PROGRESS!

Progress was made this weekend! I actually had a crapload of stuff to do for work, in addition to some final Christmas shopping and knitting to get done. And yet, I decided to put that all off and work on Project DeLampification. So the trick to getting me moving was just finding things that I dreaded even more than tackling the Lamp Room.

That's right. Check it out. Clutter? Eliminated. Crafting & sewing materials? Organized. Lamps?

...

Okay, no lamps have actually left the room. But three of them have been reassigned to new duties! So now it's just down to four fixtures looking for employment. Luckily, my sister and her husband just bought a new home that has about twice as many rooms. I'm sure some of those rooms would enjoy the addition of a warm glow. Like it or not, my sister and brother-in-law are getting lamps for Christmas. (And yes, that is a laundry hamper of yarn in the corner. I may have gone on a little shopping spree at Jo-Ann Fabrics the other day.

I even did a little feng-shui-ing to the furniture, thanks to a healthy bout of elbow grease, grunting, and a possibly strained lower back. (Note: I don't actually understand anything about the practice of feng shui. I just inappropriately use that phrase anytime I rearrange furniture into a more practical arrangement. Makes it sound more impressive than moving-stuff-around-until-you-no-longer-run-into-chairs-and-bookcases-when-trying-to-enter-and-exit-the-room.) I picked up some canvas boxes last year during my first spree of reorganization (that was pre-lamp) and decided to pop them into the shelves. This is what I love about boxes and baskets: you can get away with looking organized without actually "organizing anything. I just dumped the things that had been on the shelves and in the drawers into the totes. Boom! False advertising. Just don't ask me where I put the power cord for the sewing machine. Or the extra glue gun sticks. Or my VHS tape of Riverdance. They're all in there somewhere.

Now that everything is cleaned up and a bit more blank-slate-like, I'm starting to get excited about the potential of the room. It definitely needs some work. The walls boast a few dings, and there's an actual broken hole in the closet door. But I'm excited to try something new. Thank goodness it's a relatively slow couple of weeks at work, since I plan on spending QUITE a bit of time on Pinterest. :)

Oh, one last mystery to the room: I still can't figure out which electrical outlet that light switch controls. That's the nice thing about having so many lamps: I was able to plug one in to each socket, turn them all, on then flip the switch to see which one went dark. No luck. Either these lamps are insubordinate, or the switch is just a red herring. All for show. Electricity is beyond my DIY comfort zone, so I'm content to leave that mystery unsolved for now.

Enjoy your "NO" for the moment, light switch. Your time will come...

Now I just have to figure out what I hate even more so than crowds and angry parent emails to get me to brave the mall and my inbox. Emptying the dishwasher should do it.