Office: before

Remember my pretty little guest room?

We built it and guests did come!

Then we relocated the bed and converted the room into an office.
It was my haven, except for a little clutter in the corner.
Then I let it slide...

Yikes.
To think I've wondered why I can't get anything done.

This is going to take a while, because it's not just stuff. No, it's stuff, boxes of stuff(!), "treasures", books, and worst of all, papers.
I'm going in, armed with a hot cup of tea and a square of dark chocolate. Oh dear. I drank the tea and ate the chocolate while I wrote this post.

If you build it they will come.

I was motivated to de-clutter our guest room by the impending arrival of our friend S, who left a week ago. Now my aunt J arrives this evening, and yet another guest will arrive the day after she leaves. Good news travels fast.

Since we are between guests, this seems a good time to take some "after" photos of my de-cluttered guest room. Yeah, yeah, it's my only de-cluttered room. Clutterbuster's motivation is building slowly.

First, here's a "before" shot:





















And here are the "after" shots:

This room is about a million times more flowery than the rest of our house. But that's okay. What I like about it is that it gives me a spot to use some sentimental things that don't fit into our daily life.


Like my grandmother's antique blanket which I love.

  

My favourite things in the room are my vintage wall-vases. I collected them over a ten year span, until I had all three colours, only to leave them in a pile of unopened eBay purchases in the back of my closet. (Gasp!)

I'm so glad to have them up on the wall, where I can see their happy colours.

And now that I've opened all those eBay boxes, and thrown out a ton of styrofoam peanuts and bubble-wrap, I can see that there are some that I will use and some that I will resell. Alan Compton-collectors get ready to bid and bid high! I've never sold on eBay before and I'm excited about getting rid of things and getting something for it.

In the course of finishing this room, I had to dig out some pillow-forms for my great-aunt's needlepoint pillows. I knew that I had some, because I remember buying them when I was in university. That was in the 1990's.

And I did find them, in the bottom bin of a stack of 4 huge bins, behind another stack of bins, in my basement. I was glad to find them, just so I could get out of my Bin Forest, but I was not glad to have stored them forever, through several changes of residence, just because they were a good deal and I thought I might need them if I ever bought cushion covers. Obviously, I did not buy cushion covers.

As I was digging through the bins I passed some "Santa Fe"-style bedding that my hubby bought in the 1980's (I'm sure) and other goodies that will be making their way to the thrift shop.

Just in case that wasn't enough motivation for me, here are some pictures of our basement...

The Bin Forest (a.k.a. laundry area)

Baby gear, anyone?

This is where God laughs and says, "So you think you're going to be a mommy again?!?"

On that note, perhaps I'd have more luck if I'd converted the guest room into a nursery, and tossed all this baby gear in there... Damn. That's it -- after all the guests are gone, rampant baby-making sex in the guest room!

Our guest room is starting to look like a guest room!

You know what? For a first day, I did okay.

Regrettably, I moved a lot into the basement. But I think that's inevitable if I tackle "one space at a time".  A lot will filter down into the basement, and then I'll sort that out when I finish the main floor. That could be a disastrous strategy, except that I'm committed to doing this, and I actually have the time to do it now.

For anyone else who might actually read this, a WARNING. The following list would be like watching paint dry. I'm not sure why I wrote it as I went along, but it made the task less lonely and kept me motivated.

A. Leaving the house (this is my favourite section):

• A car seat. Going to the grandparents' house.
• An unused "closet organizer" that my sister-in-law gave me (they were such a great deal that she bought more than she needed...been there). Going back to my sister-in-law.
• Garbage:
• An unused box of synthetic, scented "rose petals"(!). 
• An anthology of (often) sexist children's stories, like the one about the trapper who went to the general store and picked up a wife with his dry goods. I bought it on eBay because I'd enjoyed it as a child. Oops.
• Old bath toys. 
• Give-aways:
• Several bags of clothes. 
• A white plastic ladybug tray. Where's the charm in a white ladybug? Someone left this at a party at my house, but no one would admit to it.
• A nearly-new blanket that generated massive amounts of fluff as soon as it was washed. (Is it uncharitable to give such a beast away?)  
• A lace wall-hanging. Pretty, well-intentioned gift, but not my style. Difficult for me to give away because it was a gift, but surely someone else will enjoy it more than I have "enjoyed" storing it.
• A Christmas wicker door-hanger basket. I always liked this, and it was a gift from one of my terrific aunts, but it's only useful at Christmas time. After ten years of storage in three different homes, it's going to go to charity. I hope my aunt would understand... or would she want it???
• A portable CD player. Wow. This is obsolete. 
• Better yet, a cassette-deck adapter to play said portable CD player in old cars! Quaint.

