Org Junkie is having a February Organizing Challenge.
I really don’t like challenges.
I’d rather use the time I would spend planning a strategy . . . to just get something done. 100% less chance of failure that way.
“I’m gonnas” have rarely worked for me.
But . . . I do have a room that’s been bugging me. I’ve mentioned it here before.
My office.
Slash gameroom.
Slash guestroom.
I think it needs a plan. Thankfully, it’s been functional for more than two years now.
Functional is a big deal for this room.
It’s larger than some people’s living rooms, but was officially an “ebay” room for more than three years.
Functional is a good place to be since it means I can send guests to a half-bath in the back corner of the room. Most people didn’t even know that bathroom existed when the room was packed to the ceiling in . . . stuff.
So, while a busy February looms before me, and the thought of COMMITTING to a big organizing project freaks me out more than a little bit, I’m going to go ahead and make a plan for this room. It needs one, and if that’s all I get done, at least that’s something.
My plan:
Get over the coulds, and stick to the shoulds.
Huh?
I have a deep-seeded (and likely hereditary) tendency to gain joy from coulds. As I’ve gone through this deslobification process, I’ve tried to stop taking pride in getting the MOST possible things into a room.
Like this dresser.
It’s full of drawers. Drawers that can store stuff. And really, not everyone would think to put it in a room like this. Y’know, a room that doesn’t actually NEED a dresser.
I used to be proud of that out-of-the-box thinking.
But after trying to keep my house out of Disaster Status and re-decluttering this blankety-blank dresser sixty-ba-jillion times . . . I’m not feelin’ so proud anymore.
And this bar. No, we actually don’t drink . . . but we have a bar. Thank you, Mr. 80s Homebuilder.
No. We don’t use it. And no, I’m not doing a major construction project this month to get rid of it. But, I’ve realized that this room will never look right if I don’t embrace it. Meaning, stop pretending that since I don’t see it . . . others don’t see it. The counters are stacked with non-bar/non-anything stuff. It does have cabinets, which in an ideal world would provide some storage. But I haven’t been able to get into those cabinets in years because they are blocked from being opened by the TV.
I don’t even remember what I stored in them.
Basically, it comes down to this:
I’m thankful that this room has been walk-thru-a-ble for more than two years now. For me, that’s big. But . . . it’s time for me to get over my coulds.
Just because a piece of furniture could fit in this room doesn’t mean it should.
Just because there’s a blank space of wall that could accomodate one more piece of furniture . . . doesn’t mean I should put one there.
I’ve enjoyed the blank wall space since removing my cute-but-clutter-catching bench.
Here’s my overall plan:
Get rid of the dresser.
Move the couch to where the dresser is.
Possibly remove the desk. (Heart palpitations . . . this will require an alternate computer set-up solution.)
Move the TV to where the bookshelf is now.
Move the bookshelf to where the couch is now.
Leave blank wall space around the bar.
My main goal:
Make this room easier to use and maintain.
So there’s my plan. The thought/dream of getting it done in February seems pretty far-fetched, but at least I have a plan.
P.S. Do you think it should be “deep-seeded” or “deep-seated”? I honestly don’t know as it’s one of those say-it-but-don’t-write-it things. I chose “deep-seeded” because I imagine this living organism down inside of me that causes me to fill all available spaces with stuff. Like a seed so deep down that it takes LOTS of effort and digging to get to it and remove it completely.
I think if you had it in your budget, maybe you could replace those glass shelves on the bar, replace the small fridge with a filing cabinet, and turn that bar into a built in desk. Oops. Just noticed the sink… Maybe turn the water off to it, remove the faucets, and overlay a piece of painted plywood…
Whatever you decide to do, I’ll be waiting for pictures. I’m a closet slob. I love to see your progress and day to day life.
I do like the desk idea, but I’m not getting rid of my fridge! We love that thing. It makes drinks icy cold!
Maybe it could be a media/home theatre station? Keep the mini-fridge and sink for having beverages handy, store some popcorn bowls & bags of microwave popcorn or other snacks in the cabinet along with some napkins/paper towels, a little trash can (for the paper towels and empty snack bags) and some dish soap (so popcorn bowls can be washed right there at the little sink when people are done with them and returned to the cabinet for the next time), and the shelves above can store DVDs, CDs, video games, etc. Get a the TV & other electronic equipment all set up nearby (but far enough away that you can get into & out of the cabinet easily) and make sure there is some comfy, inviting seating all around. That’s what I’d do, anyway! 🙂
Okay, I LOVE the idea of using those shelves for DVD storage!
I’d do with seated. But I don’t have an argument or anything. 🙂
I have so many rooms in my house that just desperately need.a.plan!! I think you could still embrace the bar area without using it for alcohol. The fridge could stock bottles of water or soft drinks for company, and snack items. Looking forward to seeing how it goes. I am hoping to get some inspiration to really start planning a couple of the very needy rooms in my house.
