May Room Challenge: Playroom/Spare room - Page 2

[kerc]

thalia: where'd'ya get the star light? I'm looking for something similar for a similar corner of my living room.




on sewing crap and selling a house: I literally just boxed it all up in totes and hauled it to the garage. (detached garage that is). If I was really going whole-hog I would have boxed it up and taken it to a storage unit to deal with later. I know, I know -- it's like sweeping the dirt under the rug. BUT now I'm sorting through it all from the garage in anticipation of only bringing that which I want and can really use into the house.


what color would you paint the walls to your basement playroom area (unfinished ceiling)? grey floor. we might (someday) add drywall and a floor. But in the meantime I want to clean it up a bit.

[quirkylayne]

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...y1Yv2g&notag=1

Added my pictures, you can see the room in a circle.

Got a few things done today, had DH hang my corkboard, went through some of the papers on the desk. Baby steps...

[Thalia]

Originally Posted by kerc

thalia: where'd'ya get the star light? I'm looking for something similar for a similar corner of my living room

DH bought it for me in Philadelphia. It was the first gift he ever gave me: we had just started dating. He was on a business trip there, and e-mailed me and gave me three color combinations to choose from, without letting me know that it was for. I picked the midnight blue/orange combo, and he brought the star back for me!

I've seen them sold around here in Chicago, too, though. And I just googled them and found this site, too.

[Thalia]

Mission Accomplished!!!

I'd posted earlier that I planned to continue working on the office, but tonight we cleaned out our storage unit! I am sooooooo happy about it. I'd been asking DH if we could do it for a while now, and he'd been reluctant because, let's face it, who wants to clean out crap in the basement on the weekend? But today was kind of cold and cloudy, so he agreed. So we brought a CD player and some gloves and water and a camera down there and went to it!

I've been in this building since 1995, so I knew there was some old stuff of mine in there from way back. We took everything out of the unit, swept the floor and dusted the shelves, and then decided to what to do with all the stuff. We threw out a ton of stuff and identified a whole bunch more to give away. Everything else we packed back in neatly. We have so much more space now! I am so so so happy it's done. We thought it would be an all day project, but it ended up taking 3 1/2 hours start to finish.

Now we'll have a place to put baby stuff!

Here's what it looked like before:
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/IMG_1868.jpg

Here's the unit all emptied out:
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/IMG_1875.jpg

Here's what it looks like now:
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t...t/IMG_1877.jpg

Slideshow of the whole process:
http://s159.photobucket.com/albums/t...1178430870.pbw

[quirkylayne]

Thalia - looks great! I couldn't see the after picture but I watched the slideshow. And how excellent that it didn't take all day. You have accomplished alot this weekend!

[darlintxmomma]

i was debating about joining up this month considering last month i bombed on my office. thursday my dh came home on military leave (ds got sick) and now that ds is better we started actually getting the office decluttered and organized. i figured if i was a month late, at least i will have it done...so i just came to see what this months challenge was and its the playroom....which is also our office....YIPPIE!!!!!!!!!!! were already 3/4 of the way to having it cleaned up. im gonna take more pictures in a bit to show whats been done comparred to last months pics, then when i finish it, ill post more pics...

we also made it a goal to get rid of 10 full sized trash bags of stuff this weekend...right now we are at 9. ill be back in a bit with pictures.

[darlintxmomma]

ok im back with pictures

MY ROOM PICTURE TOUR
http://www.flickr.com/photos/darlintxmomma/sets/
go thru the office cleanup tour then the playroom one to see what all has been done so far...

WHAT I LIKE BEST ABOUT MY ROOM
all the sunlight

WHAT I LIKE LEAST ABOUT MY ROOM
how quickly the desk gets out of hand and how hot it gets in the afternoon cause it faces due west.

HOT SPOTS (spots in your room that tend to collect clutter)
the desk and the floor

MY PLAN OF ACTION - whatever you would like, just a list of your goals.
i just went and stole my plan of action from last months thread since its still the same room for me.
so here goes...

1. Clean off desk and file the paper clutter or trash it. Get some sort of system to separate the incoming bills that need dealt with from the outgoing things. ~DONE

2. Rearrange computer equipment on my desk. Right now something has popped the back of the desk loose and is poking into my window and it drives me crazy. I wanna fix it. The way the desk is arranged just isn't making the best use of the space available. ~DONE (the back of the desk that was loose is now completely gone.

