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I’ve decided to participate in the 30 Day Organizational Challenge at I’m an Organizing Junkie, because, well, my house needs organizing. I had a hard time deciding whether to organize my family room or my bedroom for the challenge. My bedroom is actually more disorganized. You’ll find it hard to believe after seeing the before pics of my family room, but it’s true.
I finally settled on my family room, because the holidays are quickly approaching, and I want the first room people see when they walk into my house looking neat and clean. I also need to figure out where I’m going to put the Christmas tree!
I have a couple of challenges going into this project. First, we live in a very small space. Our home has one closet in each of the three bedrooms, a small linen closet, and a coat closet in the hall. That’s pretty much all the storage. We don’t have a garage. We do have a small Rubbermaid shed outside, but it’s already overstuffed. So I need to downsize the amount of stuff we have, and I need to think outside the box in terms of storage.
My other challenge is going to be lack of money. My regular readers know that my husband recently lost his job. He’s got a few opportunities on the line, but nothing solid yet, so money is tight with a capital “T”. I will be making good use of Craigslist and the Dollar Store in terms of finding organizational supplies. I’m confident I can do this though.
Ok, I’ve put it off long enough. Here are my family room “before” pictures. (The pictures are kind of small, so if you’d like to see the full sized pics, check out my Flickr page.) This is typically what my family room looks like at the end of the day, before I make one last sweep to get at least some of the clutter picked up.
This first picture is taken from the vantage point of the front door.
You can see that the piano gets used as a table. And there is a lot of clutter on the floor. The backpacks don’t really have a home, so they get tossed on the floor. And the videos get strewn about. You’ll see why in a minute.
Moving around the room counterclockwise, you see where the family room meets the kitchen.
We have the desk, the fish tank, and the kitchen table crammed into a very small space. The desk, which I cleaned yesterday, is already a mess again.
Continuing in a counterclockwise direction, we come to the front door.
You see more of the messy desk, and our file boxes, which hold my semi-organized files. There’s not a lot of space for entering the house.
The last corner of the room is the worst. Almost.
It’s the catch-all corner. The trunk is filled with stuff I’ve been meaning to sell on eBay. There are two pictures on the wall. The third picture (of my daughter) fell off the wall a couple of weeks ago, and the frame broke. I haven’t replaced it yet.
A close-up of the desk.
You can see I need a lot of help organizing the little things. I really want to get a computer armoire that I can just close up. It would take up less space, too. Perhaps I’ll get lucky and find one on Craigslist or Freecycle. If not, I’ll make this work.
Finally. The worst of the worst. This is downright embarrassing.
This is the cabinet underneath the television. It’s really deep, and we have so many videos and CDs that when they kids pull them out, they can’t get them back into the right place. They also love to look at the photo albums, which don’t quite fit right either. Eventually it ends up looking like this, no matter how often I clean it. So I know I need a new organizational plan here too. And we need to get rid of some of the CDs and videos.
So there you have it. The good (is there any?), the bad, and the REALLY ugly. By the end of the month, I hope to show you a whole new room with a lot less stuff!
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Jennifer Partin says:
Lynnae,
The 100 yen store here has LOTS of organizational containers that would probably work for your desk. Obviously, I am away from home but I would love to purchase and mail you some things you might need to help get organized. Let me know what kind of containers you need and I’ll try and find some. Pray that Baby M comes soon—-let’s keep in touch about the container’s, I’ll be glad to help!
November 1st, 2007 at 5:08 am
Lynnae says:
Wow, thanks, Jennifer! I will definitely keep in touch. I need to really think about how I want to organize things, and then I will decide on the containers. I’ll let you know!
November 1st, 2007 at 5:43 am
Katrina (Callapidder Days) says:
Hi Lynnae - I’m just stopping by to let you know that you won the book, What Your Daughter Isn’t Telling You, from my giveaway. Please email me your mailing address and I’ll get it out to you as soon as I can! callapidderdaysATgmailDOTcom
November 1st, 2007 at 5:48 am
Love Sows Seeds says:
My videos and DVDs are so hard to keep tidy and in the right boxes. My little ones just love to mess and make mess. My small space I’m going to tidy is out of control, lol, can’t even get in there.
