Getting organized and Keeping clean

Okay, so this isn't on my list, but I do have to brag on myself a little bit.  As you know, I am slowly but surely getting things unpacked, sorted, and decorated around the house.  The only things on the actual list that have to do with this are getting all the boxes unpacked (#80) and decorating my bedroom (#16), but it really does carry over to all the other rooms too.

At any rate, I recently got my office/library room all organized, and I am sooo pleased with how it turned out!  I can't say that it's 100% finished, because I haven't hung any pictures and I have two bags of random papers to sort through, but on the whole, it's done.  There are two bedrooms on the main floor; one is the guest room, and then this one has my computer, papers, and the majority of my books.  I wasn't happy with the original furniture arrangement, so I did my best Winnie the Pooh imitation and sat and thought and thought and thought, and came up with this:


View in from the hall -- I am really liking having the desk face out into the room rather than at a wall

View back to the hallway... and books!

Nice view out the window and lamp found on One King's Lane... and more books!



Huge (3' x 4') cork board from Pottery Barn Outlet... note the 101 in 1001 list down in the corner!


This bookshelf is a particular triumph, because it was a complete disaster previously.  I really should have taken a "before" picture, because it was completely (and I do mean completely) crammed full of papers and notebooks and computer stuff and every other imaginable bit of random stuff that never really seems to have a home.  So, when our Container Store opened here in October, I went a little bit crazy and found these gorgeous boxes to help control the madness.  Okay, maybe it was a lot crazy, because I spent $285 (although one $25 box did get returned).  I am justifying it, though, by saying that the boxes are very sturdy (which they are) and so beautiful (which they are) that I will have them around for a long time, and every time I look at them, they make me smile.  I spent several hours looking at different combinations of different types of boxes and trays, but I liked these the best.  Then I looked at all the different colors they had, but I finally realized that what was catching my eye in the display was the combination of all the different colors rather than using only one or two colors.  It really keeps them looking bright and fresh.

Still have the slidey things under the feet... oops!

As for the rest of the house, I have been making an effort to keep it tidy since my mother and her husband were here before Thanksgiving.  With all of the holiday stress and craziness, I decided it would help my brain feel more restful if the house weren't a wreck.  So November 27th was the official start date of my six weeks with no dirty dishes laying around (#41), and so far so good!  Like I commented on the list, it is truly pitiful that I had to even make this a project, but there it is.  And with the exception of all my shopping bags that accumulated over the last week or so (which all got put away last night, thank you very much!), the rest of the house has stayed nice, too.  Really, my ultimate goal in life is to have my house always looking presentable enough that if someone showed up at the front door I wouldn't be mortified to have them come inside.  It's really not in my nature to be clean and tidy all of the time, so this requires a lot of effort on my part.  I have found that often the clutter just doesn't even register to me... meaning I can leave the same glass sitting on the table for a week and not really "see" it.  Or I don't even think to empty the dishwasher after it's been run.  I know that doesn't make any sense, but it's true.  I guess that's my abstract-random nature showing through!

So the other piece that goes along with this is getting my house professionally cleaned (#64).  I haven't actually done this yet, but I did buy a deal from Angie's List that's good for four hours of cleaning.  This particular company is supposed to specialize in detailed cleaning, which I find very exciting.  The one time I had someone come in and clean my house (when I was selling my house in Memphis), I was very disappointed at the quality of the work.  I guess I was expecting meticulous work since I was paying for it, but that is not what I got!  So maybe if this company works out, then I could have them come clean occasionally.  Ultimately, that's another one of my life goals... to have my house cleaned professionally on a regular basis.  It's one of those things I never have seem to have the time to keep up as well as I would like.  It seems like such a luxury, but really, isn't that why I've worked so hard to have a job that makes good money?  So once I actually have them out to the house, then that's one more that I'll be able to cross off!