I have a new project - the den. This page is going to trace the transformation of the den to a usable space in our house. My intent is to write concise descriptions of the work I did in the Notes column.
Day of Week
Date
Time Spent on Project
Notes
Sunday
20160828
5 hours
As an overview, this is what the den looks like now:
To the immediate left when walking in
Continuing along the left wall
Continuing along left wall
Kittycorner from the door
From the corner that is kitty-corner from the door, looking left
From the corner that is kitty-corner from the door, looking towards the left wall
Closeup of the tall CD rack
The spindles of CDs that sit on the file cabinet in the closet
Why, yes, I have a bunch of stuff in my den! And it all needs to be moved out of the den so that the desk below, which has been purchased and is now sitting in the main part of our basement, can be moved into the den. We bought it from a guy who is moving from Coralville to Chicago. He originally asked for $1100. We got a 36% discount and paid $400. I want to have all of this work done by Thursday, September 15. That is in 17 days. Of those 17 days, I anticipate being able to actually do the work I know I need to do 12 of those 17 nights. I am declaring, right here & right now, that if I cannot complete this project in 12 nights, I need to hire a professional organizer. I will say that it sounds like there is a lot of time (12 nights) but in total hours, I'm guessing it is ~24 hours. I am using 2 hours for each of those 12 nights as I have other things going on in life that cannot simply sit and fester. It is going to be a challenge.
On Sunday, 8/28, this is the work I did:
Took "before" pictures
Moved the desk from the original owner's den on the first floor of his house all the way down to our house's basement. Tim (the seller), his friend, Ezra (my neighbor), Alex, Karen, and I worked at various times from 4 PM to 7 PM to do this.
Started going through all the stuff in the picture by tossing unneeded papers into a box for recycling.
Monday
20160829
5.5 hours
On Monday, 8/29, this is the work I did:
Went through the 2 door wood cabinet.
Put CDs onto spindles - Alex worked on this independently while I filed papers from the two door wood cabinet and watched WWE in the main part of the basement.
Helped Alex finish putting CDs on a 4th spindle.
Tuesday
20160830
2.5 hours
On Tuesday, 8/30, this is the work I did:
Moved the empty wood rack of CDs that now has its CDs on the 4th spindle out of the den to the basement bathroom. This is a temporary location.
Moved an empty two door wood cabinet out of the den.
Stacked and boxed a lot of CD cases. There are about 150 remaining to process from the second CD rack.
Carried the tall box of paper to the curb to be recycled.
Moved a stack of "bad" CDs to a specific bin so as to keep them separate from the "good" CDs. A "bad" CD is defined as one that wouldn't rip; a "good" CD is defined as one that ripped properly when inserted into a CD drive.
Moved a PC tower out of the den to the area by the foldout couch.
I had the following videos playing in the background as I worked in the den:
METALLICA - GREATEST HITS - BEST OF MIX (Riffs/Solos)">METALLICA - GREATEST HITS - BEST OF MIX (Riffs/Solos)
Wednesday
20160831
1 hour
On Wednesday, 8/31, this is the work I did:
Put CDs onto spindles and took ~200 CD booklets and inlays out of cases. Alex sat next to me and insisted upon listening to "his music" such as I Prevail, Pierce the Veil, & A Day to Remember. I insisted that we quit working on the den at 10 PM.
Note: We met with our financial advisor from 6:30 - 7:45 and then I mowed the front yard before doing any work on this project.
Thursday
20160901
1 hour
On Thursday, 9/1, this is the work I did:
Organized the existing den so that I would have more room to work by moving boxes of empty CD cases out of the den
Put more CDs onto spindles and took CD booklets and inlays out of cases.
Note: I finished mowing the yard, worked on the above items for 1 hour. Then I helped to gather items on Megan's "bring with you" list to Elkader, ate supper, and spent time with Karen watching "Shark Tank" and then a special about the new tower at the site of the 9/11/2001 attack. Fell asleep on the couch.
Friday
20160902
0 hours
On Friday, 9/2, I did not work on this project.
Saturday
20160903
0 hours
On Saturday, 9/3, I did not work on this project.
Sunday
20160904
0 hours
On Sunday, 9/4, I did not work on this project.
Total
Hours
for the week
15
Monday
20160905
2 hours
On Monday, 9/5, this is the work I did:
Put CDs onto spindles.
Organized the remaining CDs that need to be reviewed on the tall CD rack. The current remaining CDs on this rack are:
200 CDs in cases
60 CDs that will fill up a spindle that currently has 40 CDs
an unknown gigantic stack that could have CDs and could be empty. I think the majority are empty CD booklets and inlay cards.
Tuesday
20160906
3 hours
On Tuesday, 9/6, this is the work I did:
Stopped at the North Liberty Police Department and picked up 4 x 100 spindles, plus a 1 x 50 spindle.
Finished the removal of the remaining CDs that were on the tall CD rack off of the rack and onto spindles.
