31 Day Organizational Challenge: Before Pictures

You all know I love a good challenge, especially when it relates to improving some aspect of my life.  And, as luck would have it, the 31 Day Organizational Challenge from I'm An Organizing Junkie will do just that!  In our current rental house, we have a little loft area at the top of the stairs before you get to the master bedroom.  That space is currently home to multiple things:

• My craft supplies and "work area" (which I have never actually used for working because it's covered with stuff, and it's inconvenient to be up away from everyone else on the main floor)
• Extra book storage
• My Grandma's old sewing machine table
• Extra jars and boxes for projects and wrapping supplies
• Clothes and bedding we've gotten for baby #3
• Miscellaneous overflow

However, in May, baby Hannah will need a place to sleep, and a spot for clothing.  We want her close to, but not in, our room, so that area will turn into her bedroom, while still somehow managing to hold at least some of the other stuff.  We can do this!  I have ideas and plans, and a desire to start nesting.  I just need something to motivate me to start.  Enter this challenge!

My goals for this space are:

• To get Hannah's crib set up with bedding (which means playing musical beds with our two sons, Jonah and Matthew)
• To find a small dresser or shelving system to store Hannah's clothes
• To find a place to store Jesse's books neatly until he moves into his new office at work (sometime this summer)
• To pare down my craft supplies and maybe move them into the closet (which means moving other things out of the closet)
• To change my "work space" into a changing area/diaper storage for Hannah

Now, enough with the reading, let's get to the pictures!

As you get to the top of the stairs, this is what you see.  Piles of books.  Even the ones on the shelf are messy.  Jesse moved from having a large office at the church where he worked, to having a small shared office at the school where he now works, but he should have his own office come summertime.  For now, however, the overflow landed here.  And because he's busy with schoolwork and teacher work, these stacks keep getting worse as he grabs things he needs.  I also have no idea what's even in the two gray bins behind the stacks.  I think (?) it's extra binders and office supply stuff.

 

Next to Jesse's corner is my Grandma's sewing table.  One day I would love to pop this open and see how it works.  For now, it's a nice table, but it's become a landing zone for craft supplies and projects in progress.  Underneath is a crate of piano music, which I wish I used more often.  One day I will have a piano!

In the other corner is my craft shelf.  Things are separated in baby wipe containers and boxes, but it still looks messy to me.  I also know I have far too many things I have been saving because they might be good for projects someday.  Part of my plan is to pare down my craft supplies this month.

We switched from toy boxes in the boys' room, and they ended up here.  The gray bin is full of jars and boxes and containers that I've saved for mailing things, for mixes in jars, and for projects.  I need to see what is actually useful in here.  The boxes in front are clothes and bedding for Hannah, which need a dresser of some sort.

Here's a good look at all of it.  I see this on my way to the bedroom every day.  

On the other side of the loft area (the stairs are off to the right in this picture) is my "craft work area", also known as "where I set things down to put away later".  This space has potential to be an awesome work space, but the reality is that I would rather be by my family downstairs than working up here.  I do think it will make a good diaper changing and storage area for some of Hannah's things.

And finally, the upstairs hall closet.  Right now, we have a large collection of sweatshirts.  Why we have so many, I don't know.  My wedding dress is hiding off to the right as well, and the shelves on the left hold our board games and a few other random things.  I think I will probably use this space to store some of my craft stuff, so there is room for Hannah's bed out in the main part of the loft.

This loft area wasn't always this messy.  However, after we discovered we couldn't store anything in our basement (mold problems), a lot got dumped up here.  And I think because I knew we would be working on this space for Hannah eventually, I just kind of kept leaving it alone.  No more!  Over the next few weeks I'll be clearing out a lot of stuff, and neatly organizing the rest.  Look for more updates soon!