Comments | organize: How to turn a junk storage room in to a functioning office and guest room?

mshelbyfsu in organize

How to turn a junk storage room in to a functioning office and guest room?

Apr 20, 2005 19:40

Hi everyone! New here. I found this community via hambone's userinfo. I hope you don't mind another dazed and confused person that really wants to get organized ( Read more... )

small spaces, books, holiday decorations

Comments 16

greenminions April 21 2005, 00:06:53 UTC

I would start by walking around in the room (may be difficult with stuff everywhere!) with a trashbag or box. First go through and pick up and trash (anything that cannot be reused, relocated to elsewhere in the house, recycled, donated or sold) and toss it in the bag. Then go around with another bag/box and pick up stuff to donate. No need to dig deep in the piles, just grab things that are in plain sight that you know you don't want anymore. Keep doing this until you are out of things to trash or donate. Try to get the trash together the day before trash day, that way you won't have that cluttering up your house for too long.

I don't any much advice beyond that point.

mshelbyfsu April 21 2005, 00:17:54 UTC

No, that's a great idea! I think I get overwhelmed by the amount of stuff I have more than anything... and it definitely needs to be organized! I think I'm going to set up a daily plan for myself for the 5 day period I'm giving myself to do all of this stuff, that way step by step it'll get done... step 1) trash. step 2) donate. :)

microsteph April 21 2005, 00:29:03 UTC

Or you could get a trash bag for garbage and a box for donations and do it at the same time. Set aside some time for the donation run each day; that way you won't have stuff piling up.

Once you're done with that, you can sort things into more boxes with each box labeled for a particular room. That way you don't have to stress about where each thing goes, but you can get all the stuff for each room together and move the boxes into the room.

Start as soon as you walk in the door and move around the room in a circle until you get back to where you started.

mshelbyfsu April 21 2005, 16:56:13 UTC

Thanks for your ideas! Another person mentioned the same thing and I think I like that idea, too. Instead of constantly making rounds to do various things, sit down and organize it all at once. It may take me a bit longer to do it, but I think that it'll be a beneficial choice.

This is going to be a huge project to tackle but I definitely think it'll be worth it!

technomom April 21 2005, 01:47:23 UTC

I like the idea of dealing with obvious trash first.

After that, I'd probably do the whole "set up give away, throw away, and keep" boxes thing and start sorting. Actually, I'd use four boxes - one for things to be kept in "current" space, one for things that can be stored (like the Christmas ornaments).

Set a timer and spend 30 minutes or so on the room, then walk away to do something else for at least 30 minutes. Go back for another half hour, and keep doing so 'til you're done.

mshelbyfsu April 21 2005, 16:54:58 UTC

I like the storage boxes idea... I have some large tubs that are empty right now that I could use to separate and then to store when I'm done... Thanks for the input!

abberatia April 21 2005, 05:14:11 UTC

the best way to tackle a huge mess is to look at it in it's smaller componenents. first, spend a week getting the christmas decor, then a week with the books, etc. don't try to spend a week to clean a room. would you only set aside a week to pack up and move? No. a firm and resounding No. in today's busy lives it's hard to devote every waking minute to a huge organizing job. use the 15 minute rule (only spend 15 minutes organizing), the 7 item rule ( put away someplace else 7 items a day), and the 10 Space Stealers (actutally remove from the entire HOME 10 items a week, these Space Stealers are simply items that you don't use/need). In no time you'll have that room you want. I'm sure it didn't take a week to get it that messy, so give yourself more time to get it done and just do a little at a time. Just keep on working on it!

mshelbyfsu April 21 2005, 16:54:12 UTC

Your points are very true! And yeah, it took a few months to get my room that cluttered. Unfortunately it's turned into the "close the door so no one can see it" room and I hate it! I like your ideas, and I think I'm going to utilize them to declutter the rest of my apartment. I've been married for a little over 2 years now and let's just say that all of the wedding clutter is finally getting to be a bit much!

abberatia April 21 2005, 17:09:50 UTC

Hey no problem! I have a closet that's like that and i just cleaned it out piece by piece. Every time i went to the dumpster (apartments...) I would grab something out of the closet. that way i wasn't making a HUGE trip, just a bunch of little ones. Kind of along the same line as packing a few books in all your boxes so that you're lugging a huge 100 pound box of books. LOL baby steps, baby steps!

abberatia April 21 2005, 17:10:22 UTC

i meant, NOT lugging a huge 100 pound box.....

emilyintheglass April 21 2005, 09:23:49 UTC

I would tackle the books since they sound like you have already thought through a sorting process with them. I would also take a moment to weed any Christmas decor you just don't totally love. You have the rest of your life to accumulate Christmas items and hopefully you will someday have more storage for them. Good luck!

mshelbyfsu April 21 2005, 16:52:33 UTC

Yeah, the books are pretty well organized into "get rid of" or "keep". I've already sold the ones that I know I can sell, so now it's just getting rid of the rest. I have checked through the previous posts on getting rid of books and gotten some good ideas, so I think I'm going to use some of the resources listed!

sultansfavorite April 21 2005, 13:23:07 UTC

Great ideas here . . . all I'd add is be sure you play really good music while you're organizing, and drink delicious coffee, tea or the beverage of your choice. You're lucky you have a week to accomplish this - guarantee if you just soldier on, and make a little progress each day, you'll see results!

Good luck! Hey! post before n' after photos - that could be fun!

mshelbyfsu April 21 2005, 16:51:21 UTC

*laughs* oh dear, you definitely DO NOT want to see the before photos. I'll feel like someone right out of an episode of Mission: Organization! :) And I think I'll be rightfully embarassed.

Yeah, I'm really lucky that I've got this time off. I was able to start my job a week after I graduate, so that gives me plenty of time to get my apartment back to where I want it to be.