House Tour: Office/Craft/Sewing/Computer Room

So I said in my Piano Room Tour that I was giving the Dining Room Tour next. I lied. I’m giving the Office Tour.

Here’s my current office situation. “Work In Progress” would be an understatement. It’s {semi} functional, but not pretty to look at At.All.

I must like torturing myself, because the amount of office moving I’ve done the past 6 months is about as ludicrous as the Violent Torpedo of Truth tour. Winning.

When we moved in back in August I threw all my decor in our hideous Barney dining room that has since undergone a paint makeover.

It was insufferable.

After a month I managed to clean up some of the mess and set up a table for me to craft at.

During this time I had my computer in our family room. (This is before we painted the walls gray).

I HATED having all my crap in the dining room. You can see that room from the front door so anytime anyone came to the door they would see that huge pigsty, um, not to mention the hideous Purple walls! So I moved my crafting desk to my bedroom.

Now that the dining room was free of all the crap, I painted it.

This whole crafting area was not working for me at.all. I had my computer in the family room, my decor in the guest bedroom upstairs, and all my crafting stuff in our master bedroom. I also had stuff stuffed in two closets.

So Ben and I brainstormed and we decided that I should consolidate all my stuff into one area. Plus I didn’t like my computer out in the family room. I wanted to use that desk for our laptop that the kids (and I) use and a place for them to do their homework.

We eventually decided I should move into his office with him. Here’s what he office looked like before the big office swaparooni:

Not a ton of extra space because of the placement of the desk and shelves, so an entire move was in order. It was quite an ordeal!

Now, I’m usually super organized. I like everything to have a place. But for some reason, the way we set up the office was just a complete train wreck.

I know, I know. It’s bad. And apparently I’m a huge slob! But it gets worse. This is exclusively *my* area here:

[ hanging my head in shame ]
I prefer to call my office space “spirited” instead of messy. But who am I kidding? I probably have rodents living in there.

{Obviously} this setup wasn’t working for either of us. The main issue here is that I just didn’t have enough space. I have too much blogging stuff, craft stuff, and home decor stuff. Something’s gotta give.

I can’t believe I’m even posting these photos for you guys. This disaster is exactly the opposite of what my site here is all about: getting organized and making stuff look pretty!

So I spent a full day while the kids were at school and I tackled the office. I purged. Oh my goodness I purged! I threw away at least half the papers in our file cabinet. I organized. I bought a few storage baskets. I even loaded up a huge box to send off to goodwill. And I also rearranged just a little bit.

And currently, this is where I blog. This is where I craft. And this is my tinker zone.

Actually, that area in the upper left of the photo is Ben’s area, but I’ve pretty much taken over the whole entire room.

It’s been kinda fun to work next to Ben on days that he works from home (not as many as I’d like!).

I still have too much stuff. But I also don’t have any storage for it all. Someday we have great big plans to put built-in desks and cabinets, and add new paint that doesn’t look like spicy mustard exploded on my wall.

But for now at least I can breathe again. And I love having all my stuff in one room. I can craft, blog, sew, and tinker all in one room.

And slowly as I decorate my home more, this pile of decor has gotten smaller and smaller. I’m finally finding homes for all my accessories.

And that is the six-month evolution of my home office.

And after all this effort of moving my stuff from room to room, this office is still in the “before” state. Ugh! I’m just grateful that I have a nice home and my own office. I count my blessings every day.

So now you have had the tour of the office!

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