Thanks to all of you who participated in the organization party on Monday. There were a lot of great projects linked up. Here are some highlights.
Vertical Gift Wrap Organizer: It’s the Little Things that Make a House a Home
Conquer Your Clippings: Struggling to be Stylish
School Paper Organizer: Transforming Home
Laundry Room Redo: Sabby In Suburbia
Yay! It's a party! I'm so excited. I can't wait to see all of your organization projects. I'm also ridiculously excited about my newly organized guest room. First, let's take a look at the "BEFORE":
As you can see, the room had basically become a dumping ground. I kept the door shut most of the time and I would have been horrified for a guest to see the room let alone stay in it. And now?
Ahh, so much better. The challenge was 1) Finding a new "home" for the extra stuff in the room; and 2) Organizing what was staying in the room to make it attractive and functional.
I really wanted to use the room as a sewing room in the 99% of the time a guest wasn't staying with us, so my first step was organizing my fabric stash and sewing supplies. Here's a photo of my fabric in the closet BEFORE:
I bought an inexpensive hanging closet organizer at Walmart, and sorted my fabric by color. Take a look at the AFTER:
It was so easy and inexpensive, and now I can actually see what I own. That in itself is priceless. I also bought 4 plastic containers at Walmart for $1.50 each to organize sewing supplies, craft supplies and ribbon (who knew I owned so much ribbon?!).
Inside each container I sorted different items into Ziploc baggies to make them easy to find. No more digging for a sewing needle in a haystack of...misc sewing...stuff.
And if you take a look at the really awful picture below, you'll see the filing cabinet I was able to score from an office that was giving it away for FREE!
Oh, and if I'd been really on top of things I would have sorted all of my paint fan decks and cards into fancy containers...but at least they're all in one handy place.
Now out of the closet and back to the "pretty" stuff. I placed my Mom's old sewing machine (which I heart) on her childhood desk. I can't wait to start sewing like a mad woman!
The desk doubles at a nightstand by the bed, and the cute little clock is also an alarm clock, which is very handy for guests. I also added a shade I already owned to a lamp by the bed (a must for guests).
Finally, here's a photo of the dresser in the room. I've left a few drawers empty for guests, but use the others for some of my off season clothes. I also made sure there's a mirror handy in the room. It not only reflects light, but it's a thoughtful touch for guests...so they don't have to walk out into the house in the morning with their hair looking like a bird's nest. Know what I mean?
The best part about this organization makeover? It cost next to nothing. I literally spent $16, and that was for the closet organizers. Everything else was repurposed from other places in the house. And honestly, just getting rid of the junk and creating a clean, uncluttered space was enough to make for an inviting room.
Now it's your turn. Link up below. I'll post party highlights on Wednesday! Thanks for participating!
Hi everyone! I hope you're having a wonderful weekend. I just wanted to remind you about the Organization for LUFFs (Lazy, Uninspired, Frugal Folks) party that will begin at 9pm (CST) tonight.
That gives you approximately 9 hours and 14 minutes to put the final touches on your organization project....or to pull an old one from your archives. Any organization project will do. I'm just looking forward to sharing organization ideas with one another.
I'll also reveal my finished multi-purpose guest room.
Here's a party button for you:
See you tonight!
First, I need to announce the winner of the Lisa Leonard Giveaway. According to Random.com the winner is….(drumroll)…entry 195, KLPmedia (who it turns out is a real person…I was worried for a moment):
Now back to talking about organizing (please keep reading)….
I love the fact that I have a guest room, but I hate the idea of an entire room in our house being useless to us 99% of the time (for some reason people aren’t racing to the airport to visit us in Oklahoma…go figure…are you reading this Mom? Aunt Shelley? Jake Gylennhaal?…What? He’s cute).
As I’ve shown you before, our useless room found its own calling as a dumping ground for all the extra stuff we weren’t sure what to do with. I managed to clear most of that out, but was then faced with the question of defining what I actually want this room to be.
About a year ago I played with the idea of finding an inexpensive futon or sofa sleeper and using the room as a “game room” for my son and his friends. His friends all had them, and I thought it would be fun for my son to have one too. Then I realized that idea would also require a new tv, new gaming equipment, etc, etc and I decided his friends could have their game rooms – no need to try to keep up with the Jones’s there.
So I gave up on my plan and let junk accumulate in the room until my recent clean sweep. But I finally decided I needed to figure out what I really needed/wanted from this room. Here were some things I came up with:
DEFINE A ROOM’S PURPOSE/FUNCTION
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO MEET THOSE FUNCTIONS?
