Remember my Decluttering post last week? Well, I actually made a bit of progress. Nothing substantial to the professional declutterers out there, but definitely progress for me. I never showed the "before" photos fearing embarrassment, but I guess I will...

I guess looking at it here, it's not completely horrible, but sitting at it everyday was just overwhelming. Just lots and lots of piles of junk that really didn't have a home, which is a big problem for me - finding homes for things in my house.

I did a bit of purging, and then I organized what was left, and here's the result:

A tad bit better, no? The shelves on the left are actually a bookcase that I had bought to match my desk years ago, and it was still sitting in the box in my basement. I had planned to use it to put toy bins in for my daughter, but it was smaller than anticipated. DH had the great idea to put it on my desk, and I think it works fantastic!

And to prove I didn't just throw it all into my filing cabinet, which has happened in the past:

Sorry, no "before" here, but it was pretty bad and deserved the overhaul.

I have the urge to paint it all that nice Martha Stewart Green like the desk in my Decluttering post, but I'm sure my DH would agree that there are plenty more areas of our house that need to get bitten by the decluttering bug before I even think about that MS Green for another second. I did do a semi-decluttering on my office closet, but I'll save that for another day.

Oh you want to see the rest of the room, do you? Haha! Maybe someday. If you're nice, I may even show you how my basement looks as motivation to get all the junk out of there.

BTW - did I ever mention how much I love Sarah McLachlan live? Random? Yes :)

Despite being a virgo, I am NOT an organized person. I'm getting better with some things, especially my money, but clutter and junk still take over my life and our home. This drives DH crazy (he could probably fit the contents of our home in our tiny bathroom with his organizational skills), and I admit, it drives me crazy, too. But, I'm an all-or-nothing type of person, and usually the nothing side of me prevails. I get these grand ideas, then realize the work, or worse - the money! - that it would take to complete the project, and it fizzles away fast.

Since I've been on a Debt Diet, very few new items have been coming into our home, with the exception of new toys, but the toy issue in our home is a completely separate issue that I can't even wrap my head around. I need to deal with my personal disasters first, feel the accomplishment, then move onto the rest of the house. I need to simplify what I already have. I need to sort, purge, and organize the remains. Ok, ok, I know all this, let's get started. Let's start with my desk!

Hear the screeching? That's me and my enthusiasm coming to a sudden stop.

I don't know where or how to get started. Yes, I know what I'm supposed to be doing, I know the steps, but I just can't seem to actually do them. As far as I can tell, here are the reasons why:

1. I'm an out-of-sight-out-of-mind type of person. I fear that if I get rid of something or if it's not in my immediate field of view, the memory of it is gone forever. I have a feeling that possibly purging all of the things I don't use and giving each of the items I want to keep their own home, then it will be easier to see/find them and keep them within sight, so to speak. Okay, so just purge all the junk...


2. I'd purge, but I have attachment/sentimental reasons for keeping a lot of things. How do I decide what to keep and what to toss?


3. Being frugal makes it very difficult to part with items that I paid good money for in my previous spendy ways. I think I can overcome this one, though. I can donate, which makes me feel okay about letting it go. I can sell, which takes time and can be worth it, which is exemplified by my half.com booksales this past month ($68). One thing I just read was to ask the question: am I getting my money's worth out of these items? If not, then it's time to let them go.

So, as I said, I'm starting with my desk. When my desk is cleared, my brain has less clutter and I get more things done. Seeing as my desk probably hasn't seen more than a clear hour in the past five years, I'd say I haven't gotten too much accomplished. Ha! I guess I need to stop chatting and get doing. I am taking a "before" photo, but I'm not showing it...yet. When I get a good "after" photo, I will definitely show the "before".

Wish me luck! And if you can offer any advice, please leave it in comments!