Packed the top shelf of the tall CD rack.
Moved the tall CD rack out of the den.
Moved the second empty wood rack of CDs out of the den to the basement bathroom. This is a temporary location.
Packed the top shelf of the tall CD rack.
Unattached the legs on the Foosball table and moved it out of the den - Alex unattached the legs and I helped carry it out of the den.
Moved the bins & boxes with empty CD cases out of the den.
Wednesday
20160907
3 hours
On Wednesday, 9/7, this is the work I did:
Carried all but the following out of the den:
The old desk because we needed to confirm Dave & Chris do not want it back (just found out on 9/8 they do not)
a TV tray with our router sitting on it.
Karen pointed out that since the den is empty, it would be the opportune time to have it painted. She called the painter dude that painted Megan's bedroom last year and left a message. Hopefully, that direction is determined quickly as I am anxious to move the new desk in to the den. Because I don't expect the den to be painted Thursday or Friday - we haven't even picked out the paint color - I'm targeting the AM of 9/10 to write reviews of the following CDs:
Adelitas Way's Getaway
Bayside's Vacancy
Pierce the Veil's Misadventures - just confirmed with their publicist I have a pass to their concert on 9/14 in Clive, IA, with I Prevail & Neck Deep - Alex has become a HUGE I Prevail fan.
Thursday
20160908
3 hours
On Thursday, 9/8, this is the work I did:
Continued sorting the CD booklets & inlay cards by letter. Alex helped me. I forced him to listen to Anthrax's "I'm the Man" after discussing the merits of them as well as Metallica.
Moved the desk from the den to the landing area on the kids' floor. There is already a desk on Megan's side of the landing so the desk was moved to Alex's side. We are keeping it in case he needs it when he moves into an apartment after he graduates from Iowa City West in Spring 2017.
Note: I mowed the entire yard before doing any work on this project.
Friday
20160909
1.5 hours
30 minutes at Sherwin-Williams; 1 hour in the den
On Friday, 9/9, this is the work I did:
Went to Sherwin-Williams to pick out paint
Prepared for the room to be painted on Monday, 9/12/2016:
Moved the white fan to the other part of the basement
Moved the folders I brought IN to the den for the CD booklets / inlay cards OUT of the den. I had spread out the folders to make it easier to sort them - the other part of the den has zero space for working on that task.
Moved the stack of CD cases that have no CDs, no booklets, and no inlay cards to the bookshelf within the closet. These are the cases that are ready to be put in the recycling bin. I had stacked them in a corner to see how tall of a stack I was dealing with.
Moved the two stacks of CD cases that have no CDs, but do have CD booklets and inlay cards in the case to the bookshelf within the closet. I had stacked them in a different corner than the "recycling bin" empty cases to see how tall of a stack I was dealing with. I had to start a second stack because the first stack went up to the ceiling. The second stack was approximately 3/4ths of the height of the wall.
Saturday
20160910
60 minutes (rounded up for ease in calculating total project time)
On Saturday, 9/10, this is the work I did:
Looked at the paint swatches from Sherwin-Williams with Karen to envision what the paint we agreed would look nice would look like in the AM lighting.
I did submit the Pierce the Veil & Adelitas Way reviews to Dailyvault.com
Sunday
20160911
30 minutes
On Sunday, 9/11, this is the work I did:
Washed down the walls to prepare for painting
Removed the plastic covers over the electrical outlets and light switches
Total
Hours
for the week
14 Thus far, I have spent 29 hours on this project. I did not intend to wrap the separation of CD cases from the CD booklet & inlay card into this project but it became necessary so I didn't need to use the 3 CD racks in the den after moving the new desk into the den. That said, it is undetermined if none of those CD racks will be used within the den. I have a good idea how much space will be required by the new desk, but until I am actually moving back in to the den, it's up in the air.
The den is being painted on 9/12/2016. This is what Tom, our painter dude, will see when he walks into the den @ 9 AM.
The color in the lower right is the color we chose.
The color in the upper left is the color we chose.
Monday
20160912
1 hour
The painting is complete!
On Monday, 9/12, this is the work I did:
Put the plastic covers over the electrical outlets and light switches
Moved the desk into the den and re-assembled the desk.
This work wouldn't have been completed without Alex and Austin, Alex's friend, who worked on this while Karen and I met with our financial advisor from 6:30 - 7:45.
There was a tense moment when Karen & Alex were unsure the height of the desk would be lower than the ceiling. I was never concerned about it as I had measured it and knew it would fit.
Dusted & used wood cleaner to make the desk sparkle - it looks pretty!
Tuesday
20160913
3 hours
On Tuesday, 9/13, this is the work I did:
Moved stuff back in to the den.
Wednesday
20160914
0 hours
On Wednesday, 9/14, I did no work on this project. Alex and I attended the Pierce the Veil / I Prevail / Neck Deep concert in Clive, IA.