FUNCTION 1: GUEST ROOM
FUNCTION 2: STORAGE
FUNCTION 3: A PLACE TO SEW AND STORE FABRIC
(or Craft Supplies, Office Equipment, etc)
Remember to join in on the big organization party on Monday. I’ll show you the full multi-purpose guest room reveal then, and I can’t wait to see your organization projects/tips. Oh! And I’ll do a post next Wednesday showing some of the highlights from the party. Yippee…a party!
Images: 1) BHG.com, 2) Country Living, 3) Target.com
Oh hi (I say sheepishly). I’ve been trying to avoid writing this post. Oh yes, you can bet your bottom dollar I’ve been trying to think of ways to weasel my way out of admitting that, while I’m hosting a linky party next Monday on organization (please say you be there), I’ve been carpeing that diem a little too much and have really kind of failed miserably at organizing my guest room as well as I should have by now. True, of all the things to beat yourself up about in life this is not one of them…but still. I HATE saying I’m going to do something and then not do it. Definitely one of my big pet peeves.
I have shown you here and here and here how to get rid of stuff, but I haven’t exactly shown you where to go from there. So I’ll make a little effort to do that today.
See this lovely thrift store file cabinet in the back of my car? I got it for a steal. I love the functionality of a real file cabinet and you can find them easily at thrift stores or on Craigslist.
There are really fun, decorative file folders out there in patterns I love. I’ve seen some really cute ones at Target. I’m the cost conscious manila folder kind of gal, though. You can get a package of a zillion at your local office supply store really inexpensively…and really, it’s a file folder not a decorative pillow, right? You can get 100 8-1/2 x 11 manila file folders at Office Depot for $6.29. That’s what I’m talkin’ about.
And as far as putting files in a filing cabinet? Well, I like to go with alphabetical order…but that’s just me. You could also get fancy color coded files for different categories like home, car, taxes, and different family members.
I’m also a tad lazy about making my own labels, and instead just hand write the file name on the folder. I hear these fancy schmancy (and relatively inexpensive) label makers will change your life though. I do secretly want one.
If you don’t have room for a “real” file cabinet, I loved this idea from Centsational Girl. She purchased file boxes from Target ($5 each) and devoted each box to a specific category. The bonus of this idea is that you can easily see what’s inside each box…and if you do buy those pretty file folders you can admire them from time to time :).
I cross-my-heart, hope-to-die, stick-a-needle-in-my-eye promise that I will reveal my fully organized guest bedroom next Monday, for the organization party. And for the record, you’re welcome to link up any organization project. I just think it would be a great way to share organization insights with one another.
Tune in tomorrow for an awesome GIVEAWAY!
Have a great day!
Do you have a hard time getting rid of stuff with “sentimental value” around your house? I’ve gotten much better at it, but it used to be really hard for me. I used to be “that girl” who would hang on to the t-shirt my son wore that one time he at an ice cream cone on our vacation to San Diego, because…you know…he wore it while he was eating an ice cream cone and he was really cute. Did I constantly pull out the t-shirt and admire it lovingly? No. Did I have it framed above my bed? No. It sat in a pile of stuff.
Let’s be honest - if something’s really important to you it’s not going to be stuck in a pile of stuff. It’s going to be cared for and either displayed or stored properly. And if it’s not that important to you, why not let it go and allow someone else to enjoy it?
I believe in sentimental value. I hate it when people toss out treasures that belonged to their Grandmother. But at the same time everything can’t have sentimental value. The trick is learning to differentiate the important stuff from the not so important stuff.
What’s Really Important to You?
This answer will probably be different for everyone, but for me there are certain things that I will never get rid of. They include:
What’s Not So Important?
Can you see the difference? Both lists contain items with sentimental value, but the value of the items in the first list is much higher than the value of the items in the second list. And the value of having less clutter around the house and letting someone else enjoy your unneeded items is priceless.
Have a great weekend!
P.S. Don’t forget the Organization for LUFF’s (lazy uninspired frugal folks) Party on Monday, February 1st!
Well, I have made progress in my mission to organize our guest room. I now have a pretty bed,
and a pretty floor (that I can actually see).
The next step? Tackling my medieval filing system (do I get points for at least owning file folders?)
I’ll report back Monday with my progress and some more organizing ideas for you.
