Well, today I came home sick from work and rested most of the day. I let my boss know that I wasn't feeling very well and arranged for my shift to be covered for tomorrow. I am starting to feel a little bit better now though, so I'm up to making a plan of attack for the family room.
Tomorrow, I plan to clean up the playroom. I need to make sure that I have the room to move the furniture around and into that room. Even though I won't be moving the furniture in there myself. I plan to clean the playroom tomorrow. (Which could be an organizing challenge all it's own, let me assure you! And if there is going to be one next month, the playroom may very well qualify for it!) Once the playroom is clean enough, I plan to move the boys' guinea pigs down to the relaxing room in the basement. Okay, so I just totally made up the name of the room, but that's really what it is there for. It isn't pretty but it has a couch and not a lot of distractions, so therefore, relaxing room. Better than our family term for the room, which is Area One.
So, anyhow, I will clean out the guinea pigs' cage thing and move their table down to the basement to the relaxing room (which they will love because it's one of the warmer areas in the house) and I will get that all set up for the them down there. Before doing that, though, I guess I will need to move a dresser from the relaxing room (area one) to the guest room (area three). And then I will be ready to move the animals down there. The next step after they are relocated and set up downstairs will be to take apart the captain’s bed that is currently in the playroom. For the time being, it will be stored downstairs in area two. Then the area of the room where those things were will need to be cleaned up, walls scrubbed and carpet vacuumed. Then I can move some of Girlie’s play kitchen stuff to where the guinea table was. Then clean the area where Girlie’s play kitchen stuff was, scrub the walls, vacuum the carpet, et cetera and then…then I will be able to start the family room transformation.
To begin the actual transformation, I want to start by completely clearing off the entertainment center – which means that I will be creating a bigger mess to clean up a mess, but sometimes, you just have to do what you have to do, right? Right! So, everything comes off of the entertainment center. Then, once that is done, I can sort through the things that were on it. The wintery scene that was displayed on top of the center can be packed away in the Christmas tote that is currently being stored on the deep freeze, waiting for the rest of the Christmas items to be stored in there as well. While I am at it, I may as well go ahead and get the ornaments off the two trees that are still up and get them put away as well so that the tote can go downstairs to be stored away.
There is a huge mix of books on the shelves of the center that need to be sorted through. I am not in favor of getting rid of any of them, but I had actually planned on using these shelves for various gaming systems once it is in the playroom, but now I’m not really sure what I want to do with them. The way I’m looking at it, I could have the boys store their books in bookshelves next to their desks in the new den. Or their books could be stored in their room. Or they could store them on the entertainment center’s higher shelves and we can do something else with the gaming systems. I’m leaning more towards the bookshelves idea. We have two bookshelves in other rooms that are really not being used much and could easily be moved into the den to be used for the boys’ book storage.
So, that would take care of the entertainment center. Depending on how much strength and energy I have tomorrow, I may be able to take the TV off of it and get it moved into the playroom. Or maybe not. I’m not really sure yet. But if I feel well enough to move it out, then I can clean under it, scrub the wall and vacuum the carpet. I will store the books in piles on the floor close to the shoe shelf while I’m working on this process.
Once the entertainment center is taken care of, then I can do the couch and one end table. I will need to pull the cushion up, clean out under the cushion and spot clean the cushion itself. Pull the couch and end table out away from the wall, clean out under them, scrub the wall, vacuum the carpet and then that area will be good to go. The couch and end table will be moved into the playroom, opposite from the entertainment center.
The area directly under the middle window will be the spot where my desk will go. So, my desk would be the next item to be cleared off, moved out, cleaned under, wall scrubbed, carpet vacuumed, and then the desk moved into its new position. I can set the desk back up and then add in a lamp on each side of it, between my desk and where the boys’ desks will be on either side of mine.
The next step I am kind of unsure about. I know where the boys’ desks are going to go, but my dilemma is that I had planned to move the shoe shelf out of this room and to move the lower shelf in instead. But after talking to Hubby about it, his opinion was that we keep the shoe shelf in the room. I also thought that the dresser that is currently in our garage was in better shape than it actually is, so I’m not really that keen on bringing it in here after all. So, I think that with keeping these changes in mind, I want to put the shoe shelf where the entertainment center was. Hubby also vetoed the idea of moving the deep freeze downstairs. He would rather that we just keep it where it currently is – or at least in the room where it currently is. So, the new plan for that wall is to actually keep it in somewhat the same layout that it currently has – deep freeze, shoe shelf, then the armoire…or the armoire, shoe shelf, and then deep freeze. I may slide the deep freeze down the wall just for a bit of an extra change there. So, then the next step would be to clear off the deep freeze and move it out, clean under it, scrub the walls, vacuum the carpet there and the move it down to its new location.
