28-Day Challenge - Full Room Entry

28-Day Organizational Challenge

Before and After Photos

Full Room View

Closet

Shelf Area Between Windows

(Now the new craft and sewing area)

 

Husband's Desk Area

(the new printer stand area)

My Son's Desk Area

(new location for my own desk)

My old desk location

(new shelf area)

On to the Challenge Questions!

1. What was the hardest part of the challenge for you and were you able to overcome it?
"I think the hardest part of the challenge, for me, was getting motivated to get it done. I would look around and think OMG there is so much to do I have no idea where to begin – then I would take a deep breath and tell myself that it will never get done if I don’t just jump in and do at least one thing (and also read my serenity prayer plaque). I noticed that when I started cleaning I didn’t want stop until I was all done. It was hard to spread the work over several days because I was afraid I wouldn’t get motivated enough or find the energy again to get it done."

2. Tell us what kind of changes/habits you have put into place in order for your area/room to maintain its new order?
"One habit has been to follow through with cleaning up when I am done (and getting my son to do so as well – still working on that one too). We, my son and I, have a tendency to eat and drink while at the computer and we both get lazy about bringing our dishes downstairs when we leave the room. I do believe it will be easier, now that the room is clean, to get my son more into the habit. He has been bugging me to take the steps to change how the house looks so he has been my biggest cheer leader and helper through out this whole thing."
"Another habit is to put things (especially computer cables) away when they are not being used – I have a storage box for my USB cords for the MP3 player, camera, and PSP, as well as baskets for longer, fatter cables, such as my cat 5 cables and extra power cords. My son thinks it’s silly to put them away right after he removes his player from charging. I keep telling him all it takes is one time for the chair wheels to accidentally roll over the end of the cord and he won’t be able to charge his toys anymore."

3. What did you do with the “stuff” you were able to purge out of your newly organized space?
"Most of the stuff was thrown away as it was not usable anymore. There is still a box in the closet with homeschool books from when my 17 yr old was in 2nd and 3rd grade that I have listed on Freecycle and Kwikswap. I am hoping to either sell the books – as they are nearly new still, or donate them to someone who can use them. There are also several other boxes I did not get rid of. We keep our DVD’s, CD’s and video game disks in zippered CD storage binders and store the cases in these boxes for safe keeping. By keeping the cases and manuals in top condition you can get a higher trade-in value for them."

4. What creative storage solutions were you able to introduce in order to create additional space as well as establish some limits and boundaries?
"I found these really cool boxes at Wal-Mart for cheap. Each set came with four boxes and lids plus they have these nifty little labels that look like filing cabinet labels…these work great to store small cables, card games, photos and film, RCA adapters, and various office supplies. Oh, and did I say film? Yeah, I have so much undeveloped film from so many years back! I have decided that I must must must get one roll developed each payday. Some of these rolls are over 15 years old!"

"I also received a filing cabinet (metal even) from work that I placed next to my office desk. I pulled all the files out of the plastic filing cart and decluttered the files, then replaced the good stuff in my new cabinet. This freed up my old plastic filing cart for sewing and craft supplies for my new sewing desk."

I wanted a bulletin board to hang somewhere in my room so I picked up a few supplies and made my own – my first official craft project - and I consider this one of my rewards for following through with the room organization as it was one of the last things I completed. Now I have a spot to hang reminders and/or photos. 

I also purchased some stylish baskets for storing cables and sewing/craft supplies. And three big tubs which are placed in the closet - one holds items we plan to hang in a game room (once we buy a house with the room), one holds material for sewing projects, and the other holds extra blankets and sheets for when my daughter visits."

5. Why do you think you should win this challenge?
"This challenge helped me find the courage and motivation to begin and gave me a way to be accountable for my commitment to get organized – completing the challenge makes me a winner in my book! In addition, it gave me hope – especially after seeing some of my competition – some of their rooms were way worse than mine – it was a great feeling to know that someone else was also doing the same things as me and I felt so much less “alone”. My son has already drafted me for a living room challenge and he is more than willing to help me complete it. I think this challenge brought my son and I closer in a way. He seems much more eager to keep things cleaned."
"But seriously, I feel I could really benefit greatly from the year long membership with “Get Organized Wizard” as organization is extremely tough for me – especially with my low energy level thanks to my under-active thyroid. I know I would get great use out of it as I not only would use it for home organization, but also for organizing my finances, time management, and health and fitness – all of which are severely lacking in my life at present. The membership is something I certainly could never afford and something I desperately need for getting my life organized so that I can learn to set goals and create new healthy habits!"