project one : : the girls' room

Finally, the commencement of Project 1: The girls' room.

So I figured that the best place to start would be in a place that would set an example for the rest of the family - my room. Supressed, resigned angst of living in the same room with two very messy sisters, I've had several frustrations with the layout of my room and all the clutter that has been building up. Though three of us live very different lives (the youngest in university, the older sister working, and me...figuring out my life), they're all just as hectic...which very often becomes a quick excuse for being messy. And worse so, when the environment supports mess-creation.

I, however, am on a mission! A mission to minimize such behaviour (and the consequences of mess and general upsetness of disorganized lives) by simply changing the environment so that it'd work for us fuss-free (and fRussTRATION free).

So this is my problem (challenge, whatever):

Please excuse the amateur not-to-scale plan. But this actually is a layout of my room. I don't know if you can understand it, but there are two doors (indicated by two parallel short lines) and a long window (this is the blue rectangle). The purple rectangles are the beds and the rest of the squares and rectangular objects in the room are other bits of furniture.

Today, I tackle the layout of the two tables and shelf in the main area bedroom space - belonging to my siblings. Currently, the layout completely doesn't work for us for two main reasons: i) as you can see, the door doesn't open fully (as indicated by the big red arrow). It's seriously annoying to have the door bang into the shelf behind it every time we open it, or to have it restricted to a width of nothing more than a person to get through. Not to mention how irritating it can get when we want to access items hung behind the door! ii) the tables are not placed in a way where they can both be utilized at any time. The space between the beds and the tables are too cramped. In fact, the larger table by the window is a "dead table" which currently serves no purpose except for lots of clutter-accumulation.

Here are some pictures of what they currently look like so you can have a rough idea of what I'm dealing with. Caution: Get ready to be annoyed...

Here's my door that can't be opened fully (watch that blood pressure!):

And here's the table by the window:

And this is how close it is to the beds...
Yes, the things below the table doesn't make it a very desirable table to sit at either...

And now for the head-on reality that we're dealing with:

Yes, as you can see...clutter galore.

But they're nothing that cannot be overcome with a bit of brain work and perseverance! :)

As I thought through the working and sleeping patterns of the sisters, I tried to find something that would work for everyone and this is my plan now:

And these are just the two tables in the main area. I haven't gone into my own table (which is actually quite alright), but then there's the shelf next to it (which is also a holding area for our ridiculously messy vanity area), and our open-concept wardrobe that currently looks like this:

Yes, I believe you have the right to gasp.

I will be working on this room over the next few days, and hopefully have something good to show at the end of the week. Will my solutions work out? I suppose the measure of how well they'll work would be whether the clutter reappears again - of which I'll just have to think of something else that works for us.

In the meantime, might as well stay positive. :)

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Tip of the day:

When reorganizing your room, consider the usage habits of the people using them. You need to answer the questions "Who uses this?" "How often is it used?" "When is it used" and "What is it used for". For example, my younger sister's desk (the one closer to the door) is used for studying, and she uses her table more often. This activity of studying requires concentration and private space where people won't disturb her. Placing her desk close to the door wasn't a good idea as people will be walking in and out of the door all the time. She sometimes studies late into the night, so pushing her table all the way next to her bed would create a private space for her. Not to mention placing it facing the window would be good for study/computer breaks.

Also, ask yourself "What are the problems that this person is currently facing?" or "Is this the right furniture to serve this person's purposes?" There are sometimes very easy and cheap alternatives to create a more efficient system. Think of other furniture in the house that are currently underutilized and might help.

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