Organizing a Room That Has To Serve More Than One Purpose

This summer has proven to be nuts for me. My life and career are going in directions I would have never imagined....it's been surprising but amazing. Around mid summer I was asked by my sister in law to come and help her organize her house. Since then, I've been asked by several more for design and organizational help for their homes. If you had told me as a 14 year old, (or a 23 year old, let's be honest here), a person whose closet was overflowing with laundry, whose floor in her room could not be seen, that I'd be helping people clean and organize their homes, I would have literally laughed in your face. But apparently, I have some type of knack for it.

 

My sister in law has the same trouble many people have - too many people and too much stuff and not enough square footage. When our stuff outnumbers our space, it's time to think about how to best utilize the rooms in our house.

 

One of the rooms we needed to spend time in was the additional space out back that was added on to her dining room. This room needed to function as storage, Faith's office and a spare bedroom. Faith is a teacher, her heart really lies in teaching and education. She has so many craft items, teaching tools, pens/pencils/markers/crayons, school supplies, etc, it would make your head spin. She also is an Usbourne book distributor as well as an avid reader herself, so not only was her personal book collection extensive, but she also has several bins of books that she takes with her to Usbourne book parties. Faith also loves board games and has over 40 in her house that they actually play, so those needed to be accessible. On top of this, there were several bins of personal keepsakes, including figurines, paintings from her grandmother, pictures of the kids, and other display items that she just didn't know what to do with. We had our work cut out for us!

 

 Before:

 

After:

 

 

 

As with many people I speak with, the problem really comes from not knowing where to start. You have tons of things and no clue where to put them, what to keep, what to toss, and how to even make the heap of stuff into anything that makes sense. When it comes to starting in a room like this, where it has to be many things at once, you just have to start one bin at a time. Which is exactly what we did. I did a survey of the room and it had two things going for it....1) It has alot of storage because of the amount of built in bookshelves that lined the back wall and 2) It was a pretty large room. Here are a few tips I have for making the most out of a space like this.

 

Helpful Tip #1: Utilize every square inch of space.

 

We started with the bookshelves. After putting all of the books upright, moving them to best fit in the shelf they were in (short books, tall books), and squeezing them in tight, we ended up fitting all of her personal books into only half of the shelves, whereas before, the were taking up all of the bookshelves. This left us with about five shelves that were empty to do other things with. We moved boxes from the top shelves that hadn't been touched in quite a while to storage areas underneath the bookshelves to give us more space for things that she needed to access more frequently. All of her storage shelves with bins were moved from the middle of the space to the wall of the room. This left us a more open area to live in.

Helpful Tip #2: If you can see it, it needs to be clean.

 

Faith's shelves are open, in that there aren't any doors to cover them up. That means that stuff being stored is a part of the decor of the room and that means it needs to be organized and stay that way. This is difficult at times, but a couple of minutes each day of making sure these areas are straightened up and look good will make the space look as good as it can look.

Helpful Tip #3: Be realistic about what you do and do not use.

When we began going through stuff to group, consolidate, and trash, we had to ask the questions often of what is realistically needed on a daily basis, what is needed but isn't used often, and what really isn't being used anymore. At that point, the question was, where does it need to go? We had the benefit of having several bins to put items in which really helped organize the school and office supplies.  We put games and supplies not played with often on the top shelf with other items on the lower shelves. We found space for everything, but also threw quite a bit away.

All of the items in the desk and shelves are items she uses on a regular basis, so downsizing and consolidating made a world of difference.

Helpful Tip #4: Decide what is the most important thing to you about the room and make sure that's your priority.

 

The most important purpose this room served was an office, then storage, then a spare bedroom. It ended up being a very cozy space for visitors, but also a very cozy space for Faith. We had to shoo the kids out from time to time!! As moms, we all need a space at times that keep things organized and at our fingertips. For teachers, I know many of their items that go to school (or back and forth) need to be kept in a place that don't get lost. In the end, this space gave her a place for that, which will make her days a little easier.

 

Helpful Tip #5: Be realistic about how you live (especially kids).

 

Let's just be honest - kids don't exactly help you keep things organized and picked up. For the last few months, the idea Faith had was the block off the area between the door the bed to give visitors a bit of privacy when they stayed. This also gave her a space to put her bins of Usbourne books that needed to be mobile. However, what ended up happening is that the floor in front of the storage become a storage area of its own. Currently, this is the area where all four of the boys school supplies sat, ready to be put in bags for the year. (The chair and gloves were there because she was staining her new desk!) We all have them - dumping grounds where things just end up going and just staying until someone comes along and moves them. If you know that your family does this, taking that space away sometimes helps us put things away. But if you have things that always need to stay in spot, designating a certain area where things go temporarily sometimes helps as well. We moved the shelves against one wall and the bins against another, opening up the space and creating an area for a comfy recliner. We then went ahead and divided out the boys school supplies to open up some floor space. It made a world of difference.

 

Before:                        After:

 

 

Helpful Tip 6: Use the natural features of the room as décor.

 

One of the coolest things about this space is the brick wall (which used to be the outside wall of the house). I love lamps and I love how cozy this space feels with lamps on at night against that great wall. We couldn't hang anything on it but I think it adds quite a bit to the space, just on its own.

 

 

What are some organizational tips you'd like to share?