Unpacking all those boxes

I still had quite a few boxes in the hallway. Well, probably about 15. And that's just the back hallway. Anyway, armed with my new question: "What would make this place beautiful?" I am making amazing progress.

I emptied three very large boxes labeled "decorations" or maybe "decorations/photo". I have not dealt with the photos yet - this is my biggest organizational challenge, I think.

But I have consolidated all of the decorations into one box. These are decorations I am not going to bother with in this apartment (which we will be leaving within a year.)

Okay, actually I still have one more box of decorations I haven't looked through yet. But I've made decisions about the stuff in 2.5 boxes!! That is great, especially since I did it all in one day. And it was a very busy day - I wasn't even home for 6 hours.

I am planning on emptying this hallway so it can become a "kids' area" - at least temporarily. It's a very wide hallway, almost like a room. I am trying to figure out how to fill it beautifully with a few shelves of art supplies, a kids' table and chairs, maybe a kids' papasan, a kids' workbench, a shelf full of puzzles, games, and photo albums, all the kids' books, a trunk of dress - up clothes, a mirror, a chalkboard, an "inspiration wire" (for hanging art) a shelf made into a puppet theater. This is my task for the next few days! It will be fun because it's going to look cool when I'm done.

Organizing is Easy!

I have finally, after years of struggle, realized that when I would look at a pile of stuff and feel hopeless and depressed, it was because I was asking the wrong question. For years I have been asking, "How can I organize this?" and what I could have been asking instead was, "How can I arrange all of this beautifully?"

Thank God I've had a breakthrough.

Project #1: I'm going to overhaul my art cabinet, which has been a source of high stress ever since I got it four years ago. (Before I got it I had nowhere to put my art supplies, and that was even worse!)

Project #2: I finally found the office setup of my dreams - at IKEA! I got a whole metal desk/shelf set which features SEVEN big wall shelves. This part of the house's theme is "industrial" because all my office supply holders, etc. are metal or wire mesh.

Project #3: How can I arrange all the kids' toys and belongings in a way that is beautiful and easily accessible? This is especially challenging because there is no bedroom and all of these things have to fit in my office, my husband's office, our huge hallway, or the living room. Fun!

Project #4: The medicine cabinet. When I open this, everything falls out on the floor and I feel like I'm going to have a nervous breakdown. I can't wait to see how I can make *this* beautiful.

Project #5: The room I've designated as my husband's "junk room" which I consider a marriage-saving idea. This way when he leaves his stuff all over the house, I have somewhere to toss it. Right now this is my lowest priority. But now that I am thinking "beautiful spaces" instead of "organized spaces," everything is inspirational!

Please see sidebar for books I am using to help me in these monumental tasks.