I mean really....

Okay, so this desk project took way longer than I had anticipated.  Not because it was such a big undertaking, but because I was attacked (yes, attacked) with some vicious sinus bug last week.  I have not been that sick in YEARS!!  It was awful and just now, a week and a half after my first sniffle, do I feel somewhat human again.

Anyway, I told you I would give you the good, bad and the ugly when it came to the areas in my house that needed some attention.  I joked here about what I might find in my cabinets.  Well....get ready because it was interesting. 

For Starters:

I mean, why WOULDN'T there be yellow jacket trap attractant in my kitchen area desk?

Even sadder, we bought the traps at LEAST 3 years ago.  I'm almost positive we bought them to have in the backyard for Emily's 5th birthday.  In 2010.  Nice.  

This is now put in its proper place in the garage with the actual trap thingies.

Next, I joked about the yellow pages that were residing on the top shelf of one of the cabinets.  I guessed 2009 as the year stamped on the front.  

Um.....In November 2007, I still lived in Virginia.  So that means that the bottom yellow pages was here when we moved in and has been here for the past almost 6 years.  

What.the.heck.

Moving on.  I always kept some meds in the one cabinet (with the yellow pages).  They were in a basket and then the ones that we used more often, were just casually thrown on the shelf.  Well, I went through all of them today.  In the basket, were a TON of expired medicines.  

Just rancid old medicines taking up valuable space.  They have been properly disposed of now.

The other ones are put nicely in a box and placed up on the highest shelf.  I am looking into one of those locking box things, but for now this will do

I found this bag of art supplies that I used for Emily's Angry Bird party in 2011.  Why they were just thrown in a cabinet is beyond me.  Out of sight, out of mind, I suppose

If you want to see more from that party, you can here

Okay, moving on.  I kid you not, I JUST bought Thank You cards at Target the other day.  And then look what I found living in my desk area

A ton of pretty little cards.  Just waiting to be written on and mailed out.  I also found invitations to Allie's 5th and 6th birthday parties.  She'll be 7 in March. 

And the most ironic find of today?  This little jewel

Organizer Pro.  "The simplest way to get organized"

Ha!

There were more interesting things.  Insurance statements from March 2012, preschool valentine lists (I haven't had a child in preschool in over 2 years), and the list goes on. 

The important thing is that I went through it and it is done, right?

Right.

If you have been to one of my Clever parties, you know that I give out organizing facts.  One of those facts is "About 80% of the clutter in your home is a result of disorganization, not lack of space"

I am here to tell you that is TRUE!!!!  I was convinced that I needed to buy another desk and set up shop somewhere else because I "didn't have enough room in this desk"

So wrong.  So, so wrong.  Embarrassingly wrong. 

After I cleaned everything out, and put stuff in its "right" place, my desk cabinets look almost bare!  It's almost like I have TOO much space now!  Big change!

So here is the after:

 Not a big change, but I did move my printer to the left side so that I can have a notepad on the right.  Since I am right handed.  It just makes it work a lot easier for me.  I also cleaned out the 18000 pens that I had in the caddy next to the computer.  A girl only needs so many black pens.  Am I right?

I put a different filing system up for my business supplies and, once I finish filing everything, I will be able to access it much easier.

Now onto the inside:

As a reminder, this was the BEFORE:

And now---in it's uncluttered glory:

I mean, it looks practically empty, right??

The green box holds my stationary and the blue box hold incoming mail.  My camera and photo paper are there, along with the box of (non-expired) meds on the top shelf and some office supplies on the bottom shelf. 

Beautiful, right?

The other cabinet was just as bad BEFORE:

And now?

I almost can't even handle it.  It's amazing, right?

Remember this hot mess before?

Well, guess what?  It is EMPTY now!  Completely empty!  I did find a bag of cookie cutters in that cabinet when I started cleaning it out.  Cookie cutters that we used in play-doh.  Oh, about 3 years ago!  Anyway, it is totally empty now.  We are thinking of putting our pet food in there, but for now I am just basking in it's clean glory.

So there you have it.  My desk is done.  You will notice there is no after picture of my cookbook cabinet.  I decided to leave it alone.  I did straighten it up a little, but for now it's good.  If I get anymore cookbooks, I'll have to purge some, but that system works for me for now.

What do you think?  Not a drastic overhaul, but much more user friendly now, right?  Thank you for not judging and for being patient while I fought the good fight against my sinus'.

I will be tackling my hall closet and foyer next.  Stay tuned!