You know how you start to look for an important piece of paper and it isn’t to be found, ANYWHERE. I have had that problem three times in the last four months. I have been been putting off working on our files since we moved to Iowa. There is so much that we just dumped in a drawer or cabinet when we moved back. I have been letting things like filing and organizing slide around here. I am an artist/packrat type person, my husband is the Engineer/keep it we might need it one day person, and together we have children that are a wonderful combination of our two personalities. We have been drowning in clutter. I would really like to say that I had planned organizing today several weeks ago and as it came up on my planner I got right to work. HA! Really, I am procrastinating doing something else.
Here is the before photo. I hate to share it but we are real people around here.
Umm, the toilet paper is for noses and dog ears.
This is the top of the dining table and my drafting table height desk, which I love but I had given to hubs to use when we moved back in. We have a spare door that belongs on the laundry room door but doesn’t work when you actually have a washer and dryer in the laundry room. So, it has been stored in the house in another room and was just waiting for this use. 
Here is the door on top of the filing cabinets, which are full of paper, which is the reason I started this anyway. The other reason I started this was to do this with our common everyday papers.
Isn’t it beautiful! I love how organized she is. So, I set out to do something along the same lines without running to the store. I have set a challenge for myself for the year to do as much as I can without buying new organizing things. I love her color coordinated notebooks, and it would look so much more put together but, I have a busy, busy life, and I won’t get it all together and keep it together long enough to do this.
This is my take on her organization method. I also added a front piece on each binder because, and there are two of us using these, and it would help to have directions. The perfectionist in me wants to rip that label out that is cut crooked and fix it. I am NOT going to obsess about this. IF this system works then I might revamp it later and pretty it up.
Here are some after photos of my desk and his desk. I am working on the files on his desk, so it is more cluttered than mine. I also wasn’t sure where he wanted his white board hung.
The green and red box is for paper to shred, which should open up some room in the file drawers. My Mom sent me this great link about which papers to keep and which to shred.
http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Money/Personal-Finance/Managing-Household-Records.shtml
To keep it all real, here is the photo of the table that I am still decluttering. Why does organizing always make things look worse before it looks better?
I am excited to have a landing pad for my laptop. I am determined to spend less time on the screen and more time with my family. So, I am going to try to treat my laptop as a desktop. We are also washing the dog beds and dogs. We did sweep and mopped thoroughly. The floor had been in bad condition since it had been raining, and the dogs have had access to this room only.
Talk to you later,
Karen