Nan came over Wednesday afternoon and we tackled what I am calling the front room (which is the second bedroom and the one facing the road). The front room is mostly going to be used for photography projects and charcoal drawing. One wall is designated as storage and I’m in the process of stacking components to use the entire wall for regular office supplies and smaller art supplies. Pieces will need to be attached to the wall for stability before I can fully stock the shelves and cabinets sections.
We moved things around and were able to set up tables along the opposite wall on which I will do matting and framing. The tables are set on bed risers which enable an easier height on which to work while standing, and it allows the drawer units holding most of the mats to fit nicely underneath.
An old stereo cabinet fit into the corner between the end of the table and the closet door and will hold bigger mats, clearbags, and papers needing to lie flat. The oldest computer desk set, which for the past 10 years has been my writing desk and which I’ve been trying to sell, fit in front of the window for the time being. The first unit my son, Adam, made me to hold photo albums is on the other side of the window. It doesn’t quite fit in the space, but because Adam made it, I want to keep it (along with the other two units he made which are in the living room).
Yes, there are still things needing to be put away, but there was a big feeling of accomplishment. There was space in the middle of the room! There is still one storage cabinet which I don’t know where it will fit yet. Maybe it won’t. We both felt good with the day’s work.
The back room (the third bedroom facing the back of the house) will be for most art storage and currently holds most of the still-full plastic tote containers. Most of the kitchen supplies are here, too, while I wait for the kitchen to be renovated this winter. The unit with the widest shelves (which holds the 13x19, 18x24, and 21x34 sizes which also need to lie flat) will have to go in this room. And right now with all the tote boxes still full, there’s no room to set up that unit. My books still all need to stay packed because my bookcases are being used for pantry items.
Yesterday, Nan again came over. We tackled the closets to better organize those areas. Now that I have so little space, it galls me to have to save seven years’ worth of old receipts (which is what I’ve always been told is necessary). The suitcases were able to nest inside one another, but wouldn’t fit under my bed and have to take up closet space in the back closet (the biggest closet in the house and the only one with a light).
The closet in the front room will hold frames and anything to do with photography. It’s nice that the previous owner added nice shelves in the closets, but if there are any clothes hung on hangers, you can’t get to the shelves. OK, I admit, there will be other stuff in there, too.
Nan moved hanging clothes to the back room closet which has more room and shelves are only on one side. She moved things that will go in each of the closets while I went through some of the boxes for things to compact or get rid of. Yes, more things went out to the curb for free and some will be photographed to sell.
I think Nan is finally getting totally exasperated with me and all my stuff. She is very tidy and a minimalist and I’m a bit of a pack-rat. Yes, I’ve gotten rid of a lot, but I still have a lot. But, each time I go through a box, something will go away; sometimes many things. If it wasn’t for Nan, I probably would just stack all those boxes and never go through them. (My sons will thank her, too, because I’ve always joked that I was going to leave it all for them – and they don’t want the stuff.)
We piled boxes in the living room for me to go through nights while watching TV. Part of me screams, “Where am I going to put all this?” While another part of me knows it will all come together. I do have bins and files and places where most will eventually fit nice, neat, and organized. What won’t fit will go bye-bye. I no longer want to be a cluttered pack-rat. What fit in a 3,000 SF plus house will not fit in a home less than 1,200 SF.
So, while yesterday it looks like we made more of a mess (as compared to Wednesday), sometimes you need to make a mess to better organize. It will all come together. I just have to be patient. That’s hard when I want it all done now. Plus, if it sits in my living room looking messy, I’ll have to do something about it. I can’t wait for it all to look nice with drawers and bins labeled so I know where to find things.
It will be done.
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