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You are here: Home / Interior Changes / Finding Organization in Chaos

Finding Organization in Chaos

April 23, 2012 By Shannah 15 Comments

“People” say that you either cling to the ways of your childhood/family or you run completely in the opposite direction.  I like to think that I recognized the amazing and wonderful pieces of my childhood and my parents and take those with me everywhere.  Certain things, though, I will admit that I run from as fast as possible.  Want an example?

That is the guest room in my parents’ house. {sorry mom!} To give them credit, it is only that bad because my mom hasn’t really been able to do much cleaning for awhile now.  However, all the stuff and clutter, are from years worth of accumulation.
No, my mom is not a hoarder and you don’t need to call that tv show to have them perform an intervention…at least not yet!
You see, growing up without a lot of luxury will make you think twice before throwing anything away because it could offer some value down the road.  Add to that the fact that my mom has a lot more than one sentimental bone in her body and you have a recipe for what you see above.
Me…I had luxuries.  My parents always made sure I had everything I needed and a lot of things I didn’t need but wanted.  I’m also not that sentimental.  I keep some special things, sure, but not to the degree that my mom does.  Clutter is my worst enemy so, if it is going to clutter up my house, it is gone.
I’ve recently started staging an semi-intervention in their house.  It started with the kitchen while my mom was in the hospital.  I didn’t really mean to clean it, throw a bunch of stuff away and re-organize it.  I was just there, alone, and needed something {anything} to keep my mind off the pain and suffering that my mom {and dad as her caregiver} was experiencing at the time. I needed something that I could control and take charge off and the kitchen seemed like as good of thing as any.
That put me on a mission to put my parent’s house back in order so that it was functional and organized.  It seems trivial in the wake of everything that is going on but it is something that I can do in a situation where I {honestly} feel completely helpless.
This past visit the mission moved to the room you see above.  Want some more pictures of the target?

The room is about the size of a standard bedroom with a substantial closet.  It serves as their office and also as the place where my kids sleep when we visit. 
My first order of business was to reduce the amount of stuff there.  I forced my mom to make some hard choices about some of the items in there but we got rid of a fairly large amount items through donation to goodwill/the church, throwing things away and prepping things for my upcoming community yard sale.  The rest of the items got new or upgraded homes.
All of the kid books and toys went into new bookcases.  I picked them up at Target and then my mom used modge podge to put some cute scrapbook paper along the back.

We added the two rocking chairs into that space to make it like a little reading/play nook for the kids.

Next area of focus was the desk.  My dad put together a new desk and moved all the computer components over to it.

Lol…that desk looks so small with such a huge computer screen but that is actually being replaced (or already has been)by a laptop.

Then, we worked on cleaning out the closet.

My mom still has a little bit of work to do in there with those coats and hangers. We’ll be removing all the stuff and turning it into a reading nook/sleeping area for H.  The doors will come off and we’ll build in some shelving so it will look a lot like this

[The Inspired Room]

We ran out of time though so the closet transformation will be next trip!

shannah

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© 2012 Just Us Four.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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Filed Under: Interior Changes, organization

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Comments

  1. Lindsey Cazac says

    April 23, 2012 at 6:06 pm

    Hi! I’m your newest follower and co-host of this month’s blog hop. Thanks so much for joining in on the fun 🙂 I’m looking forward to getting you know you better!

    WOW!! this transformation is great !!

    Reply
  2. Nelly@DGInnovations says

    April 23, 2012 at 7:12 pm

    Looks awesome! I am currently on the Journey to Organization as well! It seems to be a slower process than anticipated! lol But I am stoked to be on the journey!!

    Reply
  3. Elaine says

    April 24, 2012 at 4:32 am

    Wow, the room looks great! I really like the child reading area. I totally get your need to do this. I was once waiting on a breast biopsy and I reorganized my entire kitchen, including alphabetizing my spices. Turns out I was fine, and my kitchen never looked so great. I hope your mom is doing better!

    Reply
  4. Debra Kapellakis says

    April 25, 2012 at 2:22 pm

    BRAVO!

    Reply
  5. Betsy Pool says

    April 25, 2012 at 3:20 pm

    Wow – love what you did and I really like the reading nook idea!!! I would love it if you linked up to my Tuesday blog hop! http://romanceonadime.com/diy/take-it-on-tuesday-blog-hop-26-easy-upcycled-scarf/

    Reply
  6. Margaret says

    April 25, 2012 at 3:29 pm

    Think your parents have raised a very special child – you did exactly the right thing at the right time!

    This is amazing looking and probably feels very good to your Mom especially. Super job!

    Reply
  7. Laura @ cookiecrumbsandsawdust.blogspot says

    April 25, 2012 at 6:00 pm

    Great job. I find myself decluttering my parent’s house too! I wonder if it’s generational? Their parents grew up in a time that any and all possessions were scarce. I think it affects how they view their belongings.

    I’m visiting from the Someday Crafts linky party. I hope that you can stop by my blog as well. 🙂

    Thanks for sharing,
    Laura

    Reply
  8. Victoria says

    April 26, 2012 at 12:27 am

    So much better! It must feel great to walk into the room now.

    Reply
  9. Jessica -Green PBnJs says

    April 26, 2012 at 4:02 am

    This looks so great after your cleaning skills!! I bet she was really thankful, tho, for your help! -Jessica

    Reply
  10. Jill @Two Yellow Birds Decor says

    April 26, 2012 at 7:27 pm

    What a great transformation! Looks great! Thanks so much for sharing with us at Thursday’s Temptation.
    Jill

    Reply
  11. Christina at I Gotta Create! says

    April 27, 2012 at 11:29 pm

    I’ve got a room that could use your skills !! Lol! Looks great. Thanks so much for linking up at I Gotta Create! <3 Christina

    Reply
  12. {Steph} says

    April 28, 2012 at 1:09 am

    It looks great! It’s amazing how satisfying just seeing a transformation like this is. Looking forward to seeing the reading/sleeping nook!

    ~Steph @ Silver Boxes

    Reply
  13. dreamingahome says

    April 28, 2012 at 4:56 am

    What a wonderful gift you’ve given your parents! Thank you for sharing this.

    I’m sorry it’s been a difficult time. I hope all is well with your mother – and that you and your father have been able to let go of some of the worry and stress.

    Liz

    Reply
  14. andie jaye says

    April 29, 2012 at 6:16 am

    this looks like so much fun! i love stuff like this. cleaning and reorganizing spaces. you did a great job! it looks wonderful!

    Reply
  15. Natural-Nesters says

    May 1, 2012 at 7:24 pm

    I love the comparison to childhood and taking the good stuff with you 🙂 and I love the organization a lot!

    Thanks so much for linking up to our Naturally-Nifty Party! This week’s party is up! We would love for you to stop by and link up!

    http://www.natural-nester.blogspot.com/2012/05/naturally-nifty-linky-party-12.html

    Reply

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About Me

Hi, I'm Shannah! Welcome to My Suburban Kitchen, where you'll find tons of recipe ideas including family friendly dinners, sinfully delicious desserts and even Paleo and Whole30 recipes. I love spending time in our kitchen and also share little glimpses of my life as a wife to one awesome Mathlete and working mom to 2 cute kids! I hope you'll grab a seat at our table and enjoy your time in the kitchen with us.

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