I’m sorry to read your husband lost his job, I hope that he finds something soon.
Good luck and lots of blessings for your task ahead!
November 1st, 2007 at 5:59 am
Angie says:
I’m needing to get out “from under the clutter” too. I’ve been taking clothes to the resale shop and to our church’s little store. I’m joining you. Thanks for the idea, Angie
November 1st, 2007 at 6:52 am
teri says:
hey lynnae - want to come to calgary and pick up a desk you can close and some dvd/video storage shelves? they’re free
it’s probably only a 16 hour drive, but what’s that when it’s free. LOL!
good luck! if you can get to Ikea, they’re awesome for storage solutions for small spaces. i’m thinking the closest one would be seattle, but might be worth a trip one of these days.
November 1st, 2007 at 1:33 pm
Lynnae says:
Yay! I’m glad more people are participating! We can do this!
And Teri, you know I’d drive it if we could. I don’t think I could squeeze a desk in the minivan with the kids though. LOL
November 1st, 2007 at 4:11 pm
boomeyers says:
Start listing this stuff on ebay and you will have plenty of money for storage items! You may also be able to pick some things up on ebay and just exchange your stuff for new stuff! Very handy for Christmas gifts too! They are having a listing special until 11/5 or 11/6. Go for it! I print out my postage from home and the mail man just picks it up at the box. Easy!
November 1st, 2007 at 5:39 pm
Lynnae says:
Oooh! How come I didn’t see that listing special? I have stuff to list! I’m going to try to use Craigslist for moving the big stuff.
November 1st, 2007 at 6:18 pm
Dawn says:
I can totally relate to living in a small space. Our house is very small and finding storage solutions is a problem. Try to visualize your room and think of how you can use every available space. I wish I could help you with your kids and the movie problem; however, I have the same problem. Good luck to your husband getting a job. You are going to be very happy with your room when you’re done with it.
November 2nd, 2007 at 4:05 pm
pinkjagxj says:
I have the hardest time staying organized. When my grandbabies are over all we do is play and never pick up so I end up with a BIG mess. I’m excited about this challenge. I hope things turn for the better in your home and family. Good Luck!
November 3rd, 2007 at 4:04 pm
Ginger says:
Ok..I’m thinkin’ it’s not that bad! You can do this!! And it’s gonna be great!
November 3rd, 2007 at 7:36 pm
Laura says:
Hello, thanks so much for joining the challenge!! I’m wondering if some kind of bookcase might work better for you for your photo albums. You can often find bookcases at the thrift store for a couple of dollars. I’ve got a great Storage Star coming up that took a bookcase and put a beautiful fabric cover on front to hide everything underneath.
Good luck!!!
Laura
November 6th, 2007 at 5:50 pm
Lynnae says:
Laura, I love that idea! I will keep my eyes open. I actually have a small bookcase in the hall that might work. I have to figure out what to do with all my extra books, though. I think it’s time to start getting rid of some.
November 6th, 2007 at 6:10 pm
says:
[...] a week. The problem is that one day later, you can’t even walk into the room. Any suggestions?Organization is obviously not my strong point. I’m working on it, but help me to help my daughter before she becomes a disorganized [...]
November 6th, 2007 at 10:05 pm
Organizing the Family Room: Update #1 | From Under the Clutter says:
[...] taking part in the 30 Day Organizational Challenge at I’m an Organizing Junkie. I’m organizing my family room, and I’m running a bit behind schedule. I’m glad to be posting my first update, [...]
November 9th, 2007 at 4:27 am
30 Day Organizational Challenge - I finished! | From Under the Clutter says:
[...] I actually did it! When I started this project, I was a little apprehensive. My family room was a MESS! My husband wasn’t (and still [...]
November 29th, 2007 at 11:31 pm
Trica says:
I have 3 children in a 2 bedroom home along with my husband, myself, and our 2 dogs, one of which is a Saint Bernard…..my husband and I sleep on a blow up air bed in the living room. We obviously can not be intimate….Any suggestion? tls45682@aol.com
January 4th, 2008 at 8:25 am