I had a nice black bookshelf in my office. For the first few weeks it looked like this.


Pretty piles of fabric, colorful ribbon neatly organized, all my favorite trinkets delicately placed together. Dear Etsy, please come take photos of my beautiful shelf for your featured office space–it’s so charming.


Then it started looking like this. The truth is, I don’t do crafts in this office. We decided I needed a writing office void of shipping boxes, hot glue droppings and overflowing boxes of trim and fringe. I’m so totally spoiled that we actually have an extra room where my husband and I both store our stuff–his books and my fringe.


At first I thought the solution would be to move the shelf where it could be visible to anyone who walked in the house. I hoped that would keep me accountable and force me to not let the shelf clutter get out of hand for fear of embarrassment. I figured out that I have no shame and I am not embarrassed in the least by a cluttered shelf. Seeing the clutter simply drives me crazy.


The problem was, I really didn’t USE anything on the shelf in that space. I just liked that stuff. All I really needed was a place to organize papers. I didn’t need magazines and crystals and dominoes and an unopened box of books.


And, to top it off, I had a problem area in my house where I actually NEEDED to use the shelf.


It was time to edit and delete. Actually, it was more like cut and paste. I can’t wait to show you where this shelf was actually needed. I can’t believe I could have been actually using this shelf in a way that really helped our family stay organized. It was being wasted in my office. I really dreaded moving it because if it didn’t work I didn’t want to have to move it back but it was SO worth it.

Do you have a piece that you are not using to it’s full potential? Maybe it’s the solution to a problem in another room.