This morning I decided to clean the bookshelves in the office area. I knew that they were quite dusty and that there was some stuff lying around that really didn’t belong there.
As I started to remove and clean the books I decided to sort them out and see if I could cull any more. Getting rid of books seems to be fairly difficult for us but in the end there were nearly 60 books that have not made it back onto the shelves.
We have 2 identical tall shelving units from Ikea and it now looks as though one of them may be able to go to a new home. I am confident that we will never need more shelf space as we both have Kindles and buying a physical book is a rare occurrence.
Here is one shelving unit cleaned and all of the shelves filled with books.
These are the 2 boxes of books which will be finding new homes.
The other unit is a work in progress.
As you can see, there is quite a bit of spare space on the other shelf which is the reason I think that it can go. The random books are ones that I am unsure as to whether they should stay or go. I intend to re-read them and in fact read some for the first time. Why didn’t I read them when I first got them? Maybe I did not really like them. Anyway, I will be working on this pile over the coming weeks and deciding which ones I want to keep long-term and which can go.
The collection of Australian Geographic magazines will need to go elsewhere – probably the bottom shelf of the shelving unit in the lounge room. There is 23 years worth of them – we stopped subscribing at the end of 2011. I have never read them all so maybe it is time I did. I used to joke that I would read them when I retired!!
There is also a shoebox of stationery items which can probably go in the cupboard. Then there is the pile of photos that need to be sorted any scanned…………one day!!
This is the cupboard which holds the 4 drawer filing cabinet. I am in the process of trying to source a 2 drawer one to replace it as we have condensed the contents into 2 drawers. When this eventuates we will use the top of the cabinet as a shelf and add another shelf a bit higher up. There will then be plenty of space for the stationery box and photos.
If I had to nominate one room that is difficult to declutter, then the office would be it. Mind you, we have managed to get rid of quite a bit over the past year but there always seems to be more.
Do you have a particular room or area that is your nemesis when it comes to decluttering? Please share your stories.
organised castle 
Wow 23 years of magazines? That’s a lot to read. I love Smithsonian and even began to subscribe to it in digital format. Even so, I didn’t read it. I figure if it was truly that important to me then I would designate a time to read and I just never got around to that. It looks like you made great progress with the books. I had collected old books that I thought I would miss but I don’t. They all have a good home with people that will cherish and read them. I love Kindle on my phone because I can take it anywhere. Sometimes I miss the smell of a bookstore but I don’t miss having to dust, organize, or heaven forbid, move all those books. Bravo to you!
Thank you for your kind comment, CC and welcome!
I knew we had subscribed to the magazine for quite a while but I was gobsmacked when I realised just how long it was!! The magazines actually survived 3 house moves, including an interstate one, too!
Dusting books is one of my least favourite tasks. 😦
The loft. It is where our essential ‘home office’ and ‘library’ are. And it gets used as a make-do garden nursery in late winter, as my other half likes to start our earliest veggie seeds there (British summer is too short to do much direct-in-the-ground). So there is a combination of stuff such as you’ve been dealing with, plus stuff saved for sentimental reasons, and it’s always in use, so hard to designate a ‘clear out’ space.
The loft sounds like it presents a few challenges, although it is great that you can use it to start of the seeds. 🙂
Ah, the sentimental stuff – I think that is the most difficult of all to deal with. I have never tried it, but I have read that it is wise to enlist the help of a non-attached person to help you to assess sentimental stuff. Nevertheless, you would have to really be prepared to bit the bullet, so to speak.
Doesn’t it feel great to de-clutter? Great post!
Thank you. It sure does.
Like you it is the office which also seems to become a dumping ground and stores some of my sewing as well. The remainder of my craft is in the spare room with wool stored in boxes under the bed. I have two four draw filing cabinets and one houses all of my family history paperwork which is yet to be scanned. Still working on solutions.
Two x 4 drawer cabinets! This reminds me that I have not really got that much at all! It is hard work but you just need to keep plugging away at it. Best of luck. 🙂
I know someone who uses her filing cabinet to store sheets for the spare bed. Can you think laterally and store something different there?