The Master Plan

"Change in any area of life occurs when the discomfort of remaining the same becomes greater than the discomfort of changing."
~ Sandra Felton, Smart Organizing

It's safe to say that my "discomfort of remaining the same" finally outdid the desire to stick with status quo, and so the Master Plan was born.

My Master Plan is really just the skeleton for how I'm planning to go about this whole-house-revamp business.  I can't actually lay it out in much additional detail since every room will be completely different from the others, and I truly can't say what exactly needs to be done until I really get in there and start working on it.  However, I did want to pick one area of the house each month (to keep the process manageable both in terms of time I can devote to it, and money available for purchasing organizational items), and I did come up with a few general phases that each room will follow:

1. Phase 1: De-clutter
   It's impossible to know what I actually need to organize until I figure out what's in the room and split that out between what should and shouldn't be there.  This should only take one day to accomplish.
2. Phase 2: Organize
   After I get rid of the "shouldn'ts" in the step above, I can step back and assess what is left to organize, and what the best way to do that will be.  It might take me a week or two to collect necessary containers and other organizers, and then I should be able to put the room in shape.
3. Phase 3: Follow-up
   I'm sure that I'm not going to get each room exactly right on the first try.  (Although, that would be nice!)  I figure I need to give each room at least two months of use to see if it's working.  If not, I'll go back to re-assess the problem areas and try different solutions.

This method will apply to each area as I go through each month's project.  And so, without further ado, here is the monthly project list:

1. January: The Laundry Room
2. February: The Office/Music Room/Guest Room (i.e., the second bedroom)
3. March: The Closet in the Office/Music Room/Guest Room
4. April: The Filing Cabinet
5. May: The Kitchen
6. June: The Bathrooms
7. July: The Hall Closet
8. August: The Living/Dining Area
9. September: The Master Bedroom Closet
10. October: The "Back House"
11. November: The Master Bedroom

Sounds a bit like a tour of the Clue board game, huh?  (Jenna with the trash bag in the kitchen...)

The general logic behind that list was a combination of how much each place drives me crazy (see quote at beginning of post) and what time of year it would make sense to do some of these things (clearing out the files after taxes are done, doing the master closet when I'll be swapping out clothes for the next season, etc.)  This might be subject to change as I move forward, but I'm fairly certain the first three will stay in place, since those are the biggest "problem areas."

That said, I'm starting on Laundry Room: Phase 1 today.  I'll be sure to post updates as I go, and you can bet I'll be taking photos along the way to share.