So Kristie, how have you been spending your free time lately?

Organizing man. Organizing closets. Organizing the office. 'Organizing' the backyard. Basically, if there was something out of place, I have been spending my free time correcting it. And I am tired man. Dead tired.

It all started with the lack of storage (or closet space as some call it). Chris and I have lived in our flat for two years now, and honestly, we knew we had this problem when we first moved in. It wasn't a deal breaker, but we knew we couldn't keep buying clothes like we were used to as there was no where to put them. Of course, that didn't actually stop us once the original boxes were unpacked. Oh no. You can't tell sdhopaholics they can't shop. That's just crazy talk. No, we will always find workarounds so we don't have to curb our 'hobbies'. Our first one was to simply move some of our rags into the extra bedroom. When that area was maxed out, I moved things into the small hallway closet, our spending continued, and we quickly ran out of space again.

To try and ease the storage issue, Chris and I both do a major 'Spring' cleaning every year to make room for the new items. But after going through my closet for the second time in six months, I knew we had a problem. No, not a shopping problem silly. A storage problem. ;)

So what do we need to do? More furniture I say! Actually, let me clarify, not just more furniture - more efficient use of space furniture. Originally we didn't want to drop the big bucks on the bedroom set I really wanted, so we chose to build our own platform bed and bought second hand pieces (dressers and such) to try and do things inexpensively. Needless to say that system failed us as we could never find an inexpensive dresser for Chris that was large enough to hold all his folded items. So we now have several small dressers for sale (call me if you are interested). Ha!

Anyway, we figured the best way to maximize the area we have for Chris' clothes while being somewhat budget conscious was to go to IKEA and buy their PAX wardrobe pieces. This way he would have more room for hanging items and we can put in as many shelves and drawers as needed to handle the folded pieces.

I don't know why I didn't take a before photo of the 'before', but it was bad, and clothes were everywhere (including on the floor). Now, everything is organized and in its proper place which makes me very happy - and, the best part is he still has room to expand his collection if he gets a hankering to do so. Yes I know, putting IKEA furniture together sucks, but for a small $500 investment, it sure beats dropping $6,000 on the Pottery Barn set I really want, and once the doors went on, it really is a good looking unit.

So now that the clothes piece was done...time to tackle the office. This was the project I have been dreading as I am not a paper pusher and hate filing and all that goes with it. But, with me working from home now - we needed to do it as the office was out of control and I was losing my mind trying to find the documents I needed.

So the first step - hire an office organizing expert. Yep. I didn't even screw around with it, I brokered the job out to Val. She is not what one considers a 'professional organizational expert', but I didn't need that as I am pretty darn good with that kind of stuff. What Val did was to help me re-design the office space, move the furniture around, organize our supplies, clean out junk drawers and (non-financial) files, and help me shred two bags worth of old paperwork. Yes, Val is the major reason I didn't have to spend three weeks locked in a room trying to put things in order, so I am indebted to her - and she was reasonable. One woman I had called wanted to charge me $200 an hour to 'assist me'. Val? $25 an hour. I know, can you believe it? So if you would like Val to come and get you cleaned up - let me know and I will shoot you her email.

NOTE: I have before and after photos of the office, but Blogger is being pissy and not importing them in right now. Will post once I get this frigging system to work!

I have also spent some time in the backyard which has been great. It is a huge space and is really a full time job to keep up, but I am making headway throwing a couple hours a week into it. Most of the weeds have been terminated and the automatic sprinkler system has been installed. I still need to fix the drip system, but I feel good about my progress and where it currently stands.

Once I repair the drip system, I am headed to the garage. But I am pushing that project back as far as possible as I dread it almost (if not more) than the office. Hmmm...wonder what Val is doing next Sunday?

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