Help me organize!

[alotofyarn]

Hmmm, maybe something like this?

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[alotofyarn]

Looks like that would be $770 for the two bookcases, desk with hutch, and 4 shelves, plus $100 shipping from IKEA.

[spotty_dog]

Another person who loves the KonMari Method right here. I loathe clutter, though, so her hardcore stance on it is right up my alley. YMMV.

I just got this book on Kindle and read 60% of it in bed last night. You have to tell me, have you done it? Does it work in a house with kids?

[spotty_dog]

Looks like that would be $770 for the two bookcases, desk with hutch, and 4 shelves, plus $100 shipping from IKEA.

Meep. How about an office store? Our Office Depot has a lot of decent-looking desks and things.

Remind me, what do you need this furniture to do? Like, it's an office desk, so it needs to have a computer...is it a tower-style, so that awkward compartment on the left would get used? I assume this is for working at home as well, so are you going to store a lot of work papers or only home papers? I worry about the horizontal slots in the hutch. There aren't a lot of papers that deserve to be cluttering your calm quiet workspace like that, you know? If you do the GTD method, everything needs to be in a labeled hanging file (so you might need more than one file drawer) except for a single inbox; if you do the KonMari method, you should be down to like 4 boxes and a couple of files for papers. What other stuff do you envision having close to hand when you're at the desk? That should hopefully drive the style of furniture you gravitate toward.

[alotofyarn]

Meep. How about an office store? Our Office Depot has a lot of decent-looking desks and things.

Remind me, what do you need this furniture to do? Like, it's an office desk, so it needs to have a computer...is it a tower-style, so that awkward compartment on the left would get used? I assume this is for working at home as well, so are you going to store a lot of work papers or only home papers? I worry about the horizontal slots in the hutch. There aren't a lot of papers that deserve to be cluttering your calm quiet workspace like that, you know? If you do the GTD method, everything needs to be in a labeled hanging file (so you might need more than one file drawer) except for a single inbox; if you do the KonMari method, you should be down to like 4 boxes and a couple of files for papers. What other stuff do you envision having close to hand when you're at the desk? That should hopefully drive the style of furniture you gravitate toward.

We currently have a desktop computer with a separate tower. Someday we'd like to get an all-in-one in there, but...not currently in the budget. We actually don't really use the computer right now, since we both have better laptops that we use in the living room. Hubby used to game on it, but not so much anymore. It's more a backup, and maybe someday will be used for kids. We'll have some important paper documents that need to be stored, plus some office supplies, like stamps, envelopes, pens, etc. We have a printer/scanner combo too. And then this room also serves as a second living room, with DVDs and games, which are currently in a TV stand. And I'll be moving my craft shelf in there somehow, either replacing the TV stand, or incorporating into the shelving somehow.

I want to get rid of some of the DVDs, which we never ever watch, and some of the books, because they're mostly just taking up space, and we don't use or need them.

After further thought, I think we're going to try to keep what we have and just make a more useful/prettier hutch, because the budget is super tight, and we'll be moving in a few years, so a) we'd have to move all of that, and b) who knows what kind of space we'll have in the new place.

See, this is why I need serious help! I'm going to give myself another month or two to get rid of stuff, and then I'm going to bring in the pro. I need to take an updated progress picture, because I think it already looks better! And now that we know we're having a boy, I'll be getting rid of all of those boxes of baby girl clothes!

[scrub-jay]

Honestly, you just summarized the same reasons that we're getting rid of our desktop computer and desk (aka office junk collection space). We use laptops in the living room and by the time the kids are ready for a computer, I'll buy one at Costco. But I've been doing this decluttering thing since the New Year and when I started there is no way I would've even considered getting rid of it.

[alotofyarn]

We probably should just get rid of it... I'll have to talk to hubby about it. I really am tired of the clutter. We've been living with it for years, and I've always hated it, but I've been so unmotivated to do anything about it because we've always had space to just shove it and hide it. It's ridiculous that we've moved it so many times though. We do use the printer/scanner, so that definitely needs a place, but it doesn't need to be a desk.

[scrub-jay]

Help me organize!

I'm a super-organizer, always have been. However, what I've realized was that I'd organized the clutter so well that it looked normal. 2015 was the year we decided to get rid of the things that were not essential or cherished. It was so slow going, but it's getting faster as we go. I'm not great at it, reading minimalism blogs helps keep me motivated. I have an issue with sentimental items (keeper of things) and my family has taken advantage of that for years. I also can imagine when things may be "useful" at some point which doesn't help either. It's been an ongoing process for us. We've kept count of things going out (New Years Resolution was 2015 out in 2015) and it gets filled in bursts. But I shake my head at the crap we've moved with 5 times... *sigh* My only advice is to hang in there. Some people do the Marie Kondo style well, some do an entire room, I tend to do first, second, third, etc passes until the room feels done (assuming I'll get there). I'm just too sentimental to hit an entire room, but I'm fine with the slow and steady approach for now. In the rooms (or closets) we've made significant progress though, it's both motivating and peaceful. A personal journey for sure.

[OrionGrad]

I just got this book on Kindle and read 60% of it in bed last night. You have to tell me, have you done it? Does it work in a house with kids?

We moved this summer, so I sort of cleared the deck and purged as much as possible during the packing process. Now we're trying to live minimally since we're moving again in a year anyway.
Having clutter really makes me feel weighed down, so it's a no brainier for me to want to have as little as possible. I've also noticed since we moved that it's so much easier to keep the kid stuff picked up when there just literally is less of it.
The hardest part is DH's paper-stuff, since I can't just go throw it in the trash when he's not looking. We also share a closet now, which is frustrating. (I like my closet tidy and sparse!) I haven't really found a solution for that.

[alotofyarn]

Today's goal was to use our closet space more effectively. We still need to go through some of this, but for now, we can use the extra space in the hall closet to empty out the closet in baby C's room, so we don't have to worry about putting that in the office area. I did also clean out a bit of stuff in that closet, so it's at least not as much as it was before.

Before, hallway and bathroom closets:


After:


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[spotty_dog]

Yay progress!

[alotofyarn]

I feel mostly like we're just moving around more stuff that we really should be getting rid of, but I guess that's better than nothing? One of these days we'll do a big purge, but I don't quite have the energy for that, so at least for now it's slightly more organized junk.

[spotty_dog]

Every little bit counts, really! And it can be huge just to get in there and know what you have and where you have it.

[alotofyarn]

Hubby picked up some new Rubbermaid bins at Lowe's, so I filled those bigger ones with our holiday decorations, and I'll empty out the drawers in the nursery and put those in the bins, which will go in the closet.

[memyselfandI]

That's great you're making progress!

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