Papercrafting supplies...

The  office finally got whipped into shape earlier this week.  Part of me wanted to wait to publish this post when I got the room more prettied up, but the bigger part of me needs to move on.  So I'm posting what's finished, and calling it day.  For now.

As I looked at the two places in this room I keep paper crafting supplies, it was quickly obvious to me that organization, per se, isn't my problem.  I guess I kind of knew that, but taking a picture helped me see more clearly what the problem was.

The worst problem was stuff piled up in a corner, in boxes next to the credenza above, just being an annoying eyesore. While I spent the last two years trying to ignore it, it stared me down every time I sat at the desk right across from it.

There was no pride in that corner. That bulletin board you see there came off the kitchen wall of the house we moved out of almost 2 1/2 years ago.  And it has sat in this corner ever since it got here, with all the same old stuff thumbtacked to it. 

The bookshelf above houses mainly art supplies, some scrapbooks and the three boxes on the bottom hold things like paper punches, stickers, and some embellishment odds and ends.  

Since I haven't used much of the craft supplies in this room in two years, I decided an inventory needed to happen.  I knew with doing an inventory, consolidation of like items would follow suit.

Before I started an inventory of stuff that would stay in this room, though, I decided I would remove everything from the office I didn't want to stay in here. Things that had either migrated into this room or were put here because it seemed as good a place as any at the time.  

Things like...

...files collected and created for settling my brother's estate after he passed three years ago.  I can't believe it's been that long...

... the old kitchen bulletin board with tired old stuff tacked to it.

...a couple of boxes of young children's science items (magnifying glasses, a bug collection container, a variety of magnets).  There was even a box of stuffed animals. 🤔

In other words, all the random stuff tucked into that embarrassing, neglected corner came out of the room. 

As I started removing these items from the office, I decided to make a rule that nothing in this room would be stored in an ugly cardboard box.  And ideally, I will also eventually whittle down the number of plastic storage containers in this space.

With everything removed that I didn't want to stay in the room, it was much easier to inventory what would be staying.  As the inventory happened, two somewhat opposite things occurred:

1)  As expected, I was able to consolidate like items and that helped me decide on some obvious things to let go of.

and

2) I realized I wasn't ready to part with as much as I first imagined.

But that isn't all bad.  Putting my hands on everything and deciding on what to get rid of and what to keep, I found I had a renewed interest in these items.  Of course, that is natural, and I might find the feeling is fleeting, but that's okay.  Sifting through one's stuff sometimes has to happen in layers.  Time has a way of making me clearer headed - usually.

And it doesn't mean I didn't part with anything.  These things are going:

In addition to a bunch of glossy photo paper we brought home from my mother-in-law's house, the above things are boxed up and waiting to be given to a young therapist in my life who sometimes incorporates art therapy in her work.  She also has an art studio and I'm pretty sure she'll make better use of these things than I am.  And if she doesn't, that's okay.  It's a relief that I've made the decision that these thing won't be my problem anymore. 

Another thing I did in this office was to tidy up all the cords that go with the computer, modem, router, and printers.  Greg and I are still pretty old school here, both of us preferring to type on a keyboard, and liking the larger size of a monitor to that of a laptop. While I'd love to be more cordless here, it doesn't appear that's happening any time soon.

Until recently, the mess of cords looked like this:

After studying some smart looking cord corralling products online, I decided none of them would work well for this situation, so I just bought some velcro zip ties, and with some command strip velcro pieces we already had, I got to work coiling cords, and tacked most of them up under the over-hanging area of the desk...

I don't exactly love it, but it's a considerable improvement.

As for the crafting supplies.  Things got consolidated, some drawers were relabeled, and I think I can now easily put my hand on anything it might occur to me to want to use.

While this room may not ever be what someone would call pretty, it's definitely more functional. I do think my paper craft supplies may get more use now, and perhaps more importantly, my mind is clearer when I'm in here.   

There are still a few boxes (that are not coming back into the office) that need sorting through - mostly they are files and pictures of my late brother's.  That sorting may not happen immediately, but it is my goal to take care of that task this year.  

I hope I've inspired you to also tackle some spot in your home that's been nagging at you for attention.  I find my mind is freer when it knows where things are, and when there is some "white space" in a room.  Empty corners and walls count as "white space" in my book.

Thanks for following along on this endeavor!

Dried tea bags waiting for an art project