Nice and Neat -- Computer Cabinet

I'm participating in Lori's Tuesday Project Party.

Click her link above to see what it's all about.

Get inspired!  Get working!

The other day, I ran out to Office Max with my rewards certificate of almost $47.  That was cool in and of itself, but it gets better!  It was Teacher Appreciation at Office Max that Sunday and Monday, and I picked up a free tote bag with some goodies in it.  Oh, it gets better!  Everything I could fit into the bag was 20% off.

I know several of the employees at Office Max, since that's where we get our church bulletin printed each week.  Bernardo and Rick greeted me as I wandered the store with tote bag in hand. I love chatting with these young men; they're the same ages as my sons, so I feel kind of like a mom to them.  I think they like the attention. :)

Anyway, my bill at the checkout came to over $60, but with the discounts and coupons, my final payment was $4.54. Here's everything I got, including the freebies:

The big white box in the picture above contains a folder divider and two paper trays that all hook together, and I chose it so I could organize all my business files--client billing statements, tax paperwork, bank statements, etc.   I also have mailing envelopes, DVDs for client images, and DVD cases.  Everything was separated into a little group here, and a little group there.  I needed it to be all together so I could feel organized, and find things quickly when I needed them.

When I took a look at our computer desk, however, I cringed.

The desk top always gets cluttered, and then cleaned off.  I wasn't as concerned about that as I was with all the other stuff cluttering every shelf, nook, and cranny.  It was time for another project.

I decided to do what Lori does--I took everything off the desk top and all the shelves, and piled it all on the floor.  I left the bookcase alone; that's a project for another day, perhaps.

While I cleaned the silk foliage outside on the back patio, Danny dusted the whole top of the desk unit.  (Of course, I came in to take a picture of him working.)

Then, item by item, piece by piece, I began re-organizing, de-cluttering, and finding new homes for everything.  Some items found a home in other rooms in the house, since they really didn't belong at the computer desk:  photos and negatives, cards, and other items.

I put to use two cloth-lined dark baskets (on the top shelf below) that had just been sitting unused.  Fernando has a lot of...stuff, and I was able to fill one basket with various CDs and DVDs that belong to him.  I filled the second basket with general computer CDs and DVDs.  I re-labeled the six plastic pencil cases (top shelf, left-hand side in the below image)--pens, pencils, colored pencils, permanent markers, dry erase, rubber bands/erasers.  I love labels.  But, you knew that already.  :)

I bit the bullet and took some extra time to do all the filing lying on top of books on the bookshelf.  Once the computer cabinet doors are closed, the area looks nice and neat, below:

Since this project, I've weeded out a number of books from the bookshelf and added them to the pile of stuff to be sold.  If you want to browse the over 100 items I have listed, I created a nifty gallery here.  Shipping is extra.  :)

Yay for neat!  Yay for organized!  Yay for simple!


Back to life,
Christine

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