With all this time at home, I have been on a mission to organize my office. So many areas of it have been out of control, so it needed a good cleaning, purging, sorting, and rethinking. Just in case you don't know about my office, here's a little background. This is the only photo I have of the room before I remodeled it... It was a little kitchen off what is now our master bedroom that used to be an in law apartment on the second floor of our house. I wish I had a photo of the other wall where the metal cupboards and sink were.
When I got a $2,000 advance for my book (LOL - I just looked it up on Amazon and it's only $102! And printed in 1700???), I used the money to transform it into my scrapbook room/office with scrapbook furniture from Making Memories and cupboards from Home Depot. It was even in a Memory Makers book about scrapbook rooms!
Over the years it looked like this...
And now this! I know it's probably hard to believe but I got rid of at least half of what was in here and now there are even empty drawers! It feels really good and inspiring. I want to be there and create.
One of the most out of control areas was this corner under the counter where I've stashed the bags of memorabilia when I come home from a trip. I shared photos of that reorganization on Facebook yesterday.
The after...
One of the other categories of all my "stuff" that I've organized is what I call ephemera. I looked up the definition of ephemera: "items of collectible memorabilia, typically written or printed ones, that were originally expected to have only short-term usefulness or popularity." I wish I had photos of the before of overstuffed drawers that couldn't even open, let alone use what was in there. I dumped it all on the bedroom floor and started categorizing it, setting things aside to sell, and throwing things away.
I've collected some awesome things on my travels... how cool are these!
And these cards... does anyone remember when you cleaned your glasses with a paper like those in the A&P packet?
I love this old Sunday School paper...
One of my favorite souvenirs I love to find at a flea market is a vintage letter from the place where I am - even better if it is tiny! This letter was actually mailed. I laid a quarter beside it so you can see how small it is.
I found letters that I sent to my husband when we were living in different cities before we were married and tied them together since they are vintage, too!
How about these vintage photos from 2005! I wonder if Tim still even has these? LOL
Here's the after photos... like I said, I sure wish I had a before! This drawer wouldn't open because it was so stuffed with things. Now it holds what I call my "modern" paper scraps, die cuts, and other paper embellishments from scrapbook companies.
The second drawer holds the "vintage" papers and paper ephemera...
Some of this is newer but I put it here if it looks vintage.
On this wall to the left of the window, I have sectional pieces that I got at Michael's years ago. The four drawers hold more of what you saw in the piles on the floor, but now in labeled categories to make things easier to find.
In the top drawer, I have a basket of old playing and game cards, a stack of embellishments, and a tin of little pieces of things.
In the second drawer are tags and folders, etc.
And in the third drawer is metal and plastic pieces.
The fourth drawer is divided so it's great for smaller things. I added little containers from Target to hold small treasures.
Now my other room, what I call my kit-packing room, is a disaster with the things that I'm getting rid of! I'm photographing it and getting ready to put it up for sale in the next few days.
I'll be sharing more soon on how I organized the rest of my stuff - paints, stamps, inks, etc, etc. SOOOO much stuff! I know I'm probably not alone, so I hope these posts are helpful and inspiring to you! Thanks for following along!
Love, Debby xoxo
I can relate SO much! This is how I have been spending my days. I have a room in the basement and I am halfway through emptying it.
Posted by: Geralyn Gray | May 27, 2020 at 06:45 AM
molto interessante! anch'io sto lavorando sulla riorganizzazione, ma non in modo costante e avrò bisogno di molto tempo...
Posted by: Claudia Landoni | May 27, 2020 at 06:49 AM
I remember some of the earlier pictures of your office and the kit making/shipping room. You have really done a good job of organizing it all. Wow!
Posted by: Deb J | May 27, 2020 at 06:44 PM