTER
I moved that file cabinet (with help from hubby) to that empty corner. Using the top of it to store board games.
With the file cabinet moved out of the way, I was able to move that ill-placed bookshelf from the corner by the couch (push the edge of couch into corner) and place the bookshelf over here in the corner....
Corner shelving - AFTER
This, obviously, I also after sorting through all the clutter and labeling everything! Art supply bins, school/homework study supplies, children's educational books, and a box holding my stationary, envelopes & stamps.
This, obviously, I also after sorting through all the clutter and labeling everything! Art supply bins, school/homework study supplies, children's educational books, and a box holding my stationary, envelopes & stamps.
Once again, just for emphasis;
Just to the right of these shelves is our art/craft/homework desk.
Top of desk - BEFORE
As you can see, not much crafting was going on here, and the kids have been doing their homework at the kitchen table. And yes, those are my husband's work boots on the table. Don't ask me why. Although, when messy is the norm, and a surface looks as cluttered as this for so long, it basically INVITES things to be placed on it that don't belong there! Lesson learned!
As you can see, not much crafting was going on here, and the kids have been doing their homework at the kitchen table. And yes, those are my husband's work boots on the table. Don't ask me why. Although, when messy is the norm, and a surface looks as cluttered as this for so long, it basically INVITES things to be placed on it that don't belong there! Lesson learned!
Top of desk - AFTER
Paper & coloring books stored in magazine bins. Supplies such as crayons, pencils, pencil sharpeners, erasers, etc held in the little bins. I even found curtains to match the new bins I got! (All found at Big!Lots)
Paper & coloring books stored in magazine bins. Supplies such as crayons, pencils, pencil sharpeners, erasers, etc held in the little bins. I even found curtains to match the new bins I got! (All found at Big!Lots)
Under the desk - BEFORE
Remember the scrap booking supplies in the box under the entertainment center "after" picture"? And the Art Supplies in the bins in the corner shelf "after picture"? Well this is where all that stuff used to live!
Remember the scrap booking supplies in the box under the entertainment center "after" picture"? And the Art Supplies in the bins in the corner shelf "after picture"? Well this is where all that stuff used to live!
Under the Desk - AFTER
yep, nothing left! All that lives here now is this purple bin which holds my daughter's Girl Scouts supplies.
yep, nothing left! All that lives here now is this purple bin which holds my daughter's Girl Scouts supplies.
Well, that was my week long organizing project in a nutshell, finally here for the world to see! I hope this has given you some ideas! No matter how messy and cluttered a part of your home is, I hope this post can give you hope and inspiration and show you that YES, it CAN be fixed! Don't forget to stop by A Bowl Full Of Lemons for some more great home organization & home decorating tips and ideas!
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