Spotlight Spaces: My Favorite Spot (now)

After living in our home for over 8 years, I can confidently say we use nearly every room in our house. Even our Dining Room gets regular use because we love to entertain. Can you guess which room is the least likely to get used???

Yup – you guessed it. Our home gym. But that’s OK because given the choice (and I’m so grateful for the choice), I’d rather run outside (even when it’s freezing temps) than on a treadmill. Not only is it more interesting, but I also have running partners who get me out of bed in the mornings – something my treadmill does not do for me!

And until recently, the only other room in our house that wasn’t getting much use (by us) was our study. For the last 4 years, this lovely room has been the closed-off, catch-all room in our house.

The doors were closed because we didn’t want the boys nosing around in there with the stacks of unread books, wires for the computer, routers, external hard-drives, etc. We began to use the desk as the landing pad for paperwork that needed to be filed, preschool artwork we wanted (felt obligated) to save, and the like. Every so often, I’d attempt to straighten it up but without fail, the pile would reappear.

Remember when I cleaned out my pantry (read about my pantry project HERE), I vowed to not let my pantry get out of control like that again, and I am happy to report we’re doing a pretty good job!

And by keeping the pantry clutter free, I’ve also cut down on our grocery bills. I’m buying less. And I’m happier. I don’t struggle to find things and I know exactly what is inside my pantry. It’s really amazing how freeing a clutter-free space can be!

Andrew wanted to get in the picture!

I was with some girlfriends last week and we were talking about the dichotomous parts of our personalities. I mentioned how I struggle with being Type A and also a little bit lazy. I like to be productive but I also find joy in relaxing and doing nothing. And it was at that moment I decided I had had enough with the state of our study.

Because just that morning, Paul and I were tearing the house apart looking for a copy of the deed to the house (paperwork needed to register for kindergarten – really??). It was a tense 10 minutes, and we never did find it.

Enough was enough.

So on Friday evening, I broke the news to Paul. I told him we had no plans for Saturday which meant we were going to wake up and tackle the office. He looked less than enthused.

But look what we did.

And we didn’t stop there! We tackled the storage room in the basement…

The kitchen counter…

And the kitchen junk drawer…

You have one of these right? That drawer that gets everything but there’s nothing really in it except scotch tape, lighter and a wine key.

Seriously, it makes me so happy. We hosted Sunday Family Dinner this weekend, and I gave our family a tour of the study. Sounds silly but you should try giving yourself the amazing gift of no clutter.

For me, it has transformed our study. And in just a matter of hours, this spot…

…became my favorite.

Dream Big. Build Smart.