We've remodeled. Now what?

Halloween decorations are down, and no offense to those who feel otherwise, it’s too early for Christmas to come out, but, oh I am excited to bust out the Christmas soon.  Besides, I am concentrating on getting some storage solutions around here before I get more out, so quell my excitement I must.

    

The remodeling brought more room, yes, for people, but not necessarily things.  I cleared out an antique china cabinet, for example, and those items are boxed up and in the guest bedroom.  For the last year and a half the things I have boxed up, or just needed to find a new place for, have ended up in the guest bedroom.  I’ve watched a lot of HGTV over the years and I know a guest bedroom, if you are lucky enough to have one, can turn in to a storage unit. Last week, I set my site on the guest bedroom, developing a vision of how I’d like it to be, making a list and tackling a little each day.

I don’t mind the big – okay, too big – black dresser but I do need to organize it.  The closet is a mess; my prom dress actually hangs in there.  My.Prom.Dress. Also, my son’s size 6 Levi jean jacket.  He’s 37.  I think I can move on from that, too.

I decorated this room a few years ago for my more mature and grown-up role as a woman with an empty nest, and it coexists as an office.  It is nice, it is utilitarian, and it remained so until the remodeling, sort of.   My 18-month old grandson slept in his portable crib in the guest room last weekend, pushed up against my desk and with full access to everything on the surface, which ended up on the floor or in his crib.  Nothing really of value, but nothing he needed either. That’s probably my impetus for getting this under control.  He didn’t really need my tweezers in bed with him. Yes, I do pluck my eyebrows at my desk, thank you.  The light is really good here by the window.

So, the guest bedroom is a fall/winter project.  Before moving the bed 180 degrees, I placed leg extensions on the bed frame, moved a storage box or two underneath the bed, including one filled with Halloween decorations, and replaced the bedskirt to accommodate the new height.  I’ve made headway on moving out some of the overflow to the attic, recycled catalogs and product pages, filed away manuals and warranty info for new appliances and tried to make some sense of the many receipts and invoices from the construction.  Do I need to keep all this paper? I try to do just as they advise in all those articles on organization and sort by keep, donate, toss. 

Tossing is not my nature, folks.  The struggle is real. 

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