We lost our guest room when we brought Logan home. Oh, we still have a spare room but before that we had what we called the "mother-in-law" room that was just used for when my parents came to stay. Our other spare room housed the bookshelves, games, scrapbook stuff, bicycle, random junk. Now that room also has to hold someplace for my parents to sleep. (Of course, we no longer really need an "office" since we are both on
laptops, but we still have stuff to store.) So, I've decided to take the rest of the month to get this room in order. It's pretty cramped in there and it will probably stay a
hodge-
podge kind of space, but I'd like to make it less cluttered. I'd also like there to be less effort involved when we need it for guest sleeping. Paul would also like to utilize it to do some workouts since we have a spare
TV that can go in there now. (I'm not sure there's enough space for that but we'll see, maybe if we can get the bike out...)
Here's what the room looks like today:
A futon-type couch, with toys on top and patio chair cushions underneath; the extra
TV (which might be too big for the
TV stand we have available); bookshelves with books, scrapbook stuff, comics, guitar stuff (I've been purging books for the last couple of years, not sure I'll get rid of any more).
Another bookshelf (3 total); plastic shelves holding card games; ironing board and tray table behind the door (which can probably go somewhere else); TV stand that currently has scrapbook stuff on it; file tote with workbooks for the kids, gray tote with random gifts for others inside and basket of stamping crafts on top; closet (which probably needs it's own month to tackle); a storage ottoman (which might actually be empty) with box of books for the kids.
Winnie the pooh totes that have kids stuff in it like art supplies, toys, games, educational type stuff (I am okay with keeping these, just need to come up with a better system for organizing it in the totes); that ottoman and book box; big red tub with kids toys (this is usually in the great room, and might be able to go back); my mom's sewing machine, Paul's guitar amp, and a box of comics;
Christmas wrapping paper (too long to fit in my storage boxes that I put in the attic).
That wrapping paper again; the bicycle that's way too nice (expensive) to be in the garage; the futon thingy with the other bedding we use when we have guests (the
futon's fine for one person, but my parents use a blow-up mattress when they come, there's a box in the garage that it fits in nicely); another comic book box that just needs to get filled.
Here's my plan:
- Spend some time putting stuff that has a home elsewhere away. This will actually be a big job because there's stuff that gets moved in there during the holidays that I haven't put back (most of the scrapbooking stuff, for instance).
- Play with the furniture arrangement. The bookshelves haven't been moved in over 7 years and maybe it's time. I made a paper diagram when I was doing Logan's room and I think I'll do that again. It really seemed to help and saved me some time and effort.
- Find homes for the stuff I want out of there, i.e. garage, other rooms, donations, friends and family.
- Organize the kids totes. I'll want to utilize these a lot during the summer so I want to be able to find what I need quickly.
- Create a plan for what happens when we have guests. Besides bringing in the blow-up mattress, are there things that need to go in the garage temporarily (like the kid totes)? I'm hoping a new arrangement will help because right now the closet is usually blocked by the mattress. Maybe I'll even be able to free up space for the suitcases and stuff.
So, there's the room and the plan. Wish me luck!