B. Leaving the guest room but staying in the house (way too much):

• A corded phone still in its box. This old-school basic cost $6 at Target two months ago. I could not resist. Going to the basement.
• A cordless phone still in its box. I finally unpacked it and plugged it in, and threw out the broken phone that this is replacing!
• Son's sticker sheet. Put away in the sticker spot. We actually have a spot for these(!).
• Son's bag of Valentines received. Created a bin for son's sentimental stuff. I know that this is just the kind of thing I should be discarding, and teaching him to discard, I think, but these are his, not mine... He'll need a spot for his trophies, his badges, his first concert tickets, and now he has one. I found room for the bin in his armoire.
• A case of diapers. Moved to son's armoire.
• An unused "training seat" (potty-training insert) that I bought last week. Moved to son's armoire until I can make room for it in the bathroom.
• Lone sock. Found its mate in my basket of lone socks, and put it away in the sock drawer.
• Shoe polish bin. Found a new home for this in our bedroom closet.
• Roll of masking tape. Put away in its spot in the basement.
• 2 Iyengar yoga belts & one elastic workout band, rarely used. Moved to basement.
• 4 empty straw baskets. Good storage potential, but not stackable... Moving to the basement. 
• 5 "Bring back 5 clean black pots, and get a Fresh Face Mask Free" pots. Into the dishwasher so I can bring them back "clean".
• A child's hand-rake. Moved to sand-box.
• Crayons, markers, and ink-stamp stuff that I bought long before I had a child. Into a now too small bin of art supplies in the basement.
• Gift-wrap. Put away in the basement in the gift-wrap bin.
• Greeting cards and other stationery. Into the basement bookcase. Except for the ones which I'll never use, which I'm giving away. :-)
• A box of Christmas ornaments that my ex-boyfriend kindly returned. Into the basement with the rest of the Christmas ornaments. 
• An unused mosquito net, suitable for tropical bedrooms, purchased on impulse at Ikea. I put it in the basement, but I should move it out to the shed where the 'skeeters are!
• Various TV cables. Into the basement for now...
• Extra bins and label-maker. Down to the basement. Note to self: buy bigger storage bins.
• [Getting better...]
• A suede robin's egg blue note-pad-and-pencil-crayons-and-sharpener set. So pretty to look at, so soft to touch, and so useless. Since I can't bear to part with it, I'll put it in the diaper bag where it may inspire me or my dear son next time we're waiting at the walk-in (and-get-comfortable) clinic.
• My Oma's opera glasses. These are amazingly powerful and clear. Onto the mantel in my living room, to watch the birds and squirrels.
• A Deluxe 'Electric' Putting Cup. My son will love this! And I'll be a better golfer, which is why my Dad bought it for me.  Out of the closet and into the basement playroom.
• A small box of sentimental items, primarily related to the birth of my son. Definitely keepers. Into the basement.
• An envelope full of inspirational quotes that I cut out of a notebook a long, long time ago. Apparently I was already trying to take more chances back then. My favourite of the selection is, "What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?" by Vincent Van Gogh. I wonder where he was in his life when he wrote that. These are actually worth saving. Into the sentimental box.
• A brand-new pair of sunglasses, that look great on me! Did my dear husband win these in a golf tournament? Who knew that de-cluttering could be so materially rewarding?!
• One pair of black suede boots that I bought on Boxing Day shortly before I quit my job. Still in the box. I'm saving these beauties for spousal office parties; funerals; and future job interviews. Into my closet. 

C. Staying in the guest room (that's all!):

• 2 plungers (they don't fit in our bathroom cupboard). They now fit in the closet.
• 2 potties (we're on a training break). They now fit in the closet.
• Clothes steamer (my hubby uses this daily, bless his heart). It not fits in the closet.
• Child-size clothes hangers. I can't think of a better place for these; there's no closet in our son's room.
• One now-empty closet organizer. That feels good.
• Spare linens, which now fit in the bottom dresser-drawer.

D. Still to do:

• 2 boxes from my old office, and another box of paperwork, etc., that I need to go through. That's a whole other project. Don't want these too far out of sight/mind. They can sit in the corner of the guest room, for now!
• A bunch of clothes that I need to go through. In order to completely de-clutter the guest-room, I'm putting these into the back of my husband's closet, and yes, I'll have some 'splaining to do. I guess I'll have to tackle the clothes soon...but I'm dreading it.
• Many framed photos hidden under the bed and in the dresser drawers...to be hung as a photo wall...me and my big ideas...
• 2 great vintage wall-pockets. Hmm. 

I'm going to close the guest room door, say nothing, and see how my husband reacts when he goes in to get the steamer in the morning. Make it good baby!

And now off to pick up my darling boy. It's haircut day for the little dude.