Also, I thought I’d give you a heads up that Home Depot has all of it’s paint on sale this weekend. I went in this morning just thinking about buying some paint for a room that’s been bugging me (details to come soon) and I discovered that some of the Ralph Lauren paint was on clearance for $14! Plus I’ll get a $5 rebate! If my math is correct, that’s an entire gallon of good quality paint for $9!!! That’s what I’m talking about people. I’d say it’s worth checking out (click on photo for details).
Have a great weekend!
If you followed me on Twitter over the weekend, you read all about my adventures in organizing my mess of a guest room. It’s not 100% finished by any stretch of the imagination, but ahhhhh, it’s so much better!
I took a giant load to Goodwill, moved a box of garage sale stuff to the garage for our sale in April, and filled one of those giant black garbage bags to the brim. Just having done those three things it’s like air is circulating in the room again, brilliant rays of sunlight are pouring in the window, and birds are singing and helping me dress for the ball…you get the idea.
Now I’ll be getting down to the nitty gritty of organizing and beautifying what’s left in the room. I’ll talk about that later in the week.
Today though, I wanted to talk about the tricky issue of knowing what to sell, where to sell it, and when to donate. Everyone will have their own opinion on this, but I’ll just tell you what my take is.
What to Sell and Where to Sell It
I love Ebay. I love shopping on Ebay and I love selling on Ebay. The trick with Ebay, though, is that you can’t just sell anything (MANY people will disagree with me on this). The truth is, it’s basically a search engine for stuff, and if nobody’s looking for your stuff it’s just not going to sell. I know there are a million exceptions to this…but I’m just talking in generalities here.
Personally, I only try to sell items on Ebay that are marketable and have a monetary value. What I mean by this is, a Pottery Barn pillow cover that’s in good condition will usually sell pretty easily on Ebay. A stuffed playboy bunny that your son won at the State Fair…not so much. The bunny could fetch $0.50 at a garage sale, but I wouldn’t waste my time or money trying to sell it on Ebay or Craigslist.
Here’s a quick summary of how I see the difference in marketable items on Ebay vs. Garage Sale/Craigslist items.
Items to Sell on Ebay
Items to Sell at Garage Sales or on Craigslist
These lists are by no means extensive, and I’m sure you’ll have your own additions or deletions (uh oh…the “work speak” is creeping in…watch me start prattling off “disclaimers” and sounding like Spock).
What to Donate
What do I donate? This one’s kind of tricky, and it’s definitely up to your own personal preference. I do donate some items that could make money at a garage sale such as household goods, electronics and clothing. Why?
A) I don’t always get around to having a garage sale and I really like parking my car in the garage, and
B) Most thrift stores are charitable organizations and I like giving things that can help them earn some money…and possibly help people that might not be able to afford items elsewhere. But that’s just me.
What don’t I donate? Anything that’s broken beyond repair or generally “junk”. I always feel so bad when I basically see garbage in donation bins. Again, that’s just me.
What do you think? Do you agree with my lists? Any additions or deletions? I’d love to hear what your opinion is.
Alright – game on! I’m going to begin tackling my mess of a guest room tomorrow (read all about it here). Do I want to sleep in, have a leisurely breakfast, browse through my favorite fleatique store, and go to a relaxing movie? YES (enthusiastically nodding head)! No. I want to organize instead (blast). Seriously, I’ll be so happy when I’ve actually done it…yep, I’ll be happy…I’ll be really happy (repeat 10 times…and then repeat again). Argh…just look at that room.
I’m going to fuel up on a homemade latte and start tackling that room inch by inch…well…maybe foot by foot…inch by inch could take a while. I keep reminding myself that the hardest part is getting started. Once you’re in there working (and listening to some good tunes) it’s not so bad.
I’ll show you what I am able to accomplish on Monday, but if you’re planning on working on a room of your own this weekend, here’s my initial gameplan.
THE GAMEPLAN
Step 1 - Divide and Conquer: Armed with garbage bags and boxes I’ll be dividing the contents of my room into categories. These will likely include:
Anything that ends up in the Goodwill pile will immediately be taken to Goodwill. Anything in the Ebay or Craigslist pile will be listed right away…I know what happens if I put that task (uh hum…see photo above). Anything else that doesn’t belong in the room will also immediately find a new home…and if I can’t find a home for it I probably don’t need it that badly, right?
Once the excess is cleared out I can then focus on organizing the room to make it function the way it should. That will be Step 2 of the Gameplan, which I’ll share with you next week.
Have a great weekend everyone! And stay warm!!!
