It gets worse before it gets better
The evolution from office to media nook continues!
Unfortunately, this is less of a cozy home makeover show and more of a sad exposé of my inability to find a place to put old bank statements. What makes admitting this okay is the fact that 98% of people who commented on my first post about office clutter are in the same boat.
It’s a really big boat.
While we’ve been waiting for the new computer to show up, my husband decided that he could not stand walking on carpet that crunched anymore, so while I was at work he vacuumed the living snot out of it* and then he called in a carpet cleaning service. Hence, most of the junk on the office floor magically levitated to the desktop. I guess the rest of the junk — it’s fair to say that a shopping bag full of old bills and four pairs of ladies boots officially makes it “my” junk– was too unwieldy? intimidating? full of cooties? to levitate on its own, so they cleaned around it.
*If you have a bulldog, your carpet has living snot in it.
We were so excited to have clean carpet that once it dried we invited some friends over for dinner. The next day, I decided that in penance for my slight hangover I would put away my things like a big girl.
I hung up my clothes, donated some old t-shirts to my son’s closet, organized my action figures, weeded out a shelf full of books, ate a fistful of M&Ms, and listed three pairs of shoes on eBay. There they are on the desk, all snug in their boxes and ready for new homes. I thought I was done but then I had to kick myself because carefully placing my knitting and my eternally overflowing shopping bag full of receipts in the same spot on the floor where they’ve been for six months does not constitute “done.” And what’s that dog doing there?
Much better.
*This post is sponsored by Dell because they want you to know about their new Inspiron All-in-One 2320 and they’ve asked me to help give one away. This giveaway will run until Friday, October 28th at 11:59 p.m. EDT and is open to all U.S. residents. A winner will be chosen at random using Random.org from all eligible entries. Each reader has four (4!) chances to win by leaving a separate comment on each of my Dell posts. Plus there are other Dell posts by other bloggers participating in this campaign (you can find those posts at the Family Tech topics page), and you could possibly win over there, too! The chosen winner must respond within 48 hours of notification to claim their prize. Good luck!
I always hate cleaning my desk area! But, since I don’t have my own place, my desk is in my room, so at least it doesn’t have a whole room to get messed up in!
I was never able to get organized until I bought a shredder. To me, having a shredder is key to getting rid of shit.
If I win the computer, am I REQUIRED to clean up my workspace because I don’t know if it would be worth it, even though I’m sure it is a very nice computer. If I start moving things around I’m not sure what I will find!
No, no, the bulldog is the best part! Don’t clean out the bulldog!
Cats, though. What I would give to never have a cat walk on my desk again. The great thing about dogs in the office is that they remain on the FLOOR.
I think you have but a mild case of “the clutters” going on in there, ma’am.
I’m obscenely disorganized (no, you can’t see my desk. Because I can’t see my desk). But that’s all going to change, and soon. Why? BECAUSE WE JUST BOUGHT A BOAT AND ARE GOING TO LIVE ON IT HOLY GOD. I foresee a lot of sobbing in my near future, followed in the long term by serenity, seals, and views of Mt. Tam.
I have a secret a secret stash of bank statements, too. I shred a few times a year.
Huh. I have a shredder. It’s a fabulous surface for stacking stuff.
Near my city they have a shred-athon every six months or so. You can bring all your shredables and they will feed them through a big machine and then you don’t have to worry about them any more! I missed the last one, but I did get all the stuff I need to shred into one big garbage bag. I’m set for the next shred-athon!
My desk is in my kitchen so it is on display when anyone comes over. If kinda forces me clean it up on a regular basis. I don’t have a shredder but I do have a wood burning stove. Fire does the trick.
Not only am I also organizationally challenged, I also recently put on my big girl pants and cleaned my desk. I really need a new computer though. My mac is is dying rather quickly. I would LOVE that Dell.
It’s weird because as much as I’m obsessed with organization the idea of finally organizing my “office” space makes me anxious. I think it’s because I’m a perfectionist so once I start it will likely take the entire day.
much improved! i still have boxes of hanging files in them in the corner. and why did i buy such a small desk? i wonder if i got another desk and put them side by side…
if i’m not careful, my desk gets turned into a table for stacking and throwing things very quickly…
I wish I had room for my desk. I have this awesome rattan tropical looking thing in storage. But I live in a 500 square foot house. So I perch a board on my lap and use a laptop. Works.
Eden, don’t get too discouraged when you leave the room and come back and some elfish troll has messed things up again. Really, it’s either a kid or your husband looking for something completely random and moved all your stuff to look for what they know is not even remotely near your desk. I for one am sick of paper, can’t wait for the day when things are just projected in the air and not laying on some horizontal space. I hope your new computer comes soon so we keep getting your clever blogs.
