A desk catastrophe

Over the last five years (since we moved in) I have had 5 different desks. And every time, I have not used it. The first desk I bought when I moved to Maryland (8 years ago) and I used it for the first 3 years, in the apartments. Then it didn't matter how messy I was, because Matt was only there from time to time and it wasn't ever for very long. But I didn't use it effectively. It was for storing stuff.

When we moved in together, Matt stole that desk. Really quick. He used it for years. I had a table in the extra bedroom (the room where stuff went to die) that I didn't use... then I inherited Gerry's desk. I tried to use it. I tried really hard. For a year I tried and held onto that desk. But it never worked for me. The laptop was too big, the desk was too narrow. And it was a desk...
I kept going back to working at the dining room table. It is a large space and I can spread everything out. 

So Matt had a brainwave. We found a desk solution that should have worked for us. There was a desk at IKEA with a bookcase in the middle. Matt's major complaint was that I used all my desks as storage. So this solution was perfect because the two desk areas were separated by a bookcase. Storage and a large workspace. 


Which brings us to current day. I have been using this desk setup for a while, but not effectively. And not the way Matt intended. My side was always full. Matt's side was always spotless. I drove him nuts. I drive him nuts. I am a mess.

Matt is very solution oriented. He wants to be able to solve my mess. He wants to fix my obvious lack of organization. He came up with another solution recently. New solution???

NO DESK.

I mean, it is a genius plan! I am being demoted from desk status. And rightfully so. Why should I have a desk if I don't ever use it? I mean, it makes perfect sense. So, we got rid of one side of the desk. And are putting in a bookcase. Almost floor to ceiling storage. With doors to hide all the storage away. And there is so much storage that things were able to be moved from stupid places to more intelligent places.

My stuff is being stored behind closed doors. And both of the bottom cabinets are completely empty so we can store toys for the baby out of sight.

And because I have moved things out of the dining room, half of the bookcase in there is empty again too! So I am using two shelves in the dining room to house my "desk" paraphernalia, including my laptop. Let's talk about genius!

The best part? There are so many empty spaces right now! Everything will keep moving around until we find its ultimate home. Not that I want to fill them all in. In fact, I am loving all the empty spaces because we are adding a person who will bring her own set of toys and stuff to store.

"Final" Pictures? Yes please!

Yea, we know the colors aren't the best. Because the light wood doesn't match the desk. But really, everything in our house is a combination of these two colors. So it happens. And in person, it really isn't that bad. Is that because I am used to it? Nah...

In between the wall and the cabinet, I have storage. From the bottom up, I have my sewing machine. And hanging on the wall above it, I have wrapping paper in a plastic bin. This way I can't purchase too much wrapping paper. If there isn't space in the bin, I can't have it. 

In the cabinet? From the top down:

On the left side, I have the rest of my wrapping supplies (bags, tissue paper, bows). Underneath, and on the top two shelves in the right cabinet, are the fancy things (ice holder, vases, place mats & napkins, Jewish paraphernalia - menorahs and candle sticks). The bottom shelf on the left holds random stuff that I haven't figured out what to do with...

The second row of cabinets house the rest of my quilting supplies. 

The bottom row of cabinets will house the baby's things. Toys, a downstairs changing station, and who knows what else.  

And here is the matching cabinet in the dining room. All the fancy things moved from here to the other cabinet. And the shelf above is coming down and getting thrown away. The top two shelves house the bowls and platters. The bottom two shelves on the left house the Kitchenaid mixer (and extras) and the pressure cooker. They get used the most so they live closest to the kitchen.

On the right, the second shelf down is my "desk." I have the cutlery basket that holds plastic silverware, salt & pepper, paper napkins, and pens. The dogs use the shelf underneath for treats and cookies. And the last shelf holds the rest of our bowls and trivets.

So there you go. Doesn't this make so much more sense? Notice in that last picture I am using the computer on the table. When not in use? I put it away on the "desk" shelf. In fact, I think I am going to get out the place mats and let them live on the table to maintain the "table" parts of the table. That is the only thing Matt wants - to be able to eat dinner with me at the table without making me clear space for him. I think I can make work. Love it!

Magazines, Clutter, and Dinner

There was a consensus this year about my holiday gifts.  Many of my favorite people gave me magazines. I love magazines. But they take up a ton of space! 

