My Challenge

So I don't think that she even knows that I am doing this because she inspired me, but my friend, Jenna, has been blogging about her progress with this 21 Day Organizing Challenge that she found on this blog, A Bowl Full of Lemons. Since then, I have been debating about whether I should take on some kind of challenge like that because goodness knows, I need some organization in my life! I kept going back and forth because I didn't know if I wanted to organize my whole household before or after we inevitably move for whatever job Garrett gets after he graduates this semester. Finally though, I decided; I'd rather be organized before doing all that moving because that would probably make the process that much easier. Plus, it's only a 21 day challenge and we will not be moving for probably another 2 months at the very earliest so I definitely have the time.

Just to preface this experience, let me just say that it is not exactly in my nature to be organized. I enjoy knowing where things are but let’s just say that in my home growing up, there were WAY too many things to keep track of and I picked up the habit of never throwing things away from my dear father, bless his heart, so I sort of became a pack rat. Garrett, on the other hand, is quite organized and hardly ever gets attached to items or thinks he’ll need them again in the future so he’s kind of awesome at throwing things away. He balances me out and I’m learning from him. Plus, he’s really excited that I have decided to do this challenge because I think he’s been trying to hint for a while that organization is something he wishes I’d be a little more on top of as the homemaker.

Anyway, let’s move onto my progress. On the original 21 day challenge, some of the rooms that are chosen for the different days didn’t apply to me so I made some revisions in order to make the list actually useful for me. So if my list isn’t the same as hers, that’s why. But I am still doing the challenge that she came up with, so none of the credit is mine.

My Day #1 Challenge was:

Our Computer Desk.

Here are the BEFORE pictures:

It's not the worst ever, but it definitely feels cluttered when you're using it. There's no leftover desk space or drawers of any kind to store things and it feels like there are cords EVERYWHERE!

Meet our clutter basket: This is where we set receipts sometimes and eyeliner and random computer plug pieces, etc. We also often keep our tv remotes here because it is one of the only places in the family room that Kailyn cannot reach.

And this coffee mug is where we keep millions of pens and pencils that may or may not work.

After clearing it all off, wiping it down, and sorting through it, these are the AFTER pictures:

I moved the printer onto the ground to free up some desk space and switched the computer to the other side (mostly so it would make it a tiny bit more difficult for Kailyn to reach the cords and printer underneath). I also added some drawers that fit papers so we don't always have papers cluttering the already small space.

I also invested in a real supply organizer that I picked up from Walmart for around $8.

These are another great Walmart buy. The drawers are large enough to fit documents so I think they will be great in keeping our paper clutter to a minimum. Oh yeah, I didn't take a picture of this part because it still doesn't look great, but in order to create order with all of our electrical cords I like to complain about, we tied some yarn around them so they would all sort of stay in one general area.

So again:

BEFORE:

and AFTER:

I think it is an improvement that I'm feeling good about. I'm off to a good start to finally getting my life organized! Stay tuned for more!