De-cluttering Our Study

My study was a MESS! I knew when I could no longer shut the doors of the study closet, that it was time to get busy and do something about it!  It tends to be the dumping ground of our home, (what Flylady would call a great big “hot spot“) its located right in the middle of the house, but you can’t see it from the main living areas, so it seems to be the place that collects clutter.  I’ve managed (with the help of the Flylady system) to get the rest of my house sorted and de-cluttered, except for a storage closet and some drawers, which I will be doing a before and after blog post of, once I get motivated. Being the last closet, it will be a doozy!
It’s humbling letting you see my mess, but I love before and after pictures, so I’ll swallow my pride and let you see. 🙂
I always start by making sure I have a trash bag for garbage, 2 baskets (one for stuff I want to give away, one for stuff that belongs somewhere else in the house), a duster, and a broom.  Oh, and music, of course, music makes everything just a little more fun!  Today I de-cluttered to Jordan Sparks, Colbie Calliat,  a little Shakira cuz’ she makes me move!!  For more details on how to de-clutter, check out this link.

My study is quite small, but the mess was pretty overwhelming, so I divided it into zones.  I started with the desk zone, then did bulletin boards, then the bookshelf zone, and finally the closet zone.
It only took me an hour and a half! Going through paper work was what consumed most of the time. Why do I procrastinate so long, when it really does not take that much time to finish?  I can’t tell you how great it is to sit here at the desk with everything in its place.  It makes me want to tackle more, maybe even paint the study something other than boring beige!

About those baskets full of things to give away and put away, the DO IT NOW method is really important.  In the past, I have taken a break with the idea that I deserved one, and had every intention of getting back to the baskets.  Well, my “break” lasted months and I still had a bin of stuff sitting in the closet. (if you look closely at my before pics, you will find one in the closet that I sat there after de-cluttering my basement and taking a “break”:))  So this time, I did it right away!  The “put away” basket is the worst, I usually just sit on the floor and make a pile for each room, then start delivering stuff back to their homes.  This is a great time to get the kids involved, let them do the delivering for you!