Also, it’s deep-seated, as in located/set deep down, firmly fixed. http://www.grammarist.com/usage/deep-seeded-deep-seated/
Good for you! Hope your plan works out well. 🙂
Here’s the definition of deep-seated (I Googled it): 😉
deep-seated – (used especially of ideas or principles) deeply rooted; firmly fixed or held; “deep-rooted prejudice”; “deep-seated differences of opinion”; “implanted convictions”; “ingrained habits of a lifetime”; “a deeply planted need”
Google! Yes.
With all those definitions though, many seem to go with my “seed” idea!
This is a really old discussion, but I just had a flash of inspiration about the deep-seeded/seated difference. Deep-seated to me means that an idea is implanted deep within oneself; it is born of conviction and experience and would be hard to uproot. Deep-seeded implies the agency of something outside oneself; someone else put it there. As you have sometimes pointed out, we sometimes use language to put the onus on factors outside of ourselves to escape our responsibility for them. Just a thought on a snowy day that invites reflection.
Oh, I wish I could come help! I love rearranging and finding the flow. I was going to offer (you know best how the space is used) just empty out the whole bar area and forget it’s there. There seems to be a natural place to hang some nice curtains for texture in the room and put your desk in front of the curtains. You can hide the cords back there too! If a space is awkward it just never works efficiently except for it’s purpose.
I use a dresser for the TV and put all electronic, dvd, cd’s, games, and wierd wires in the drawers. Plus it fits even if you get a larger tv.
Good luck Nony!
PS I have a hard time getting rid of furniture too. I’m a squeezer-inner, even putting furn into closets! Recently I got rid of the kitchen table!!! Ha!
We have a bar seating area that fits 4 kids perfectly, I stand on one side like a cooking show and feed them most nights since hubs is never home at dinner. Kitchen, dining and bar made way to many chairs and tables to wipe off and clean under so good bye kitchen table and chairs. We can eat as a family still on weekends at the dining table.
My next thing is Get Benches -on both sides of the dining table- only 2 things to clean off that way instead of 4!
I like your imagery with “seeded”, I never thought of it that way before. Funny how a phrase you’ve heard for 30 or 40 years can be new again.
Shanna, your comment truly helped me visualize what I could do! I LOVE the idea of the curtain to hide the bar.
And MAYBE I should use the dresser as the TV stand. Then the table where the TV is as the desk, and get rid of the desk/monstrosity. Hmmm.
And the flow thing, that’s what I’m going for!
Oh good! I hoped that might help and not sound bossy!
Oh Nony, how I enjoy your transparency!! <3
I kind of like the idea of changing the bar space in to a desk area (as mentioned above) I was thinking (if the refrigerator works) it would be a great afternoon refreshment area for the kids . . . but then comes the debris from that convenience!! <:O
I like to play the "What IF" game with areas . . So, What IF this room was COMPLETELY EMPTY; what would you do with the new space?
and here is a link for your grammar question:
http://www.grammarist.com/usage/deep-seeded-deep-seated/
Just disregard all my previous attempts to post, I put on FB! 🙂
The Creative mind is always saying “I could just . . .” and “This could be . . .”
Good for you, that you are tackling this room head on and wrestling with it to find the solutions you need. Make the room work FOR YOU!
(and thanks for you ‘link up’ help – I think I finally figured it out)
I’ll be seeing you over at the 29 Day Challenge!
Nona those multi-functioning rooms can be a bear so to speak. 1st thing you need to do is give it a name. Even though it needs to serve as multi-functioning space I have found that mentally I defeat myself by giving it the /…../,,,,,/. When my “family room” is a mess that is still a need to work on area. But when my /……/……/ room is out of order…I feel like half the universe is in disarray all because I haven’t been able to work on it. Try to give each function it’s own mini area but look at it as one room. If at all possible rid the room of any function that it really doesn’t need. No, you don’t need a bar. But I see shelves and counter space that could serve a purpose. Putting those types of spaces behind curtain or cover up would keep me from dealing with items and would be a resting place for more “homeless” stuff. I hope you keep us updated on this project, and good luck.
I love a good plan…but never quite execute them. Good luck with your room project, I am sure it will be fabulous.
The dresser for the TV sounds like a good idea! We have TV stands but I feel like it never contains all the Wii games, accessories and DVD’s. The curtain over the bar area sounds nice too…if you clean out that area first (always my big problem). Then just use the fridge. Oh, if it’s a guest room you could store stuff for gusts behind the curtain in the cabinets- sheets, blankets, towels etc.
I agree! Dressers are great for media storage.
