“Out of clutter, find Simplicity. From discord, find Harmony. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. (-Albert Einstein)

OK, on the one hand, I can be totally anal about being organized, but I can also be a total slob. How is that so?

Right now, I’m in the midst of overhauling my office/studio space upstairs. I have for three years been complaining about the disarray up there and it’s just TIME to do something about it. Before I head out on the road one more time, this September, I want this space to be organized and neatened up.

First of all, I inherited a "salmony" color in this room that I hated. It actually looks better in the photo than it did in real life, and it was so dismal and dreary up there in that room. I travel for my job all fall, but when I’m not on the road, I work from home, so I have TONS of work materials that arrive in boxes about this time of summer every year. I do wind up using them as I head around the country—they go off with me, but they have to be stored in my place, so in the past, I have always had them cluttering up my office.

This year, I have taken the bull by the horns, though—they’re moving out! I have relegated all the work related supplies and brochures etc to the attic and to a closet off of this room, and I am already feeling calmer just seeing how the clutter is going to be disappearing, once our work is done.

We’re painting the walls and some bookcases, and organizing things so it will be a good work office and art studio. (I’ve always called it that, but it’s been a mess with mostly work-related items in here until now.)

So, stay tuned—it has a long ways to go—I’m making curtains to get rid of the blinds I hate, and I’m putting down a new rug, and hanging all kinds of prints/photos to cheer me up. I’ll post the final photos once it’s all done. Wish me luck!

“Make room for the new you. You may not have totally determined who the new you is going to be, but you probably have decided that there are some things about the current you that you want to change. Well, while you are working on what the new you will be, start ‘cleaning out a room’ for the new you to live in. Get rid of the junk in your life both physical and mental that doesn’t fit you anymore. Take things out of your schedule that are taking your time away from finding out what you want to do. By making room for the new you, you will create a vacuum that the new you will rush in to fill and you will be on your way to the top.” (-Edward Smith)

I hadn’t really thought about a new me, but hey—why not!? ;))