My stuff would be back on the floor within 24 hours.
My situation is genuinely hopeless. I am looking to you to give me hope, even though my office space makes your office space look like some kind of minimalist Swedish/Danish/German architect’s house (I can’t decide which nationalist is more minimalist–but definitely, an architect’s house).
My desk is really cluttered, but a large part right now is my 6 year old son’s fault. He keeps putting his graded schoolwork there, even though I ask him not to. I had him and his older sister clean up their desk this weekend, so now I should be able to enforce the ruling on my desk.
Nice work! I am constantly losing the war on clutter. Someone once said this is the reason women live longer than men — we’re never done organizing.
Cluttered is my status quo. Once in a blue moon I’ll clear out and clean up and it feels so great for a day.
I recently sort of forced my husband to get rid of the enormous desk he had and get a much smaller more appropriately sized desk. I hate clutter and things that don’t go in spaces and holding on to things for the sake of holding on to them.
I got rid of my desk so I would stop piling stuff on it. Astonishingly, the stuff finds new places to live. It’s terrible, the stuff.
Hey, now. Knitting is never clutter! Looks like progress, though. Heck, square one for me would be clearing a path to the desk, but our office/study is also home to the costume wardrobe, the bikes, the luggage, the yarn stash, the camping gear, and all the random crap we can’t put anywhere else. Ah, the joys of a 700 sq ft apartment with no garage or storage space!
Holy cow – that’s progress. Maybe I should get started…
I purge our closets and cluttered up drawers and cabinets about twice a year. I carry entire trash bags full of stuff to charities and the dumpster. They just fill back up. Its kind of sad how much stuff our consumptive society produces.
Allow me to be the winner of a new Dell Computer!
Would love to win this!
It really does get worse, doesn’t it? I find myself HAVING to take in-progress pictures to show to my online friends a) so I have a cheering section and b) so when I’m feeling particularly cranky about the project, I can look back and say, “Just look how far you’ve come already!” The office is looking great!
Good luck with this project!
I’d love to win a bulldog, but a new Dell will do.
Is it wrong that I now throw my bank statements out as soon as they arrive? Isn’t that what the internet is for, so we don’t have to look at that paper stuff?
Carefully stacking and/or aligning containers containing chaotic things absolutely counts as organizing and/or cleaning. It’s a fact.
aaah . . . I love a clean desk. I rarely put the time in necessary, but darn it if it isn’t one of the prettiest things in the world.
Unfortunately my “office” is my kitchen table. I hate it. I keep thinking of ways to organize the paper and stuff, but so far a recycle bin right by the front door for junk mail and my shredder are my best ways for cutting the paper clutter. Now if I could just get my daughter’s 2nd grade teacher to stop sending home 10 different worksheets and drawings every night!
I am absolutely in the same cluttered boat. I have to figure out office space in our house so that those bags of bank statements find a permanent home.
I have an ongoing battle with clutter. I come from parents who were keepers and have graduated into hoarders so its an uphill battle every day. I have reduced the amount of intake of clutter but tackling the legacy of clutter is hard. And I have a husband who does not admit he is a slob and only adds to the clutter problem by leaving crap around.
Is it wrong to just wish for a bigger desk? A much, much bigger desk? The desk should grow exponentially, just as my pile o’ stuff does. Sigh.
Organization is needed big time in my office. I’m working on it, slowly!
I am constantly trying to keep my work area clean. It’s a chore. You are so not alone.
I need to have a clean and organized space in order to get ANYTHING done. Otherwise I am overwhelmed by the clutter and cannot think straight.
Yes, keeping my work area neat, tidy, and clean is a constant battle.
I have a desk in an office but I use my laptop on the couch, so my desk winds up being the catch-all for everything I don’t know what to do with. I should get on that.
We’ve just moved all of our stuff into our brand new house…. The problem is, we left a bunch of paperwork and “junk” and the old apartment because we didn’t know how to pack them up. Now I don’t want to bring it into the new house, I’m enjoying living clutter free so much!
Alas, I know it won’t last…
Oh – I really wish this would inspire me to do something similar. Fingers crossed.
We’re using some wedding giftcards to streamline our office- a smaller desk and storage for cookbooks and puppy supplies. The pet mess is taking over!
Nice! I really like all your framed photos and art around the desk.
I can relate. We live in an old house with no storage. So for us, everything piles up. Right now, sad to say, our computer is in our living room. Not a pretty sight!
Organization. I remember that.
I really need an organizer! But the thought of it overwhelms me. So at present I just muddle along and do the best I can. Perhaps needing to make space for a lovely new computer would help me get motivated!!