3.Go thru and get rid of crap in boxes in the middle of the floor. I don't even know whats in them so I probably don't need any of it.
almost done here...just 1 box left to go thru and its almost empty already

4. Go thru DS's toys and get rid of the ones he doesnt play with anymore. I want him to have an organized playroom with easy access to his stuff but also have it be easy to straighten up when hes done playing.
again, almost done here...just that one box left that i need to find places for the toys in it...im also thinking of getting a wall shelf to stack his toy bins on so they will all be in one place...we'll see how that goes

5. I need to vacuum in here really bad, and maybe even shampoo the carpet because I think one of my dogs baptized the floor a couple of months ago and when it gets really hot outside....the smell reminds me.

6. I need to go thru the bags in the bottom of the closet again and thin them out some more. They are full of maternity clothes from when I was preg with DS almost 2 years ago and no current plans for another kid so I don't need all those bags of clothes at the moment.

7. I'm going to move the over the door ironing board hanger to DH"s closet door because it doesnt get opened and closed NEARLY as frequently as the main door and the ironing board slams into the door every time it is moved and its LOUD! ~ DONE

8. Im going to empty the closet out and raise everything...the shelf and curtain rod because the clothes hang so low you can barely get around in the floor of the closet. i did mine a few months ago and it has been fabulous...it stays very neat now that i can see everything.

[Thalia]

Originally Posted by quirkylayne

Thalia - looks great! I couldn't see the after picture but I watched the slideshow. And how excellent that it didn't take all day. You have accomplished alot this weekend!

Thanks! I think I fixed the link to the "after" photo.

I am still having decluttering afterglow, and keep stopping to smooch DH and thank him for spending that time on the basement. He was really pleased with it, too and very glad we took care of it.

[quirkylayne]

How are you all doing?

I did a few things this weekend but as usual, half of my work is in vain. I swear this room just attracts the crap in our house. I really need to go through all the papers on my desk and clean out the closet. Still don't have new bookshelves like I want. :

[kikidee]

Celestialdreamer - that sounds really cool!! What a great idea.... We do have a closet in the room, and I also like the idea of using a room divider. Hmm...

OK so my progress so far (I did take pics, and will post them later) --

I have moved the clothes out of the guest room closet, and have pulled out the baby stuff to get packaged up. So I'm still on Step 1 -- cleaning out the room. I am hoping to have that finished this week so I can paint the room next week and start getting my area set up.

[jtbuko]

Hi folks

MY ROOM PICTURE TOUR:
I'm new to sharing pics via shutterfly. I think it will work if you copy invite below into your browser
share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=1AZMW7Fo0bMXGw

WHAT I LIKE BEST ABOUT MY ROOM:
The current furniture seems to maximize useful vertical space and floor space. This room has come a long way in the past year and a half. I really feel closer to seeing it arrive as a more functional and pleasing space. Now if I could only get there!

WHAT I LIKE LEAST ABOUT MY ROOM: It makes me cranky. The goal was to have a space that would function as sort of a command center for my home business to be and our household management, while also functioning as a place for the kids to play and a guest room. The room has been a catch all for stuff that needs to find a home, be organized or get done. Now I walk in and I am accosted by my to do list. The kids walk past the toys and mess with my paperwork.

HOT SPOTS: Closet. Desk. Bins on shelves. Desk. Closet.

MY PLAN OF ACTION:
Remove un-needed things
Organize things we want to keep making maximum use of our new vertical space.
Manage cords better.
Consider removing closet doors to increase play space

[Vanessa]

I'm back to share my afters. I wish it was all perfect, but I'm just not there. I need to tell myself that it's "done" for now, though, so I can cross it off my massive to do list this month.

Here's my original post from April. I just continued in there since it's the same space at my house and I wanted to paint, etc.

My office area is my craft room. I have gotten rid of lots, but there's still more to do.

MY OFFICE BEDROOM PICTURE TOUR

WHAT I LIKE BEST ABOUT MY OFFICE AREA (Include a picture!) I love that it's mine. I also love the large window.

WHAT I LIKE LEAST ABOUT MY OFFICE BEDROOM I don't like how easily things get out of control in there. I also don't like that I have to keep the kitty litter box in my closet, but there's really no where else in the house to put it.

