So I’ve been watching Peter Walsh’s new show “ENOUGH ALREADY!” on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN). He’s the organizing guy who’s been on The Oprah Show many times, and you also may remember him from the old TLC show, “CLEAN SWEEP“. He has also written several BOOKS on organization.
This one wins the award for Best Book Title:
I’m on the waiting list at my library for his latest book and judging by how long it’s taking to get the ding-dang thang, it must be REALLY popular :P
Peter uses a 5-step process to declutter rooms; HERE it is.
STEP ONE: EMPTY THE ROOM
Watching them do this on the show is always cringe-worthy. The look on people’s faces is kind of sad when they realize how much stuff they’ve crammed into their space. Now I’m no hoarder but I’m not BECKY HIGGINS, either. So I’m the last to cast stones … my rooms may not be as bad as theirs, but I have one or two that could use some serious help, one being my scrapbook room. No matter how many times I begin to organize it, I never completely finish it. Then the clutter cycle starts again and we’re off like a day at the races.
I’ve often wondered, while watching Enough Already, if I could ever clear out my scrapbook room entirely and start from scratch. Would it be worth it? Where would I put everything? Could I block off two or three days to get it moved out, then replaced, so my Scrap Crap wasn’t bogging up the rest of my house?
Anyway, my conclusion has always been that it’s a crazy idea. Just totally cray-cray.
Then I saw THIS THREAD at 2peas, LOL. Yes, ladies, it HAS been done. Repeatedly. And from the sounds of it, successfully. So my wheels are really turning now. I’m scanning ahead, wondering when I have a free weekend to try this, a holiday at work, anything? ‘Cuz now I’m kind of hooked on the idea.
When I’ve attempted to organize in the past, I do often feel like I’m moving this pile so I can get to that pile, then I put it on that shelf, which is now taken up, and I have nowhere to put this stuff … kwim? It would be so nice to pull everything out, kind of packing like things together as I go, then purge items as I put it all back in an organized fashion. I’ll bet I’d get rid of a lot of things this way, don’t you think?
It’s like on the show: Peter asks, “What is your vision for this room?” Then anything that doesn’t fulfill your vision is tossed, given away, or put elsewhere in your home.
I guess the final and most important question is …. how much do you think I’d have to pay Peter Walsh to come and help me?
Yeah, I know, you’re right … there ain’t enough money in the world, baby! HA Not once he saw my scrapbook room anyway.
Have you done this before … cleared out an entire room and started from scratch, except for maybe furniture? How long did it take? Was it worth it? Did you maintain the organized room?
If you haven’t done this, would you consider it? Do you think it’s a good way to go about it? If you did it, what would be your method … like someone on the thread mentioned using banker’s boxes which I thought was brilliant. How would you do it all?
11 Comments
This method is definitely not for me. I would take everything out of a room and… leave it there on the floor for weeks and weeks. LOL! I need to work on smaller spaces, like clearing out one shelf in 15 minutes, but set up a routine to do that every day until the whole room was re-organized. I’m a FlyLady kind of girl. (www.flylady.net)
:)
I have sort of done this three times, 1 when we moved and 2 when out basement flooded. The last time I changed locations in our basement and all though I didn’t really purge very much stuff I took the time to figure out exactly how I wanted my room and where I wanted everything to go. I say go for it, it will take some time but it will be worth it.
What a great post. I really like your blog. It has a great set up.
I just recently pulled everything out of my scraproom..but I was moving my scraproom. There is stuff everywhere.
It isn’t an easy decision to do, to empty a room.
You will reach that point where you seem worse off then you were when you started. That point where you want to find a corner and sit there with your knees pressed to your chest and you start rocking back in forth..don’t worry that’s the half way point.
Good luck to you.
And if you do get that guy to come help you. Let me know how much he was. I need to start saving.
This is such a great topic. And yes, I have done it, twice. I like being able to start fresh. I take everything out and sit on the floor with pen and paper. I think about how I work and what I really do use. I draw the room and try to figure out furniture placement. Once the furniture is back in tack, then I tackle the supplies. Be REALISTIC about how you scrap. I purge all of those kit embellishments that are not for me. The tools that I had to try but are not for me. And I do everything by one storage unti at a time. Then I organize it back into catergories that make sense for me. It is a BIG job, but the results were so worth it in the end.
I only did it when I moved into a new house and got a devoted craft room. So it’s not really the same thing but yes, I have been able to keep it organized. I think what worked was that I had a vision for what I wanted so I kept stuff in boxes until I could get the furniture set up. What I did was put together the garage-type shelving units (3) to span one wall in my scrap room. Got them at Walmart pretty cheap. Once they were assembled I set up the plastic storage along a short wall. The Iris carts and Sterilite sliding drawers that you can buy individually and stack on each other. Then I assembled my work space which is 8 of the white craft cubes (think I got them all at Joann years ago) and set that up. Once all that was in place, I unpacked all the boxes and set up. If you can’t take everything out, at least consider moving half to one side, fixing that side up then the next weekend moving the other haft to one side and finishing. The key is to know what your storage solution is going to be, get that in place and put everything back. Good luck!
I have not done this before, but one of my bedrooms NEEDS it ASAP! It’s just a matter of finding the time when my kiddos aren’t around!
I did it one time. It is hard work and three years later I am still under control, but slipping fast.
OMWord!!! I am gear up to do this next week! They hubs and I bought the Peter Walsh book called It’s All To Much. I have dang near highlighted the whole thing. Some of the points in it have literally made me start crying. I think one of the most convicting thing he asked in the book was, “What does your ideal life look like? Do the thing in this room help you live that life or hinder you from it?”. Giiiirrrrllll seriously! That was a light bulb moment. Hubby is actually going to take a couple days off work so we will have 4 days straight to work on the crazy mess that I call my craft area. Do you remember the pics that I posted way back on AMR? Yeah it’s only gotten worse. Yikes!
Wow, this sounds amazing. And yes, I have that great book with the great title about this stuff making my butt look fat. I added it to the big pile of books I already have that probably also add to my butt looking fat. So while you’re at it, when you clean out your stuff just go ahead and ship me all the things you don’t need anymore, cause I’m already drowning in all this stuff anyway and can’t clean it up right now anyhow…you know, broken ankles and all. ;) See what a big help I am in your venture? :) But hey, that’s what friends are for.
I did this but like someone else said, I did it in increments. All my drawers were a disaster so I started there first. Had plenty of Office Depot boxes from work on hand and purged things I hadn’t used or knew I wouldn’t use anymore. The tools you had to have to try but decided not for you etc… I work full time and moonlight at Michael’s nights so I just did it bit by bit. Drawers then the shelving units above my work space, cabinets below and then to the closet. I have a ton of stuff that I know will never be used for a “scrapbook garage sale” What does sell to keep my addiction going will be donated. It took me a good week (I have a small room) but I felt great after it was done so go for it!
Thanks for the tips. I have been meaning to get my scrap room together for years, and other things always seem to take up my time. My scrap room is currently a storage room for my family’s spare “stuff”. I hope some day to get it organized, and reading your post has given me some inspiration.
Thanks