One Room Challenge: Decluttering the Home Office

Hey y’all!  It’s Week 2 of the One Room Challenge and I’ve got a short & sweet update for you on my craft room/home office makeover!  This week’s task: Decluttering the Home Office

Last week I shared the inspiration for this space and what I hope to accomplish over the next few weeks. You can check that out HERE.

I think it’s only fair to show you the true & accurate state of my office prior to the decluttering that took place over the weekend.  I’m a little embarrassed by these pictures but it is what it is!

Ok, let’s look at this mess for a second.  That shelving unit could potentially be useful but it’s so full of crap that I can’t find anything when I need it. Plus it’s filled with a lot of stuff I don’t even use anymore.

There was so much overflow of junk that I had to bring in that white plastic shelving unit.  Ugh.

That table is just…ridiculous. I craft there.  I host webinars and Periscope broadcasts there.  Yep, folks…that’s where the magic happens.

Looks so magical, right?  And let’s not talk about whatever is going on over to the left.

This past weekend, I dove in with both feet.  It was scary, I won’t lie.  I went through every bin, every tub, every drawer and bag, until I decluttered and cleaned out and got rid of everything I didn’t want or need.

I was ruthless – no emotional attachment. Just 3 choices: Keep, Donate, or Trash. Here are a few things that help me when I need to do some serious decluttering:

• Touch everything once and only once. I picked up every single thing in that room and decided in that moment which of the 3 piles it would end up.
• Don’t get lost in sentimental thoughts. I try hard to detach myself emotionally from everything – old pictures my now 13-year old colored when she was 3, half-finished crafts that I “might” get around to finishing, or those cute scrapbook supplies I might keep for “someday” that never comes.
• As soon as I’m done, it goes away. I don’t let bags and boxes of discarded junk linger too long because either myself or someone else in my house (*ahem* my husband *ahem*) will go through and find something that should come back into the house.
• Get rid of stuff, then go in for round 2 and get rid of more stuff.  There is always room to pare down.  Always, always, always.

I made a pretty good sized pile for Goodwill, and threw away three huge bags of trash.

After all that was done, I was left with a room that looked like this:

I know there’s still a lot on that shelving unit, but it’s a lot less cluttered.  You’ll notice a few empty spaces, too. The stuff that remains will mostly likely stay in those places after I paint that shelving unit and move it to it’s new home in my office.

All the crap in the far back corner is gone, too, and I even have an empty tub! WOOT!

And can we just take a moment to appreciate the clear table top? Like a breath of fresh air!!

Notice something missing?  NO MORE PLASTIC SHELVING UNIT! I got rid of enough crap to completely remove the plastic shelving unit altogether.  Hooray for progress!

So, the next step is to completely empty this room and get my bloggy butt to paintin’! Can’t wait to show you my progress next week!

Follow along with the One Room Challenge along with a lot of other bloggers by checking out everyone who is linking up at Calling It Home!