So, I know I’m not supposed to start a new project until I finish the ones I’ve started. Clearly, I’m a rebel and probably a glutton for punishment. But, I am almost done with my office (just have to hang the blinds and the two reading lights and then take some pictures for you!). I’ve got quite a few small projects to finish up as well (the map wall, the fireplace wall, painting the other side of the front door) and I promise to show you those soon as PROOF when I finish them.

Disclaimer: I know I kind of hop around on projects, but it really is the way I work and accomplish things around my house. Fixing up my house is part of real life for me, projects stuck in between family, church and other life obligations. But the reveals will happen, I promise.

I know figuring out how to use my house is not a big deal in the grand scheme of problems in the world, I’m just grateful I have a home. But nevertheless, I’m on a mission to make my home work well for us so we can be more effective in all we do in life.

So, our living room? It didn’t work.

I mentioned in a post like a year ago that while some of our rooms are small, our house itself is not really too small, it just isn’t being used as effectively as it should be. I don’t need to move or add on, I just need to make the best use of the space I have.

I’ve talked quite a bit about small houses and making the most of your space and my need for better organization and space planning for how we really live in this house.

And to remedy my issues, I’ve been taking action.

My newly updated office (which will be finished soon, I promise) is really small, but is working out really well for my own organizing and business needs. So putting our family organizational systems into the small hallway right outside my office door is a great solution. It makes that space actually work for us and serve a purpose instead of just being a pass through.

A wall in process, pardon the nails…

On one side of the hall (under the map wall, which still has some trim work that I need to finish so pardon the nails), is a wire wall organizer from TJ Maxx. It is perfect for sorting out papers that belong to my husband, son or myself and that require our attention. If it is empty, that means we are keeping up on our papers! GO US!

And on the other side of the hall is my command central chalk board. It has proven to be the most awesome use of that wall ever. We use it constantly!

So, I’m kind of working my way around the hub areas of our house, trying to get it set up to be most effective for our needs. And that brings me to our living room, which as I mentioned, was not working for us. The room is open to our entry, on one side of the staircase.

Why does our living room not work for us?

We had our small living room set up like a regular living room with a sofa, coffee table and chairs. Kind of like our family room. Two rooms for sitting in a small house with only three people living here most of the week. We had way more furniture to sit on than people to sit. We aren’t sitting people most of the time, any way, we are mostly on the go.

Originally I felt like my living room was a good place for me to escape the loud family room. Maybe to sit and read a book. Yet, as I found out, our living room was way too open to the rest of the house so it was not quiet at all.

So that is what prompted me to create a “girl space” in my office. My office has a door and that door is a miracle worker, people! That door saves my sanity. And now that we have a “girl space” to get away from the crazy boys (husband, son and two male dogs), the living room is pretty much useless to us as a sitting room. It was another pass through.

The living room is really small, I’m not sure if you can judge the size from the photos. It ended up feeling crowded and cluttered all the time because my husband would come home from band practices with his guitar, amps and briefcase and my son would come in with his instrument from school and it would all get set in around the furniture. Can you say CLUTTERED? It was WAY too small of a room to function as a living room and an entry/mud room. So, it was a room that was confused with its identity and it wasn’t being effective at anything.

It has become clear, we need more space for coming and going in day to day life and for special parties, events or craft projects — not a another place to put furniture we never sit on.

So, recently I just was fed up with feeling like that room was not working and out the furniture went. Good-bye! I was not in love with my furniture or had other homes for it, so it was liberating to free the space! LIBERATING, I tell you! I decided I’d rather have an empty room than a room pretending to be a living room (that I wasn’t in love with) but acting like a mudroom (but looking nothing like a mudroom) and generally making me feel stressed out.

And then, oh yes, there is the carpet.

The graffiti paint carpet.

Yep. It is still there. It has been hiding under an area rug, which we also removed with our furniture.

Nothing like having graffiti on your living room carpet. And as I’ve mentioned, dogs and carpet are not a good mix for us anyway so carpet is on its way out!

So yeah, I have some things to work on. I’m thinking hickory hardwood floors like we have in the entry and kitchen and hall so the small entry feels like it flows right into this space and actually becomes more like one room.

