One room down, five more to go...

I am happy to announce that Phase One of declutter and organize my house is complete! The first task on my quest to organizational perfection was to attack (I mean that literally) our shared office/my art room. After browsing online and finding picture after picture of one perfectly organized office and craft room after another, I set it in my mind that I could do the same. I could make our office organized, pretty to look at and functional at the same time. When I set out to tackle this room, I never realized the amount of STUFF Marty and I had gathered over a year of marriage. Rolls of wrapping paper, acrylic paint bottles, a mountainous pile of Bluegrass Cellular pens and an endless supply of paper was the clutter that was taking over my life. There HAS to be a way to keep all the junk you need (and I was surprised how much of it we do need and couldn't just simply be thrown away) but keep it organized. With this in mind, my journey began. Target became my best friend. I picked up black media boxes, magazine holders and hanging file organizers for $3 apiece. I found a scrapbook storage box on sale for $2 thanks to a little nick in the side. Anything that looked halfway fashionable but could also double as storage and was cheap, I picked it up. I went through piles of old paperwork, magazines, newspaper clippings...wondering when I picked up the label of "packrat." Now that our stuff was organized, it was time to *gulp* paint. When we were in the process of buying our house, the builders had already painted most of the rooms when we entered the scene. They asked if I was okay with the color, and being the people-pleaser, conflict-avoider I am, I said it was just fine. And it is. It's a beautiful neutral shade of yellowish-tan that goes with almost everything in our house. Problem is, it's ALL over the house. When we started to move things out of the office, I saw the opportunity for color. A trip to Lowe's was planned. I practically skipped to the paint section, imagining all the possibilities. I drooled over Coral Passion, I fell in love with Tantalizing Teal and fantasized about Limolicious. When the time came to make a color purchase, I realized one very important thing: I am scared of color. Sure, Coral Passion looks beautiful on a 2"x4" card, but how's it going to look covering 4 walls of my room? What if I hate it?? How do I know what color is going to look good and make the room appear bigger than what it really is? Reluctantly, I left the paint section uncommitted to any certain shade and more confused than ever before. I showed my favorite paint samples and took a poll of several people and realized that I just needed to go for it...or in the words of my sister "Go big or go home." Yes, I may hate the color, but repainting the walls is an option (not one I would look forward to, but still an option). And if I don't take a risk, how will I ever know if it would have paid off? To Lowe's I returned. Two coats of Laguna Green later, I'm ecstatic. The black and white furniture looks AMAZING against the turquoise-y color and I couldn't be happier. Phase One is complete. :)