How Far Have I Come? – Front Room January 2017

It has been one year since I started my Front Room Project.  Sadly I failed to complete this project by the end of the year as I initially planned.  I really did not even come close to completing it.  On a positive note, I have made significant progress.  I feel optimistic that I can and will complete this soon.  Even though I intend to keep working on the room, I will no longer be writing monthly updates on it.  Instead, I will do periodic blogs when I feel I have something significant to share.  For this final feature, I am giving a brief update on my December activities and sharing the comparison pictures with last month (December 1, 2016 on the left, January 2, 2017 on the right).  At the bottom, I provide an overview of the whole year, including progress made and future plans for each section, along with the pictures from the start compared to the current ones (January 1, 2016 on the left, January 2, 2017 on the right).

I had high hopes of completing the office area by year-end, but this did not happen.  I have however made more progress on that section of the room.  Most notably, I have unpacked several boxes into/onto the furniture.  On the bookshelves, there are a couple levels that are nicely arranged with books.  The rest of the shelves are still a haphazard mess of stuff as I try to sort through things to figure out what stays and just how it should all be arranged.  I have been going through all my paperwork files, purging old documents, and arranging the rest in the lateral file.  This is taking me a long time because I decided to thoroughly review everything so I could trash things that I no longer need.  I have moved my work space from the blue desk over to the new one.  I went on a shopping trip to The Container Store where I purchased a couple of nice stacking units that I plan to keep assorted supplies (craft supplies, kitty supplies, gift wrap supplies, etc.).  I also bought a bunch of dividers, trays, and random tools to organize my office supplies.  My husband finally finished replacing the last few outlets and light switches.  He also anchored my whiteboard to the wall in the open area of my desk.  Finally, I did clean another section of the floor.

From here, my next steps are to continue to work on the office side of the room.  I still have more sorting and unpacking to do.  The shelves need to be organized.  The black file boxes need to be emptied into the lateral file.  I am missing office supplies, so somewhere I still have more boxes to unpack.  I need to remove the pile of accumulated junk in front of the shelves, mostly Christmas gifts that need to be put away.  I need to finish cleaning the floor of all the paint spills.  I want to buy a floor lamp, a desk lamp, and some additional bookends.  I want to hang my diplomas and awards on the wall above the lateral file.  It does not seem like much when written out, but I know it will still take me time to complete it all.

  

  

  

  

Since this is the one year anniversary of The Front Room Project, I wanted to include some reviews of each section over the entire year.  Each section below has the picture from the beginning of the project and the one from this week.  I also included an update on where I stand in the project, including current future plans.

  

This is the area that came closest to being completed over the past year.  All those boxes are gone, leaving just one unpacked box of games and a random assortment of Christmas presents.  I have painted the walls a nice light blue that really brightens up the space.  The furniture has all been replaced with a line from West Elm called Modular Industrial that I liked because of the lighter unfinished look to the wood.  I wanted the room to feel a bit beachy when it is done without actually being too overtly themed.  I think the walls and the furniture I picked fit this desire.  I did change the furniture configurations a bit from what I had originally planned.  The desk is bigger than I thought I wanted.  The writing desk I planned to buy was not available when I went to order furniture, so I ended up getting the tall desk instead.  Now that I have it, I actually am glad to have the extra storage and space.  The taller desk though meant it had to go against the wall instead of in the middle of the room.  Since starting the room, we moved my very old desk (the one I used as a child) into the front room space from the basement.  I actually kind of like it in here, so I am thinking of keeping it, putting it in the middle of the floor, and using it as a craft space.  The non-desk wall is consistent with the original plan of some shelving and some filing cabinets.  I almost done with this area, and I am satisfied with the current result.

  

Although I have not even started to redesign this area, it still shows remarkable improvement due to the sheer amount of stuff I have removed.  I went through all of the random boxes and assorted junk that was scattered all over this side of the room.  Some of it was put away in other areas of the house, some of it was thrown away, some of it was donated, and a small portion remains here for future unpacking into this room.  There is a little bit of accumulated junk here, mostly from my husband’s last car cleanout, a purge of my stepson’s toy collection, and all the boxes arriving for Christmas.  Once I turn my attention to this side of the room, I will obviously deal with the last remaining items that should not be in here.  From an upgrade standpoint, we have only painted the walls and replaced all of the electrical outlets and switches.  After I am done with the office side, I will turn my attention to this area.  I have given a lot of thought to the area since I started, and I do have some ideas now about what I want in it.  I envision at least one more of the skinny bookshelves which will be used to display pictures, collectibles, and other pretty things.  I will have some big seating options, perhaps a chaise lounge chair and a loveseat, from the Bliss Collection from West Elm.  Then, I want an assortment of oversized throw pillows, beanbag chairs, and/or poofs strewn across the floor for extra seating and relaxing.  I probably will need a little table or two, but no real thoughts on exactly what type of pieces or where they might go.  Finally, I hope to get pictures and artwork hung on the wall.  I want it to be beautiful but relaxing.

  

There is not a lot of difference to see between these two pictures, but the assortment of stuff has actually changed.  I did pull everything out of the closet to sort through it.  The outerwear, gardening tools, and sports equipment went back into the closet.  Everything else was either relocated to an appropriate place or thrown away.  I do need to get some more appropriate storage solutions for the different tools and equipment, but there is not a lot of work to do on the closet.  It is basically being used as intended right now; it just needs spruced up a bit.

  

There also is not a big change in the stairs area.  The assortment of coats and bags hanging on the rails changes every month, but it never disappears.  I did remove the shop vacuum and box to the basement.  In the three foot area to the left of the stairs, I intend to put an entry storage rack with some shelving for shoes and hooks for coats.  This should hopefully move the stuff off of the railings permanently.  I have perused my options for coat racks, but no final decisions have been made.

I think this completes my 2016 Front Room Project series.  As stated in the beginning, this will no longer be a monthly feature.  Instead I will post periodic updates as I actually accomplish things worth sharing.  The next one will likely be a look at the completed office area, although I am unsure of timing at this point.

See you next week!