HOT SPOTS (spots in your room that tend to collect clutter) anything horizontal including the floor

MY PLAN OF ACTION - here is where you can be as agressive or laid back as you like. If you want to list a series of goals

I intend to go through the bins and drawers and get rid of even more things. I also want to finish putting dh's childhood pics in the album so they won't be cluttering up my workspace anymore.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...p/100_3366.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...p/100_3367.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...p/100_3368.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...p/100_3370.jpg


And here are the afters. I've even shown the not-as-done-as i'd like closets.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...p/100_3565.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...p/100_3564.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...p/100_3567.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...p/100_3568.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...p/100_3569.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...p/100_3570.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...p/100_3571.jpg

[quirkylayne]

It looks great Vanessa!
I need to know where you got your white hutch, dresser, and the shelf on top of the dresser.

I'm finding my biggest challenge is that we just don't have enough storage to create a place for things to always go - I can't seem to find things I like at a price I'm willing to pay!

But, I'm back on the wagon. Must get desk cleaned off again!

[Vanessa]

Thanks! I just realized why those pics turned out so bad. I had my camera set on macro. I'll have to retake when I get a chance.

The white cabinet I ordered a few weeks ago. It got it here: http://www.homedecoratorsoutlet.com/..._Credenza/130/ It was $179 when I bought it, and I found an extra code, too. It is attractive, but not the best file cabinet.

The pine dresser is an antique English piece. They are really expensive if you can find them. I really got lucky and bought it from a store where I worked that had used it as a fixture and was selling off all the pieces.

The white piece on top is also something I picked up a few years ago. I bought it a Spiegel outlet when they were big everywhere. (Pottery Barn had them and everyone else knocked them off.)

[quirkylayne]

oooooooooooooooo. I found something I want on that site.

http://www.homedecoratorsoutlet.com/...r_Cabinet/620/

Would you mind sharing how you found your code? :

[Vanessa]

That's really cute! I might need to look some more myself.

Whenever I buy anything online, the first thing I do is do a search for "(store name) coupon" and one for "(store name) code" You can turn up a code quite frequently.

I found this link, but I don't know if it works. http://keycode.com/offer_stopover.as..._alloffers.asp

eta: Actually, at the top of the screen on their site, there's a message saying save 20& off $175. That's the same deal that I got before.

[PeacefulSeams]

MY ROOM PICTURE TOUR
No pics this time. I left my camera at my moms house in another state

WHAT I LIKE BEST ABOUT MY ROOM(Include a picture!)
I don't have a spare room or a play room so I am working on the office area still and will start work on my garage.
WHAT I LIKE LEAST ABOUT MY ROOM
office area: no matter how many times I declutter it always looks messy in a few days
garage: I can't park my car in there it is so full of crap

HOT SPOTS (spots in your room that tend to collect clutter)
office area: the whole area
garage: it is one big hot spot
MY PLAN OF ACTION - whatever you would like, just a list of your goals.
office area: declutter (once again)
find solution for papers
try to organize the itty bitty space the best i can
garage: have a garage sale every other weekend until it's cleaned out since I will be continuously adding stuff
area for the bikes
area for the sports related items
laundry center since my washer/dryer is in the garage
space for my dh tools and other stuff

[quirkylayne]

This week I -

• Ordered 2 new bookcases! Shout out to Vanessa for helping me find and order them with a huge discount.
  
• Put up 3 shelves above the printer/scanner bookcase.
  
• Cleaned off my desk (sorta).
  
• Did a box for LLL garage sale and a box for goodwill.
  
• Shredded a bunch of old papers/junk mail.

Go me!

[celestialdreamer]

I got rid of a dresser that was completely full of nonsense, found the nonsense new homes or donated it, whittled my fabric stash from mountains down to one small storage box under a bed, and sorted through 90% of my craft supplies! I need to figure out what furniture will get used and clear the rest of the stuff out of the room next. Oh and finish organizing the craft stuff...all thats left is 3 small drawers and a small box. I definitely won't be 100% done with the room by the end of May but the change so far is awesome! It won't sit another 5 years getting covered in dust, I promise!

[quirkylayne]

Sometimes things get messier before they get cleaner and organized. That is all.