Wednesday Narrative - Office Horror

Truly I don't want to make this post.  When ProjectTwentySix began I posted "Before" photos of almost all of the house.  I never did get around to posting the office photos and now I wonder if it was a subconscious defense mechanism.

I worked hard in the office starting in late spring and running through summer.  You may recall lots of "paper" posts if you've been around that long.  In July my brother came and worked on the next phase of our basement remodel and I had to bring a lot of things upstairs.  Many of those things ended up in the office and I kept hammering away at it, bit by bit.

Then my mom and aunt came for a visit in September and pretty much tore me apart for the disarray my house was in and how I'd neglected the housework.  I've spent weeks reflecting on their thoughts and coming to a number of conclusions I won't go into here because it would be long and boring for you to read.  Here's a summarized version: Mom and Aunt can't possibly understand what my day to day life is like.  However they both have more life experience than I and wisdom to offer so I have considered their views.  I forgive them for the deep hurt they caused though neither have asked.

While the visit was most memorable for its painful conversations, I should also note they were a blizzard of cleaning activity which I greatly appreciated and likely would have appreciated more if they hadn't complained about it continually.  One of their solutions to hide my clutter was to put everything they thought was clutter into boxes that were then added to already not insignificant pile in the office.  They considerately put things they thought would need immediate attention (like bills and my checkbook) in a smaller box and pointed it out for me.

All of this to say that their words and the additions to the office mess have brought me to the point of having to deal with it.  Following are pictures of how it looked before I started pulling boxes out earlier this week.

This is the view from the doorway.  If this doesn't look to horrible wait for the next photo.

This is the floor in front of the bookcases.  That box right in front is one of the Mom & Aunt additions.

Behind the door.

My workspace.

DH's workspace.

As you can see there is much work to be done.  I see the work, but I also see the progress.  I remind myself how bad it would have been if I hadn't cleaned out so much paper and junk over the summer.  I've been steeling myself to accept that there will be a huge pile of stuff in my living room for at least a few weeks.  The reality of my life is that I can only chip away at this mess.  On the weekends I might get a bit more time, or less depending on the weekend.

Here's what my living room, the room I can generally count on to be tidy and ready to receive company, looks like:

It seems overwhelming but I'll just do a little (or big!) something every day and watch it disappear.

Here's what the office looks like on the bookcase side.  I hope it stays this way as I purge, sort, organize and find homes for a wide variety of items.

I hope to posting about office progress in the days to come.  Stay Tuned!

Katie