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Clearing the clutter
May. 19th, 2003 08:09 amWhen I moved into this apartment five years ago, my daughters still lived in town and I expected they would spend a lot of time here. I set up the second bedroom for them.
That summer they moved away. I was so upset that for several years I could hardly go in their room except when they visited. It became a storage area for boxes I had never sorted through. It became a wasted space.
This apartment has one outstanding feature: what I call my morning room. It has an angle wall and two windows facing southeast. For the past five years I had my bedroom and writing desk in here.
I started to realize that the second bedroom, sitting empty most of the time, was wasted space. I should have been using it as my own bedroom.
The computer table dominated the small living room, making it less than ideal for entertaining guests. And it was a dark space for working all day.
I wanted to set up the morning room entirely as an office so I could work in brighter light. This would involve massive reorganization.
For several years it was just an idea, but this winter I finally made it happen. First I had to sort through dozens of boxes, some of which had hardly been opened since I was married. I threw out bag and bags of garbage, making more space. My futon moved out of the morning room and into the living room, changing places with the computer table. I pushed my writing desk right up to one of those bright southeast windows and created a wonderful, bright work space. The computer is just out of sight in the lower, righthand corner of this photo.
I eliminated all the clutter in the living room and set up a nice space for me to sit with my friends when they visit. I salvaged an old coffee table where the girls can set up craft projects.
The back bedroom got the biggest cleaning of all. I ransacked the closets and drawers to make room for my own clothes. Now I sleep in theremost of the time. The bottom bunk is a foldout double bed.
When the girls come to visit, I sleep on my old futon in the living room. There are two drawbacks to this. I don't have much privacy in the mornings. And the room gets too much noise from my upstairs neighbours. But I'll only have to sleep there a few days out of the year. These small problems are far outweighed by the benefits of reorganization.
~~~~~~~
Last night we ate homemade pizza and watched two more movies: Castaway and The Shipping News.
This afternoon I will drive Marian and Brenna home.
That summer they moved away. I was so upset that for several years I could hardly go in their room except when they visited. It became a storage area for boxes I had never sorted through. It became a wasted space.
This apartment has one outstanding feature: what I call my morning room. It has an angle wall and two windows facing southeast. For the past five years I had my bedroom and writing desk in here.
I started to realize that the second bedroom, sitting empty most of the time, was wasted space. I should have been using it as my own bedroom.
The computer table dominated the small living room, making it less than ideal for entertaining guests. And it was a dark space for working all day.
I wanted to set up the morning room entirely as an office so I could work in brighter light. This would involve massive reorganization.
For several years it was just an idea, but this winter I finally made it happen. First I had to sort through dozens of boxes, some of which had hardly been opened since I was married. I threw out bag and bags of garbage, making more space. My futon moved out of the morning room and into the living room, changing places with the computer table. I pushed my writing desk right up to one of those bright southeast windows and created a wonderful, bright work space. The computer is just out of sight in the lower, righthand corner of this photo.
I eliminated all the clutter in the living room and set up a nice space for me to sit with my friends when they visit. I salvaged an old coffee table where the girls can set up craft projects.
The back bedroom got the biggest cleaning of all. I ransacked the closets and drawers to make room for my own clothes. Now I sleep in theremost of the time. The bottom bunk is a foldout double bed.
When the girls come to visit, I sleep on my old futon in the living room. There are two drawbacks to this. I don't have much privacy in the mornings. And the room gets too much noise from my upstairs neighbours. But I'll only have to sleep there a few days out of the year. These small problems are far outweighed by the benefits of reorganization.
~~~~~~~
Last night we ate homemade pizza and watched two more movies: Castaway and The Shipping News.
This afternoon I will drive Marian and Brenna home.