In my bedroom I have a TV armoire (from a hotel that went out of business – very heavy duty!) that houses the TV and in the three large drawers underneath I have DVDs, manuals, wires, extension cords, cables (basically, anything electrical related). Out in the living room the TV sits on a beautiful heavy duty end table I didn’t have any other place to put it (it came as a set of 3 tables with another identical end table and a matching coffee table). There’s a shelf below where some video game equipment sits, and then I have two small matching bookcases (with doors) on either side of the end table the TV sits on and in one cabinet is all the kids’ movies and the other cabinet has my crafting stuff.
Oh Nony, I’m new to your website (love it!!), and I just read through your entire archives (it did take a while!). This room just keeps popping back up week after week! I think you just need to commit the room to “something” – be it games, or office, or whatever – and be ruthless about everything else. It just gets in the way of your primary purpose. Now, I know it HAS to do double duty as a guest room, But the pull-out is really all you need for that, and you’d need to keep it for your gamers or office-crashers anyway. Be brave!!
Nony-
I am going to be making major PURGING decisions in my storage room too. I love how you tackle the “could” monster.
My strage room is full of “could” that needs to go!
Looking forward to your progress!
🙂
Lisa
Whatever you do with the room, I want to thank you for being an inspiration. I discovered you through your e-book ad and I have been reading your archives. I am a new blogger and just wrote a post about you and how your process has made a difference in my life. If you want a break from thinking about the room, check out http://plainsongfarm.com/short-and-sweet/
Yours is the first blog on which I have acknowledged that I even have a blog! I think that is because your humble attitude and your honesty make you so approachable. Thanks so much for putting yourself out there. I am grateful to God for you!
THank you so much, Nurya! It’s been a process, and still is. I’ve realized I need to just embrace that.
As I was reading, I was thinking “Isn’t that supposed to be deep-seated?”
Your bar has a sink! Is there enough light to use that corner as an arts-n-crafts nook? You can rinse off paint and glue in the sink and use those shelves for your projects.
Right now, an arts and crafts nook is a far-fetched idea because there’s no room with everything else in there. But it has always been my dream to use this room that way.
I agree that keeping the bar is a great idea…add a microwave and that room will soon be party central with popcorn, cold drinks, and a good movie! 🙂
While my husband would say I am a slob (I hate cleaning)…I do love rearranging furniture and organizing rooms. Seems strange, but it works for me. Thanks for your cleaning and organizing tips and your thoughts on what you can do with a room.
I think proper arranging can make all the difference in how easy it is to maintain and keep orderly! I wish it was a gift of mine!
I am so with you there! I LOVE to organize / HATE to clean (and my husband probably thinks of me as a slob, though he would rarely voice that thought). Glad to know I am not alone 🙂
Hello Nony,
I’m one those that’s read your archives from Day 1 forward – it was a lovely way to spend the holiday break and get ready for a new year. You have gained so much insight over time, and I admire how you’ve worked so many things out. That and you just seem so sweet and funny – it’s been fun.
Your saying today, the” stop pretending that since I don’t see it . . . others don’t see it” reminds me of what I say about my own cluttery things – “The longer it sits, the more it looks like furniture.” Though, in your case, it is a piece of furniture, that, after reading your archives, I feel I’ve been looking at as long as you have!
At any rate, your goals for this room sound great, and because I’ve changed a few habits with your realizations as my inspiration, I’m spending this weekend sorting out a problem area in my kitchen. A buffet that’s become over-crowed with art supplies for my daughter is leaving, and a desk and supplies for better storage and art display is being assembled as I type. It’s actually going to be a space where she or I can leave a creative mess, funnily enough. I figured out, finally, that the buffet is continually dumped on and in because she always has to clear the kitchen table off in the middle of one of her projects when I need to use it for cooking; then her thought process is interrupted, the joy is gone, and she never gets back to it. Then the projects pile up. She actually needs a space that can stay messy and piled with something for a while, so that the space I need frequently can be clean. It’s weird – to create a place for a mess, but it’s what’s going to work for us.
But after reading this post today as a “pick me up”, I wanted to share another of my favourite sayings that made me think of you. When I read “The thought/dream of getting it done in February seems pretty far-fetched, but at least I have a plan”, I thought, just like how I feel about the cleaning-up and stream-lining I’ve been doing, soon you’ll be “Out of the strain of the doing, and into the joy of the done.”
I’ve enjoyed your journey, and will look forward to your results! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much for commenting, Marla, and for your encouraging words!
I hope your re-arranging works fabulously!
I can’t wait to see the finished room!!!
Wow, I have only 4 years of your blog to make up now 😉 And a lot of stuff to get rid of 🙁
I think technically, it is “deep seated” , bit I myself like you have always thought it was or at least should be “deep seeded” I feel that makes more sense. It’s deeply planted in you, seeded…….but, English is crazy….lol
The comments from this post are dated 2012. Did you post an “after” picture of how it turned out?