The Reveal

Can you believe the One Room Challenge is over? It’s been a wild month, and I’m so happy I participated. I cleaned and purged and organized and found some new treasures. My living room isn’t completely transformed, but it is wildly improved and a place where I can’t wait to host friends. If you’ve been reading along, you’ll know that’s happening soon too.

My apartment feels so much lighter now that I’ve cleared out perpetual pockets of clutter. I have clearer sightlines through the room, and looking out into the living room from my bed makes me want to get up in the morning and just be in this space.

Do I still have work to do? Yes. I have a sack of papers to shred that is lurking on my to do list. I have a partial bag of books to take to sell. I have to figure out a way to store my baseball caps. The great thing about the progress I made this month is that it gives me the confidence to tackle those tasks & gives me a new standard toward which I aspire.

I found solutions to so many lingering issues, whether an over abundance of books (get rid of those I won’t reread and get new shelving for those I want to keep) or an ugly AC unit that only gets used a few weeks a year.

Things I want to work on in the days to come? First, becoming a better stylist. I picked up a copy of Styled by Em Henderson this week, and look forward to figuring out how to make my space look it’s best. Taking unflattering pictures is great when highlighting the mess before, but not so much when trying to show how great my living room has become.

Second, keep on track of my mess and deal with items as they come in, rather than letting them build up for days or weeks or months. 5 minutes a day is much better than a few hours a couple times a year.

Third, enjoy the free time I have now that I’ve dedicated so much time to revitalizing my living room. I’m not weighed down by the burden of its messiness, and I now have a space to enjoy my evenings and weekends.