The upstairs level of our house has four bedrooms. One of those rooms is my Project Room. Ever since we moved here almost five years ago, it was designated as such, and while I'm good at keeping the rest of the house clean and organized, this room became a catch-all for all of my clutter and project-related junk. These were projects that I never even really worked on that much until the past few months, when I finally decided to do something about this room and its burgeoning, disorganized contents.
At the beginning of this year I decided that my big project for 2015 was going to be cleaning out and organizing the Project Room, and additionally to work methodically on the projects that are contained in that room one by one until they were done or caught up on. These projects include things like vacation photo albums and mementos, the boys' pictures and keepsakes, my keepsakes, me and Peter's keepsakes, photos, photos, and more photos, magazine articles, family history work, various hobbies, and much more. I'm happy to report that by setting mini-goals in January, February, March, and April, I finished getting the room all cleaned out and organized a few weeks ago, while also getting some projects done (and adding a few more to the list in the process of cleaning out and seeing what I had accumulated over the years).
At the beginning of this year I decided that my big project for 2015 was going to be cleaning out and organizing the Project Room, and additionally to work methodically on the projects that are contained in that room one by one until they were done or caught up on. These projects include things like vacation photo albums and mementos, the boys' pictures and keepsakes, my keepsakes, me and Peter's keepsakes, photos, photos, and more photos, magazine articles, family history work, various hobbies, and much more. I'm happy to report that by setting mini-goals in January, February, March, and April, I finished getting the room all cleaned out and organized a few weeks ago, while also getting some projects done (and adding a few more to the list in the process of cleaning out and seeing what I had accumulated over the years).
Because of the way I've treated my Project Room for as long as we've lived in this house, I didn't think much of this room and didn't spend that much time in there, but now it's a bright happy place that reflects me and what I love and value the most. It makes me feel happy when I walk by it or spend time in it. I no longer feel stressed out by disorganized clutter that had been building up for years. It's finally under control, and now that it's organized and cleaned out, it should be pretty easy to keep it that way--which I will definitely do!
A few more "before" pictures...
I assembled a menagerie of no-longer used artificial houseplants in the room to try to pretty it up and disguise the clutter. It didn't work and they definitely added to the clutter!
The shelves on this bookcase were a mess!
But not anymore!
(This bookcase has sentimental value--it was a wedding present from my Dad. Our first of many bookcases as a married couple! I'll keep it forever.)
Disorganized little shelves.
Organized little shelves.
This corner of the room is where I started, and it was looking much better, which was good motivation to keep going.
The cleaned-out closet. (Sorry, no "before" picture of the closet--thank goodness!)
Let's not talk much about the sorry state of the so-called desk!
It was the largest surface area in the room and therefore the largest clutter magnet.
It was the largest surface area in the room and therefore the largest clutter magnet.
But look at it now!
Some of my owl collection as well as my tribute to pale pink roses (my favorite flower) and some wedding day mementos sit on top of the dresser I've had since 8th grade. (I'm keeping it forever too!)
Owl crafts and sweet things the kids have made for me decorate this wall.
I bought this great homemade owl wall hanging at an Arts Festival two years ago.
Ever since I got this cute Anne of Green Gables hat in Prince Edward Island almost three years ago I hadn't been able to find a good place for it. I wanted it on display, but where? I finally found a good perch for it on the edge of the bookshelf. And it's right above our wedding albums, which is fitting because we went on our honeymoon to Prince Edward Island.
It was all coming together nicely. Woo-hoo!
Canvas Thomas Kinkade pictures that I bought a few years ago and finally hung up!
(He's my favorite artist.)
(I really do dream of summers that last forever.)
The Project Room now looks like this. At the risk of sounding totally cheesy, it's full of light, peace, and things that I love. And lots of things still waiting to be done. But they no longer stress me out like they did before because they are in a pretty, serene space in which I can work on projects and hobbies and enjoy doing it.
The glider chair is special too--it's the one that we used in both John's and Sam's baby rooms. We rocked, held, fed, read, to, and snuggled with both of our babies in this chair countless times over the years.
My Project Room is {finally!} my happy place!
