A clean office is a happy office

September 16, 2007 by elaineb · 4 Comments

Yes, as cliche as it may be, it is in fact true. I do not have a before picture except this one which was taken in the spring and not much of the background shows. However, I will go on to say, small shelves held very big and heavy paper, and an old wire rack held all my art, text and reference books and it was bending and tilting forward. Walking into my office would make Mission Organization want a vicodin martini.

After being nagged by my mother, counseled by an interior designer and professional declutterer and having a fit of hysteria because my reality check didn`t cash, I decided it had to be done.

This process took three months of decluttering. Yes decluttering. I am very much attached to the crap I own. Many things were kept out of sheer sentimental value. That in itself was painful and draining. The prospect of letting go of a book I may have purchased while I was pregnant or a piece of artwork that I may have made while dating my now husband really hurt.

Can you see my Raider`s cap?

The second part required a lot of restrain and discipline, from a source of what I derive much comfort and joy from-shopping for old paper and books. I actually still bought some things, but not as massive as I usually do. Also, I did a lot of scanning and decluttering of my collections,-tears were shed- things that were truly tattered were scanned for later repair in PhotoShop and disposed of or recycled. It goes without saying comfort was derived from food at that time-Macaroons anyone?

The scariest part about it is that the process seemed to take over me and having been used to my creative chaos,- a nicer term for my pig sty- it spilled over in to all parts of the house. Bathroom, bedrooms, drawers, fridge and attic were all done by me. Orchestrating 5 children to comply to the commands of dictator Elaine was something of a character building exercise-for me. Being nice turns out that can be ignored. A stern command is executed and even feared. They all got candy and ice cream-and an apology. Thank you kiddos!