I’m envisioning things like maybe a built in window seat with storage underneath, a long built in cabinet under the small windows for stashing stuff, maybe a few big hooks for coats, and enough free space in the middle to adapt to our every day and special occasion needs. It could easily be turned into a dining space, a game room, a meeting space, a craft room  – whatever we need …. because without a lot of furniture in my way every day, I’m not limited in how we can use it by what is there.

Inspiration pictures and more plans will follow as I gather up my ideas! I’m still not entirely positive about what I’ll do in there but I’m excited to get my plans in place!

Do you have a less-than-useful living or dining room?

Paper Organization Ideas via BH&G

I need to get better organized. We have a lot going on in our lives and around our house. Like many of you, we are trying to master the art of juggling many things well. We run businesses and charitable organizations online and in our community, work with several groups and host events each week, we have three children, two dogs and lots of stuff to keep track of. Slowly but surely over the past number of months we have been figuring out systems and organizational plans for how to manage it all. We have made quite a bit of progress, but there is more I want to do to get my house and life organized.

I was on the hunt through Better Homes & Gardens website yesterday looking for some great ideas specifically for organizing my home office. Having a redecorated and organized home office is a really important part of my plans for how to juggle life. I’m so excited to be making my office not only a place I enjoy being in, but I really want to focus on fixing some of my organizational trouble spots so it never gets out of hand again. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a fully organized home and office? Well, maybe you already have that. I’m still trying to get this house into shape using many of the systems that have worked for me in the past.

I’m so excited to create designated landing spots for several items in my home office! Landing spots are places for things like papers, invitations, reminder cards, post it note reminders, purses, cameras, chargers, keys, bills or other items to go that otherwise would just clutter up your counters or desk.

A place for everything and everything in its place! That is the plan.

I REALLY REALLY loved this idea, above, of a wire with labeled clips for each day of the week or whatever category you want. Genius! We get so many papers, invites, appointment cards and post it notes all over the house. This system would rally them all and give them a place to land. I actually bought a wire hanging system like that from IKEA for our church nursery to show off the kids pictures and artwork, so now I just need one for home too!

Creative organization tips BH&G

I also really love the idea of creating specific landing spots for things like keys and purses or whatever else you tend to bring in from the car with you. Right now when I come in the door, my purse is set up on our highest kitchen counter because if I put it anywhere else, like a chair or the floor, YOU KNOW WHO {J-A-C-K }will grab it, run, and have a joyous time chewing gum, eating paychecks and breaking all of my pens. Same with bills or pretty much anything I bring home and set within his reach. Nothing is safe.

My thought moving forward is to put my purse (and all that other stuff) in my office when I come home because Jack will not be allowed in that room now that it is getting all fancied up. But because I don’t want my office to get cluttered, I’m thinking a couple of designated hooks in my office will be the perfect safe and sound landing spot for tote bags or purses. Plus, it will keep my kitchen counter cleared off! Double bonus. Plus, I just love hooks. You can never have too many.

Cookie sheet memo board BH&G

And then this little idea I have seen before but it just reminded me of how genius and easy it is. I love the organizational possibilities of memo boards, so I’m going to go find a couple of shiny new cookie sheets in my office. I’d use the ones I have but they aren’t pretty enough (but on the plus side of using what I have, they might smell like cookies). I can see having several of these and assigning each one a specific purpose (like menu planning or school calendars) or creating one for each member of the family.

Electronic charging station in a bread box BH&G

And then this brilliant idea for a charging station created from a breadbox is so very awesome! I have a real issue with all the electronics we use every day so I’m pretty excited to figure out a good system for how to keep my brain computer, phones and camera fully charged and ready, without the unsightly tangle of cords across my desk.

If you need more creative organizing ideas, there were tons of great ones I really liked in this BH&G home office organization album! Go check it out!

So where do you set all your stuff? Do you have good designated landing spots for papers, purses, and electronics?

Truth.

So my life has been kinda busy for the past few years.

Not only did we move to another state to start a creative church from scratch, but this weekend we are launching a concert house. Yawn. Not much goes on around our house.

Yeah. So. What would life be like without a little crazy eyed insanity mixed in? I don’t know. But I’d like to find out someday.