So we have a system to tackle the problem. Matt gets the mail and places it the bin between my keys and purse. The mail and magazines are separate. We used to use a wicker basket, but with the magazines, it was a bit of a mess.


I told you I was getting a ton of magazines! These are just the ones I have gotten in the last month!! It is almost as tall as a can of soda! That is ridiculous.

So the plan of attack? I don't keep magazines like I did in high school. (The last time I looked, there are 2 years worth of Cosmo magazine from the late 90's in my bedroom at my parents' house that I never went back to read again.) So, as I read the magazine, if there is something I want to keep - organization ideas, recipes, craft activities, I rip it out. That is right. I said it, typed it. I RIP THE PAGES OUT OF THE MAGAZINE! HELLO BRILLIANT!!!!!

Look at the difference between the stack of magazines and the papers I actually want to keep. Amazing! Not even the size of one magazine. And then? You know what I did? I organized the pages!

Martha has a new Home Office line at Staples. (Sorry Ken, but you don't carry them. I felt bad the whole time. And went to the worst Staples in the area and got no service at all. Even check out was bad.) So Martha is a genius. She created VERTICAL FILE FOLDERS! They fit in magazine holders, which are so much slimmer than filing systems. Then I categorized the folders. I have one for dinner, desserts, and organizational tips. And I circled the recipes I was interested in. It is all about FOCUS.

I also have my papers to be filed into our bigger filing system in there. This way, I can quickly put things away and not make large piles of papers that hate me.

This was an amazing way to spend my afternoon.  And then, as I was finishing up, Matt asked me a simple question, that he asks me almost every day. "What's for dinner?" So I handed him a stack of recipes. And we picked something. And we made it work for us. Which means??? This system works! IT WORKS IT WORKS IT WORKS IT WORKS!!!!

Which leads me to another thought. I don't want to manage two blogs. At all. Not even a little. So I think... that I am going to start including recipes here. Instead. Because food and eating are part of being a Reese. And part of being Jewish. So I am going to start putting my recipes here not there. Love you.

I am seriously trying!

I have recently learned that my husband is amazingly patient.  I always knew that he loved me more than I understood (don't hate, it's true) and that because of that he put up with a lot of my crap - both personal and all my crap.  But it dawned on me yesterday that he was so much more than I give him credit for.

So where to start with real words and information?  How about 6 years ago?  Oh... make that 7, when I moved to MD.  I went to IKEA with my parents and bought a desk.  I thought it would be the right size.  I thought I wanted something small-ish with a few shelves.  And for awhile, it worked.  I never loved it, or worked at it either.  It was too small.  But I kept it and dealt with it for 3 years!  Then Matt & I moved in together.  (Wow, that sounds so much longer ago than it feels).  And we went to IKEA, and bought me more of a table.  I used it for about 3 days.  Then I realized I hated that more.

Then, last spring, Matt's father passed away.  I don't want to get into all that, because I will cry in the next few moments if I do.  But I loved his desk.  He had a wooden roll-top desk.  It is gorgeous and I always admired it.  It was the only tangible thing of Gerry's that I loved and wanted at all.  Matt & his brother Phil went out of their ways to get that beautiful, pain-in-the-ass, heavy, wooden, desk into our house.  And here I met disappointment again.  While I loved the desk because I love (present tense) Gerry, I hated the desk because (again) the desk was not deep enough.  I couldn't open my laptop on it.  I couldn't grade papers at it.  And I filled it to the brim with stuff I didn't need and then shut the drawers.  Bad news.  Sad face.  We called Salvation Army yesterday...

...Because we went to IKEA.  4th times the charm?  Fingers crossed!!! Pray for me (but mostly my husband!!).  I told him that what I really want from a desk is something like my desk at work.  It has lots of counter space.  It has a space for a desktop computer and tons of space to grade papers.  But it is huge.  And way too big for our townhouse.  So that wasn't an option.  But then we found a desk at IKEA that fit the bill!  And it has space for two desks - so Matt (who has been using the first desk mentioned since we moved in together) and I will be sharing a space.  Now my husband is more brave than patient.

So we Matt set up the desks and the bookshelf that separates them (the only saving grace for Matt).  And 15 minutes after he was done building, his desk was completely setup.  15 minutes.  Not an exaggeration.  15 minutes.

