the domino effect

The whole craft room cleanup project became necessary because a few months ago, I moved the desk that was in the craft room into the living room.  I did this after I switched from a big, unsightly desktop computer to a nice little laptop, because I don't mind having the laptop on display in the living room. 

It has been pleasant to sit here when I write.  Our living room is bright and airy, and is farther away from the catbox than the craft room is. :)

This area is obviously still a work in progress -- I need to buy a lamp and get the bulletin boards and cubby filled up.  I want it to be a pretty work area, and I don't want to spend money on anything other than the lamp, so I'm going very slowly. I will post photos once it's all done.

But the desk is where the three tall bookcases used to be, so I moved those into the dining room for awhile. But that wasn't working for me, because it made the already-small-and-dark dining room feel even more claustrophobic.  

So Bob and I purged a bunch of books -- no treasures, just paperbacks and reference books we no longer use -- and that helped get us down to one-and-a-half tall bookcases full, rather than three.  So I'm trying to work those books into the craft room now.  (The low bookcases remain where they have always been, and are full.)  

I tend to start these chain reactions that would make a more fastidious husband cringe, because I will have three entire rooms in an uproar until I sort everything out.  I'm thankful Bob doesn't care. 

I am so determined that we can live comfortably and well in a small house, at least until Claire is six feet tall and is bringing her whole basketball team home for dinner. We might need to rethink things then.  :D 

But for the time being, I'm convinced that as long as I take inventory a few times a year and move things around when something is no longer serving our needs, this is a very good house for us.   Even though this is work, it's much less work than moving into a new house.  And it's a fun challenge, to declutter and make everything fit. :) 

Do you start these big chain reactions of organizing in your house, too, or are you better about just doing small projects one-at-a-time?