So meanwhile, along with crazy we need a bit of organization. Of course with all we’ve had going on, we haven’t had much time for GETTING organized. Kind of a catch 22. We have been just trying to make it through the day in front of us juggling all the balls and trying not to drop too many.

Because January is the time for turning over a new leaf, I decided I needed an organization intervention. That, and people are starting to look at us funny. Like we really might be disorganized or something. Meh.

One of the things that stops me sometimes from organizing is I have grand ideas of what “organized” should look like. I’ve dreamed about Command Centers forever. I’ve been plotting for quite some time to reorganize and makeover my office, and I’m definitely going to accomplish that in the coming weeks. But I also dream about things like big mud rooms and giant back halls when I have tiny halls and small laundry rooms. Blast.

In my mind, all the ideas I have for organization look perfect, pretty and finished. You know, like Pinterest.

Or like The House of Smiths.

Hey! They made that beauty out of those radiator metal cover things so many of you suggested for my mantel!

So, THAT is pretty much why I don’t have my command center yet. I want to make stuff like that.

And I want a door like that too while I’m at it. Pretty as a picture.

I want a before and a perfect AFTER. Now.

But I don’t have the perfect space or enough time right now for what I might deem a Pinterest-worthy command center. There are other beautifying projects waiting in line ahead of this one. My husband is busy and while he helps me when he can, he is not a big fan of staying up past his bedtime doing DIY projects. And so sometimes my crazy schedule and big dreams for things like awesome command centers derail before they even get started. And so we sit stalled, and disorganized, not able to move forward. Yet, I know it is important and its time has come.

So this week I went to Costco for groceries because sometimes my family gets hungry (the nerve!) and on my way to buy spinach, I spotted THIS.

HELLO GIANT FOUR FOOT MAGNETIC CHALKBOARD!

Behold.  The start of Command Central at my house.

Was it exactly what I pictured? No.

Is it perfectly functional for what I needed? Yes. And I love the smooth writing surface much better than chalkboard paint.

Could I paint the frame if I wanted to or add additional organizational items to my wall with this? Of course!

Did it come with a giant mudroom? Oh, snap. No.

Was there a better solution? Maybe, but sometimes you just have to START somewhere or you’ll never start anywhere.

Was it the deal of the century? Not really.

But was it a timer saver? YES.

So after wresting with my own mind over the options and what to do right there in the aisle at Costco, I decided DONE was going to be good enough this time. I’m a woman on a mission still trying to solve all my goals from last year like making our home work better for us. And nothing is going to stop me.

So I yanked the box out of the holder it was in and awkwardly balanced it in its box on top of my small cart (this chalkboard is HUGE by the way, four feet across and 3 feet tall), steering past the books and into the backsides of a few unsuspecting shoppers to get to the checkout stand. Oops!

Oh, and I had to leave without the spinach because I was too afraid of dropping the box. Home goals from last year trump eating this year.

What I Wore to Costco

{don’t you think that would be an awesome linky party?}

While Pinterest is THE BOMB for dreaming about great ideas, sometimes good enough ideas are found at Costco when we are wearing our classic boring outfit of jeans and Chucks instead of the cute ruffled red coat and polka dot shoes all the cool moms on Instagram are wearing.

Anyhoo…this is my real life. Not too pinterest worthy. I just have to come to terms with the fact that sometimes I have a Costco-inspired life.

In my real life:

I’m OK that my command center is going in the tiny hall by my kitchen for now and not the perfect space.

I don’t have the most awesome stenciled wall ready to hang my command center to make it super cute.

And I’ve come to accept that I don’t have perfectly taped gridlines for my calendars. I can wait.

I’ve made peace with the face that I don’t have the cutest magnets to clip my papers on. What I have works just fine.

I’m OK with not having perfect light glowing through my windows for this picture taken at 10PM last night.

I’m OK with being content in a stage in between the BEFORE and the AFTER.

The important thing is: I finally have a command center and we can feel a little less crazy now. I’m good with that.

Carry on. Maybe next time I show you this I’ll have stenciled walls. Ha. Doubt it.

So what is holding you back from getting organized?

If you struggle with discontentment with where you are or need a little more courage to stay focused on what really matters, I thought this was such an honest, real post (and the fact that she mentioned me was sweet too!!).