Before and after

Okay, I'll admit it . . . I am organizationally challenged. I don't want to be . . . I'm not sure why it's so hard for me to maintain order. I mean, I'm a fairly intelligent person (or so I've been told). It just seems that clutter finds me wherever I am.

But I am determined to tame the clutter this year . . . one bookshelf at a time! To this end, I attacked this particular area yesterday. Here's what it looked like before I started:

It's a great piece of furniture -- one of the first pieces I bought for myself waaaaay back in my single days (which seem like another lifetime ago). I think I paid $15 or $20 for it at the rescue mission thrift store -- I was a preschool teacher for the mission at the time. I had an efficiency apartment back then, so my living room was also my bedroom. So, other than a twin bed, a glider rocker, and a dresser that I think I kept in the closet, this was the only other piece of furniture I owned. (It held a CD player back then, too!)

Even though it didn't cost much, it's solid wood and in great condition -- except for the word "Dillow's" that is written or burned on the inside in a couple of places. I'm not sure who the Dillows are, but I'm glad they decided to get rid of their bookshelf. I love it and can't imagine getting rid of it. However, I did need to get a better organizational system in place . . . okay, any organizational system would be better than what I had (which was NONE)!

Enter these wonderful fabric bins from Target. Each bin has a particular task -- I know what belongs in each one, and they are all items that are used in our living room on a regular basis. So now I can easily find what I'm looking for, and clean up when I'm finished with something! Yay!
I know, I know, it's not a big thing. It's just one small corner of my world -- but what a wonderfully organized corner it is now! ;)