Book Clutter?

A family I have been working with has a very large book collection... very large, people!  

We have spent quite a few days working on sorting through their books, organizing them by categories, and then finishing up by putting them in chronological order.  It's been a fun project and my arm muscles are getting a workout from carrying all those books!

 

I used to keep all my books, but recently I have decided to donate most of them.  I just didn't want any "book clutter" and I would rather use my shelf space for other things.  It has been interesting to see how important books are in some households and how much space is dedicated to them.

So, here are my questions: 

Do you have a large book collection?  

Did you keep all your books from school?  If so, why did you keep them? 

Do you find yourself looking at the books again and even reading them?

Would you ever consider books as clutter?

~Leah

(photo credit: recent settlers)

An Unexpected Arrival

Three days ago, this little guy joined our family.  

We hadn't planned on getting another kitty.  Our cat, Diego, has been our main focus for so many years and it's not a secret that we are completely obsessed with him.  We always thought that it would be too stressful for him to get a "sibling."  

But then our friend sent us a photo of a tiny kitten that was found in a tire... and we couldn't resist.

Pono (the Hawaiian name was inspired by our recent honeymoon to Kauai) is so adorable.  He has more energy than I've ever seen and has been creating a bit of havoc in our house.  Let me just say that this organized girl is a bit worried about the mess of toys, litter, and towels that are all over the living room.  But it's totally worth it!  He's the best!  

I did label his binder with the notes from the vet... I had to do something!

~Leah

Just Dreamin'

Some days... well, most days... I dream of having a closet that I can fill entirely with crafts and gift wrapping supplies.  I think it would look something like this.  

I seriously love everything about this photo; the rolls of wrapping paper mounted to the wall, a rainbow of ribbon choices inside a trunk (so cool!), labeled bins on the shelves for projects.  Not to mention the lovely curtains and rug... aaahhh, I WANT IT!!  

What do you dream about having in your home?

~Leah

(Photo Credit: RealSimple.com)

Turn it up!

Yesterday I spent a good chunk of my morning working on my files.  I had obviously put it off for a while since I found articles and bills from around January and February that I hadn't filed yet!  Eek!  It's a good thing I have that "To Be Filed" letter tray, but it was getting way too packed.  

Since I knew this task may not be the most enjoyable thing to do, I decided to turn on some fun music to keep me motivated.  It worked!  Before long I was dancing around my little office space and the filing was all done.  yay!  

Here's a song I would highly recommend if you need some motivation: 

~Leah

Confession

I am seriously challenged in the bookkeeping department.

Don't get me wrong, I have some great files and all my receipts for my business are organized and labeled.  But when it comes to spreadsheets and reporting, I just want to run and hide.

So, instead of ignoring this for any longer I decided to confront it head on and ask for help.  

Today I have some bookkeeping/accounting experts coming over to give me some advice and help whip my office into shape!  I'm a little anxious about it but I know that I'll feel so much better after their visit.

Is this what my clients feel like before our first session??

~Leah

(photo credit: o5com)

Remains of the Day

...My Wedding Day, that is.

Baskets with our little chalkboard signs, jars, and programs from the ceremony

We had the most amazing wedding planner, Stefanie.  One of the coolest things she did was take all of our decor and personal items from the reception and took them back to our house at the end of the night.  When we got home the next day, all of our stuff was sitting in our living room and we didn't have to lift a finger.  Thanks, Stefanie!!  

My bins of crafting supplies and folders with To-Do lists

But that also meant that EVERYTHING WAS IN OUR LIVING ROOM!! 

Including all the bins of markers, spray paint, ribbon, and stamps.  

So, my lovely readers, what should I do with all of this stuff??  How much should I keep for memorabilia and how much should I toss?  Should I try to give some stuff to friends for their weddings or parties?  Should I just toss it since I can always look at the photos??  

An organizer friend of mine gave me some good advice yesterday: put the stuff in the guest room and leave it for a while.  Come back to it when you have had a little time to breathe and it won't seem as overwhelming.  It will be fun to look through it again. 

Okay, I'm going to do that!  Into the guest room it goes... 

In the meantime, I will just focus on thank you notes. :-)

~Leah

Confession

I got married two weeks ago and I completely neglected this blog for MONTHS!  

Boy, these past five months have been intense, filled with seating charts and table decorations and timelines.  It was a pretty stressful time, but it all culminated in the most magical day of my life.  

Although I did my best to stay very organized (did you expect anything less from me?!), it was tough to keep things together when dealing with families and lots of emotions.  I admit that I obsessed about details that sound completely crazy when I talk about it - I won't tell you how many times I went to Michael's to find the perfect Kraft paper!  But when I woke up that morning, none of that mattered anymore.  All I cared about was seeing my beloved and having the time of my life. 

So, two weeks later I am finally ready to get back to reality... and deal with the huge mess in my home!  For just this week, I will share a few struggles I am having with the wedding aftermath.  I would love to hear from all of you married folks if you have any tips for organizing all that wedding stuff and if you struggled to get back to reality.  

Mostly, I am so excited to be blogging again and to share the ups and downs of organizing my life.  

Missed you!!!!  

 

~Leah

(Photo: Our ceremony setting- gorgeous, if I do say so myself!)