Hot Spot Alert: What's YOUR House Hot Spot?

First of all, grab a garbage bag.  Grab a laundry basket.  Set the kitchen timer for five minutes.  Run around and gather all the random garbage you find (garbage bag) and all the items that are not in the right rooms (laundry basket) that you find.  Set the computer down and.... GO!

Don't you feel better now?

There's one spot in my home that just drives me crazy.  It's my never ending hot spot.  It seems that nothing I do can get it organized or keep it that way.  The hot spot - my home office.  To complicate matters, I share the space with my oh-so-curious toddler.  Don't you just love the painters tape holding the desk drawers shut?  I doubt you can see the packing tape protecting the file cabinet.  Note the strategic placement of the pack n play - it is protecting our all-in-one scanner/printer/fax plus other random paper storage.  Lastly note that everything is perched precariously out of toddler reach - but this toddler is getting taller every day!

Now, if this room were like Hubby's home office, we could just close the door to either keep Buggy and his toys OUT or to hide the mess should friends visit.  Not possible with my office.  It is half of our family room so the other side is where our couch and tv live.

How has this hot spot impacted our daily life?  Well, when one of us puts Buggy in the pack n play and forgets to move it away from arms reach of the desk (and head-bonk range of corners), we find that Buggy stays very quiet but can get into a lot of mischief.  Also, this disorganization has been the cause of frantic searches for bills as the due date approaches.  You know how when something goes wrong with a service such as cable, and a phone call needs to be made?  Well, finding the paperwork for details on such problems is often quite tricky as well.

Over the next week, I will be focusing on re-organizing my office space.  I will post pictures as it progresses.  I am considering completely moving the desk to another room.  We'll see.  Hubby and I are shopping for a new TV stand this weekend that will hopefully move all the electronics out of Buggy's (and future baby's) reach plus offer more storage.  Today will be spent shopping for frugal organizational items.  We are also working hard on training Buggy that some things just aren't touched, but he was so lucky as to inherit the extreme stubbornness that afflicts both of his parents.  The fax machine buttons are just TOO tempting.

What's the hot spot in YOUR house?  I'd love to hear about it!  If you'd like, you can blog about it with pictures and I'll link to your blog or you can email me pictures and a story and I will share it here (penguinelk at yahoo dot com).

Lastly - do you have any suggestions for me?  Any organizational tips?

I also ask that you take a moment and vote for this sweet girl, Ashley's, car design for MS awareness.  She is struggling with this horrible disease while she starts college and she maintains such a positive outlook on everything!  Vote daily!  Get her car to round 2!  You don't even need to give an email address.  Tell a friend!

Oh - PS - That laundry basket?  Remember?  Set the timer for 3 minutes and put the items back in their homes.  Just 8 minutes total and your house is cleaner and more organized!