couldn't take it anymore

I have had it. I can't deal with clutter anymore. I am done with not being able to find anything or not having any room for things. I'm sick of getting frustrated with putting things away, not having any space, and not being able to find things. This is the most annoyed I've been with clutter since my "nesting" phase. I woke up with a mission.

I know that my plan was to work on the living room and kitchen more but I need Noah's help in the kitchen (it's his arena) and he has been so busy with set building that I will put that one on hold until he has more time. So I skipped the second floor and moved right on to the office and play room area.

Just look at this crazy mess! This is an embarrassing disgrace and I couldn't take it anymore. Have a mentioned that?

There is a desk under there...somewhere...

Supposed to be my "file later" catch all. (not recommended)

Yes that's the Elf on a Shelf box...

All the sharpies you could ever need.

Ayden's play area...yikes!

Where my laundry and apparently everything else just lands.

Semi-organized paperwork files...that's on the list as well.

Toys out and mess everywhere.

And more laundry on Ayden's chair...yeah it's under there somewhere.

The first thing to do is come up with a plan. I have a TON of ideas of what I'd love this place to look like but I need to work with what I have and spend $0.00 on this project. I have a ton of stuff so I know I want to purge a bunch of stuff, create a space for me to scrapbook and sew, as well as having space for Ayden to play. Here are some ideas of what my dream office would look like. Thank you Pinterest for making me drool! 

A sewing table would be ideal!

Yes I have this desk but my bookcase is only 4x4- not a problem. I'll make it work.

Drawers and cabinets...drool!

Drooling over the boxes...do you know how much color coding I could do?

 So now that I have my plan or ideas, I needed to sort all this stuff out and get ready to purge. This is so important because you need to know what categories you have in that space. I had office supplies, paperwork, scrapbooking (the largest), and sewing. This also allows you to put things away if they don't belong in this room. If you need more categories than this, don't stop. It's better to have more piles that fake it and just try to tackle it all at one time. I had another pile for things that needed to be put away in other rooms. So here's my stuff, broken into piles.

Scrapbooking on the left and office supplies on the couch and coffee table.

Donate bin, filing cabinet, and Noah's books.

 Tip: If you are able, have Rubbermaid bins for each category. It helps to also have a donate bin and trash bin. Sorting things makes it easier to purge and easier to manage small sections instead of all of it at once. That takes a daunting task and breaks it down.

After separating everything into categories, it's time to purge. For some, this is the easiest part...for others- not so much. I'm in middle. I don't have a problem getting rid of most things but I get stuck on sentimental items or something that I know I spent a lot of money on. And let me tell you...I spent a lot of money on scrapbooking supplies. Some of you may remember that I went into the "scrapbooking business" for a while- mostly to get supplies for myself. Boy did I ever. I have enough paper to last me a very long time. Which is good! I'll be able to create books and pages whenever I please and won't have to go shopping to do it.

Anyway, sooner or later, your piles will get a bit smaller and the trash/donate bins will get much fuller. You'd be surprised what kinds of things you may have stashed in random places. I actually found pepper spray?! 

Piles are shrinking!

If you aren't changing any paint or aesthetic design, move on to the next step. If you are, do those things now while the room is empty and you have less stuff in those piles. I only moved the furniture around and will hang pictures later in the process.

Once you're purged and have gotten rid of the stuff that you clearly don't want, start to put things in their place. Don't be surprised if you move things around or don't stick with the original plan. I will put something into a organization bin and then decide that it's not exactly what I want. That's not a bad thing, just try to stay focused. It's very easy in this step to get a bit lost only because you have many things coming together at once.

Progress shot #1

Progress shot #2

 Before you know it, you'll have everything put away exactly where it fits, looks nice, and most importantly creates an efficient system for you. Don't forget that even if it looks nice, if it doesn't work for your habits, you won't keep up with it. Think of how you are going to use this space before you do something that's pretty.

Labeled everything and diplomas hung.

Any kind of sharpie, pen, pencil, crayon or marker you could possibly want.

Printer station

Photo paper and scrapbooking supplies

Scissors and stamping inks

Stamp sets, paper, Noah's books, sewing supplies

Ayden's play area- White board coming soon

Books filed and scrapbooks below

 All in all, I'm happy with what I got done today. I still need to go through a few things and organize those. Don't worry! I'll include you in the process. Coming soon: Filing cabinet and going paperless with billing and statements (including a back up list of all account numbers, log ins and passwords), Improving Ayden's play area and adding book shelves and white board, Organizing my sewing basket and all the supplies included.