It has now been 24 hours, and I have all but one box of crap put away.  And yes I am starting to call my stuff crap because it is what I have - crap.  And I recognize that it is crap and not necessary (except the letters or cards that people have sent us, those just make me feel good).  So I purged.  Not all, but a lot.  2 garbage bags full, well mostly full.  And all necessary.  I even made a box of books that I am donating to the library. FYI - that picture is from last night.  Right now the middle is empty, well except for my computer.

So the desks.  Let's see if it works. 

Clearly I am not being compensated by anyone.  These are my opinions (mostly of myself).  But I would love to be compensated by IKEA, I mean look around my house, I have a ton of their stuff.  So, right, just my opinions of their stuff.

I am trying very hard!

What is my nemesis, downfall, pitfall, the one thing I wish I could do better?  ORGANIZATION!  And well, in general keeping my stuff put away and down to a minimum.  You know, the stuff I do that drives Matt up the wall and out the front door pulling out his own hair. 

It is no secret that I have recently grown to love blogs and reading about other people's lives - sounds creepy, but it isn't.  And I love reading about how all these other families are staying organized.  And they all have children, which I do not.  So if they can keep their houses organized and not live in chaos, I feel that I should be able to also.  And without much effort.  Okay, well with some effort because if it was really "no effort" I would theoretically already be doing it. 

So I was reading a favorite blog, A Year of Slow Cooking, and Stephanie has written a book, Totally Together: Shortcuts to an Organized Life.  One of the things she has included in her book is a Daily 7 - 7 things to do every day (as a start I believe) to keep your house looking organized and put together.  I am definitely going to invest in this book and see what I can learn. 

So I have started with 7.  Seems manageable enough.  In fact, I started 4 days ago.  I have been able to get at least 4 done each day - which is more than half! So I think I am on my way to success.  I didn't use all of Stephanie's because they don't all jive with me and our house.  Matt & I came up with 7 items for me to do every day to make our lives better.  So here are my 7:

1. Make the bed.  I do this anyway, so it felt like an instant win!  I included that the sheets get changed every Wednesday and the towels get changed on both Monday and Thursday.  
2. Garbage cans.  This is Stephanie's idea and I like it.  Empty all the cans first thing in the morning.  So I grab the garbage can from our bathroom and empty it into the kitchen garbage.  This way all the cans get emptied with some kind of regularity.  
3. Kitchen sink - also not a stretch.  But my list on my desk also says "DON'T COMPLAIN!"  Matt does a lot of the housework (because it bothers him before it gets a change to bother me).  He is pretty good about dishes getting into the sink, but not the dishwasher.  I can do the last step without complaining.  
4. Kitchen table.  EVERY DAY!  This is the one thing that Matt wishes I did without ever being told.  I cover the kitchen table with stuff as soon as I walk in.  If I turn around right now... I can see our bowls from dinner, the pool bag, my purse, a bag of stuff that needs to be returned, an old purse, and some stuff for decorating cupcakes.  And that is not all of it.  So I am trying to keep my stuff to a minimum on the table.  I am actually trying.  It is not easy, let me tell you.
5. Chores - shoes, clothing, electronics.  Those are my big three that I carry with me and leave behind.  I get to the couch and take off my shoes.  When I walk in the front door after work, I leave my sweater on the table instead of taking it upstairs when I change clothes.  And my laptop, it goes everywhere and stays there.  
6. Bathrooms - wipe them down.  I am not sold on this one.  I get it, it makes sense to me to do this every day to keep it clean and then keep the cleaning day short and sweet.  I haven't gotten to this yet.
7. Right before going up to bed, take 10 minutes and clean up the house.  This has helped me get the last dishes into the sink (to be washed in the morning) and make sure that there is nothing else that could be easily done.  In these 10 minutes I have also started making my "to-do" list for the next day.  Normally I wake up and have no memory of what I want to get done.  

So, those are my 7.  I have been good at getting numbers 1, 3, 5, & 7 done every day.  That is halfway there and all odd.  So I think I may be getting good at this.  So now I am focusing on that table and making sure I don't leave it a mess.  I lump it in with number 7.  It is making a dent if not a difference.