An Embarrassment: The Bane of My Existence

The "BEFORE"

Usually I "prefer" to write my blogs "after" I've finished a project, but today, due to an injury, I'm faced with writing the blog "before" the project is even really started. You see, I have one a room in my home that has become the "bane of my existence". It is my office/craft room. It is utterly useless, because it has become a dumping ground for "stash-and-hides" for the past four years. And my printer, well...the printer. We won't get into the fact that it shoots out the paper into a messy configuration that leaves me trying to figure out what order the pages were "supposed" to be in originally.


So, here I am, near tears, because here I have been writing a blog about decluttering, simplifying, and minimizing for six years now, and I have my own dirty, little secret that I've been hiding from the real world. But I want to change that. I've actually been wanting to change that since I moved into this home four years ago this coming July. My hope when I moved in here was that my new home was going to be a "utopia" of peace, calm, and organization. Ha! Life happens!

I want to be able to use my office/craft room combination for it's intended purposes. I want to be able to have a place to house my jewelry business in a neat and orderly fashion (as the picture to the right fails to illustrate). I want a place that if I need to work from home on certain days where I can't be at my full time job, I have a place set up to get work done without distraction. And, I want a place to set up so I can sew, quilt, and craft to my heart's desire. Right now, the room is a complete disaster to the point that it almost feels like it is in a state of "no return".

But not all hope is lost.

I need inspiration to get things done. I hit the same hiccups as everyone else does. I have days where I want to say "screw it" and throw in the towel, and I do on occasion. And I do shut the door on rooms when I really don't have the heart to touch it that day. I get it. I really do. It's just that I don't want to live there, nor do I want to stare at it day in and day out. Which is why this door has remained shut day in and day out. Except for those where I need to grab the vacuum cleaner or a printout.

Since the beginning of the year, I've been taking a course on a year to clear both the inner and outer worlds around me. It has been a journey of fits and starts and enlightenment. I've shut the lid to the computer on some days shaking my head thinking that did nothing for me, and others deep in thought after reading that day's lesson. The current lesson had me perplexed because it addressed what it was that caused me to hit that "fight or flight" mode, and for me, it was this room. It annoyed me each time I walked into it. It rattled my cage each time I thought of opening the door. I had panic attacks every time I even considered touching the room to organize it. Something had to give, and the lesson just simply told me to "dial it back". What on earth did that even mean?

It simply means to back off. And that was what I did. I backed off this morning after reading the lesson. And you know what happened? I had an epiphany shortly after I vowed to let it go for the moment. You see, the closet is actually not that bad in size, but not really defined as a walk-in or a reach-in closet. It is deeper than a reach-in, but not as deep as a walk-in. There is only one shelf with hanging space, and the rest is open. So, I measured the space to the side and found that it was a little larger than the white shelving seen in the second photo above. I thought that if I put two of those on either side, I could create more storage in the room and relieve some of the clutter. I also felt that I needed to add a third shelving unit to the two existing for the jewelry business to better organize my inventory, which right now just sits in a carrying case that is burdensome to get in and out of on a daily basis. So, re organizing it, would allow me to utilize it better.

Once that is finished, there is a table at IKEA (which they are building near me) that only costs $25 that would work well, not only as a desk, but as a craft table, as well. The project would only cost me a little over $70 total. Not bad considering the mess and headache (and therapy sessions) it has cost me over these past four years. So, keep your eyes on the lookout for a new and improved office/craft room coming from me in the near future. The new shelves are already purchased and sitting in the trunk of my car (they were just under $13 a piece at Menard's today). But, I'll have to wait for fall before I can get my table from IKEA. Unless I find something similar at a similar price between now and then.