Office Makeover

May 18, 2011
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I debated which blog to post this in, but since it involves my writing space, I thought it was appropriate for this one.

I’m still four scenes shy of finishing the second draft of Hungry Child. Yesterday, I had a little writer’s block on that story, and I didn’t have any pending client projects, so I decided to clean my office in the hopes that some physical activity might jog something loose in the story center of my brain.

When I started, I only planned to spend an hour or two dealing with some of the clutter and then get back to editing, but I ended up doing a thorough spring cleaning and decluttering that took up the rest of the day. But you guys, it was bad in here. I’ve been neglecting my office lately–I haven’t even worked in here for over a month. Aside from cleaning the cat boxes (my office doubles as the cat room) and vacuuming occasionally, I haven’t really done any cleaning in here since filling it halfway up with my deceased mother-in-law’s files and things.

I don’t have to tell you how bad it was, I can show you. Here are some Before pics:

That last pic is my so-called craft table with all of my MIL’s files and anything else we didn’t feel like putting away piled on top of it. And as a bonus, a lovely shot of the litter boxes underneath.

And here are the afters, taken this morning because last night I was too tired to bother.

Here are the biggest changes:
  • I moved my MIL’s black filing cabinet next to my grandparents’ old TV cabinet, and moved all of our household paperwork from the TV cabinet to the filing cabinet.
  • I moved all of the craft supplies (that I never use) from the black shelves across the office into the TV cabinet.
  • I moved all of my YA and children’s books, comics and comic strip collections over to the black shelves, thus freeing up some space in the book cases.
  • I also weened my book collection, setting aside about a dozen books to sell or trade at the used book store. This is the part that pained me the most.
  • And the biggest change — I unfolded my craft table, reassembled my screen, and tucked all of the cat boxes discreetly behind it, so I no longer feel like I’m working in a restroom for cats.

Granted, it still looks like it was decorated by a team made up of a 12 year old boy and his grandmother (…which pretty well sums up my sensibilities), but it is now a much more comfy, cozy and inviting space. Which is still full of cats.

Of course, I’m still blocked on how to handle those last four scenes.

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