My Office Desk Purge & Purge Party Invitation for YOU!

Hi!

I pray that you are having a wonderfully blessed day, 
serving in and being content as the keeper of your home.

I want to personally invite all of you to come and share your stories and pictures of simplifying,


At a Purge Party every Monday, 
starting this Monday, 
March 7th.


To read more about it, click here, or here: [Purge Party].


Here's how the idea was born:

As I have been simplifying for our move next year,

(click here to read our 2011 Goals)

I'm finding areas in my home that I dread entering or seeing!

When I walk into some rooms, my heart sinks because I am overwhelmed

by where to even begin organizing and de-cluttering it.

Do I need more bins, baskets, labels, drawers, hangers? No.

What I really need is to get rid of enough 

so that I don't NEED to get organized.

What if, when I opened a drawer, I didn't have to dig for what I wanted?

What if, when I went into my clothes closet, the outfit that I chose actually fit and was still in style?

What if, when I needed something in the garage, I knew right where it was?

What if I had all my current projects at hand, not in bins in the closet?

I want to lighten my load, to recycle where I can, to donate when I should,

and to sell the rest.

Some of you know this already,

but I am a Home Stager, Certified Interior Decorator, and an Organizer.

I have worked with many people, helping them go from chaos to order.

It is definitely easier for me to tell someone else what to do

with their STUFF.

Knowing that I should take my own advice, I started in my office desk drawers.

Our basement is the hub/epicenter of life around here.
I blog, design, and list on eBay and Craigslist here.
Miss A does her homework and surfs Facebook here.


The drawers have become full because we throw STUFF in them 
when we tidy the surface of the desk.


I purged for about an hour and got 4 drawers done.
Whoop! Whoop!

Here we go.


Office Desk PURGE


Drawer #1


I have too many pencils/pens, labels, Post-it Notes and pads of paper.

Oh, look! 

More pencils/pens, labels, Post-it Notes, and pads of paper in the revolving caddy!

 Let's dump everything out, sort it and keep only what we NEED.

We don't NEED these, so they will get donated.

I kept 6 mechanical pencils and 6 black pens.

We do not NEED 3 types of erasers.
The little white one and the big pink one got to stay.

I found hair bows and Hello Kitty lip gloss; they'll go back to Miss A's room.

I found love notes.

I put these labels in the cafe' bureau.
They will be name tags when guests come for a party or brunch.

We do not NEED duplicates and triplicates of one color of a pencil.

Only the Crayola brand was kept, one pencil per color.
4 pads, 1 highlighter, 6 permanent markers, 6 dry erase, 1 calligraphy and 4 colored ink pens.
And a partridge in a pear tree.

Drawer #1 Before:

Drawer #1 After:

Drawer #2

You may not think that this looks very messy, and you're right, it's not,

but I thought that I could make better use of the bins.

The top left bin is empty in case I NEED to use it later.
Small garbage can bags are kept in this drawer,
and now Miss A's Geometry STUFF easier to get.

Drawer #3


Let me take everything out so you can see the mess better, okay?

30+ empty CD cases (Mr. Man belongs to these), 10 spiral notebooks, 22 folders, lined paper
5 sets of page dividers & 100 clear plastic sleeves.

I had this mesh/metal file folder holder in Drawer #4, and used it to vertically store
6 folders, 1 set of page dividers, 50 clear plastic sleeves, 10 hanging file folders
and 2 spiral notebooks (unused).
In the back: 30+ CD cases (see, Mark? I didn't get rid of them).
In the front: lined notebook paper for all of the neighborhood children.

To the other side of the desk.

Drawer #4


Uh.

This is what was in there!
Several years of my girl's homeschooling planners, my journals, our home palette binder
(paint, flooring, fabric samples),
Marketing items for my business, my day planner and more STUFF.

The journals, home palette, marketing items, and day planner remained.
The other STUFF got donated, recycled, or will be filed in Drawer #5.

Drawer #5

This is the drawer that I dread. I did not finish it today.

This contains my personal info, old pictures, ephemera, scrapbook paper, 

holiday things, and more STUFF.

Here's a sampling of the STUFF that needs to be filed or purged.

But that is for another day.
It involves sorting and scanning photos.


However, I already feel more peace when I open the drawers for something.
I am able to work more efficiently and am not so anxious.


I hope that you will come back on Mondays.


This party is open for two sorts of purges.

1. Releasing of extra clutter of the home
(i.e. too many options, too many things, too many piles)

2. Shedding of extra clutter of the heart
(i.e. overwhelm, weariness, disappointment, resentment)


The party will be a time for us to encourage others to let go of things, 
and to stop placing so much emphasis or meaning on the acquiring of STUFF.

Let's start thinking of our homes as a havens, not catch-alls.

"Don't hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it's safe from moth and rust and burglars. It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being." Matthew 6:20-21