The step after that would be to clear off the shoe shelf and move it to the spot where the entertainment center was. And of course, cleaning up under it, scrubbing the walls and vacuuming the carpet. I am considering some other options for shoe storage though, such as having the shoes stored on the floor of the bedroom closets. The shoe shelf may end up being used more for book or decorative storage instead. I really like that idea. It would be more for form than function, but it is also an idea that I really like. And since I spend more time in this room than I do in the living room, I’d like it to be a pretty room to me.
Okay, so then the next step I think, will be to move the armoire to the spot where the deep freeze was. One major thing about moving all of the furniture (minus the computer desk) is to be able to clean the carpets and the walls behind the furniture. Okay, so clear off the armoire, move it to its new spot, then clean under where it was, scrub the wall, vacuum the carpet. And, this is my favorite part – put up some 3M hooks for the kids to hang their coats up. I love it! I can’t even tell you how excited I am about that one little part. And one reason I’m doing that part slightly out of order is to reward myself for getting to this point.
Okay, so the entry area will be done, the armoire, (shoe/book/decorative) shelf, and deep freeze will be along the wall between the bathroom and playroom doors. On the other side of the playroom door is the computer desk. I want to clear that off completely, clean the glass top of the desk and scrub the wall behind the desk, vacuum under it, and then get things set up neatly on it again.
I will skip the stairs at this point and move on to the boys’ current desk areas. I will start with Boy B’s desk and completely clear it off. His desk will be moved toward the sliding door, where the shoe shelf was. The left side of his desk will line up with the right side of the far right window. Then, of course, the spot where his desk was will be cleaned, wall scrubbed, carpet vacuumed, and then the small table in between the boys’ desks will be cleared off, moved out, cleaned under, wall scrubbed, carpet vacuumed. I am thinking about taking this small table and using it either near the computer desk to hold additional items to free up some of the desktop area. Or I might use it elsewhere. If it fits in the area between the computer desk and the playroom door though, that is where I would really like to have it.
Last is Boy A’s desk. His desk will be cleared off, moved out, cleaned out under, moved into place, and the wall will be scrubbed and the carpet will be vacuumed. The right side of Boy A’s desk will be lined up with the left side of the far left window. Since the windows are centered on that wall, the way the furniture will be arranged will also be symmetrical, which I really like.
I will help the boys go through their desks and sort their belongings and help them get organized, using the boxes I brought home from work. Oh –now that I’m thinking about those boxes – I will put the cardboard piece for a winter storage divider in the bottom drawer of the armoire. I had been using it for my paper route at the end of the year, but since I am no longer doing that, I can use the drawer for winter storage instead, while there is still a need for it.
Okay, so once the boys’ desks are neat, orderly and organized, we will move the bookshelves down to the den. Because at this point, it will be a den. The bookshelves will be centered between the boys’ desks and the wall next to them. I think it will be cute. And then the boys can put their own books on their shelves. It will look really nice. I’m not sure exactly how easy it will be to maintain it and to keep the books protected from the shorter siblings, but we will try it. If it doesn’t work, well, we can deal with that and change it as needed. But since I am no longer working when the kids would need to be home with a sitter, it should work out well enough.
I also want to clear off the window ledge and dust it, clean the windows and the glass in the sliding door. I may also end up putting up a hook for each boy near their desk for them to hang their backpacks up. Girlie also has a backpack, but she doesn’t have homework like Boy A always does and like Boy B sometimes does. I may put up an extra hook for her over where the coat hooks will be located.
The remaining work will be mainly just checking to make sure that the main floor area is picked up, and then finishing up on the stair area, which requires the stairs being cleared off, the ledge being cleared off, the wall being scrubbed and the carpet vacuumed. Also vacuuming the middle area of the new den.
It is a lot of work to do, and I don’t intend to get it all done in one day, but I do plan to get some of the work done tomorrow while I’m home from work, if I’m feeling well enough to get some of the work done. Then, spend all day Friday and Saturday here at home working on it. I’m sure the kids will be tired of that room by the time Sunday rolls around, but it will be so worth it!