Thursday
20160915
3 hours
On Thursday, 9/15, this is the work I did:
Moved stuff back in to the den.
Friday
20160916
0 hours
On Friday, 9/16, I did no work on this project. I went to the Iowa City West / Iowa City High football game (West lost).
Saturday
20160917
4 hours
On Saturday, 9/17, this is the work I did:
Moved all items that had been moved from the den to the main part of the basement back into the den. This was done on a timetable of needing to be done quickly. Due to plans to have Alex's friends come back to our house after their Homecoming dance, this area had to be 100% cleared of den contents. This included the following sub-tasks:
Moved the tall CD holder to the space between the wall and the toy cabinet in the main part of the basement - it fit perfectly!
Moved boxes of various sizes with empty CD cases to the back of the Ford truck, using it as a temporary location until Wednesday's trash & recycle day.
Moved the dart board into the den to where it was before (behind the door) and then moved it from the den to a corner in the main part of the basement with the rationale that darts should not be given the opportunity to put holes in the freshly painted walls.
Moved the 2 drawer short white metal file cabinet and old desk hutch back into the den.
Sunday
20160918
4 hours
On Sunday, 9/18, this is the work I did:
Organized the contents of the den.
Placed items onto the short bookcase (Karen's). This will store LPs, 45s, scrapbooks, and other items. After placing all items onto this bookcase, decided to move the bookcase to the right so that the white file cabinet could fit along that wall and not be immediately visible when walking into the room. It is metal and the other furniture is wood.
Moved the 10 year spiral notebooks on to a shelf on the new desk's bookcase and then, following Alex's advice, moved the 10 year spiral notebooks off of that shelf to a Rubbermaid. Those notebooks will occupy space on one of the bookcases in the den closet.
Monday
20160919
1 hour
On Monday, 9/19, this is the work I did:
Executed my plan to put all the stuff on or around the file cabinet in the closet onto the tall bookcase to see if it will all fit on the bookcase so I can then get rid of the file cabinet in the closet. I have been using the file cabinet for storing "stuff" instead of using it to store what is typically in a file cabinet. My hope is to be able to empty the file cabinet and whittle down its contents so it fits on the tall bookcase. If that can happen, I will
take a picture of the bookcase that is not in the closet with all the stuff on it
take a picture of the existing bookcase that is in the closet
empty the bookcase that is in the closet, which must be done so I can get the file cabinet out of the closet
remove the bookcase from the closet
remove the file cabinet from the closet
move the bookcases into the closet and put stuff on it per the pictures, including the 44 spindles of CDs
Removed about 50 empty CD cases from the existing shelf in the closet.
Tuesday
20160920
0 hours
On Tuesday, 9/20, I did no work on this project. I went on the Eastern Iowa Honor Flight with Dad and many veterans that bravely served our country.
Wednesday
20160921
1 hour
On Wednesday, 9/21, this is the work I did:
Removed stuff from the top drawer of the filing cabinet in the closet.
Removed about 50 empty CD cases from the existing shelf in the closet.
Thursday
20160922
0 hours
On Thursday, 9/22, I did no work on this project.
Friday
20160923
0 hours
On Friday, 9/23, I did no work on this project.
Saturday
20160924
0 hours
On Saturday, 9/24, I did no work on this project.
Sunday
20160925
1 hour
On Sunday, 9/25, this is the work I did:
Filed some financial information in designated folders
I did that while I was trying to finish ripping spindle #4 - there are 14 CDs remaining.
Monday
20160926
1 hour
On Monday, 9/26, this is the work I did:
Filed some financial information in designated folders
I did that while I was trying to finish ripping spindle #4 - there are 6 CDs remaining.
Tuesday
20160927
1 hour
On Tuesday, 9/27, this is the work I did:
Filed some CD booklets & inlays in designated folders
I did that while I was trying to finish ripping spindle #4 - there are 6 CDs remaining.
Wednesday
20160928
1 hour
On Wednesday, 9/28, this is the work I did:
Filed some CD booklets & inlays in designated folders
I did that while I FINALLY finished ripping spindle #4!!!!
Thursday
20160929
0 hours
On Thursday, 9/29, I did no work on this project.
Friday
20160930
0 hours
I am considering this project "done" as the remaining work I have to do is organization. I am not going to track these tasks because these tasks are likely to stretch out across the rest of 2016. The following high-level tasks need to be completed:
file CD booklets & inlays in designated folders
file the gigantic Rubbermaid of CD booklets & inlay cards into hanging folders in the desk's file cabinet
replace the file cabinet in the closet with a bookcase
empty the existing bookcase in the closet which involves
filing the CD booklets & inlay cards into hanging folders in the desk's file cabinet
organizing board games
organizing miscellaneous other "things" that are there now
move the 24 notebooks that make up the 10 year journal project into a bookcase shelf in the closet
Thursday
20171102
0 hours
It has been 399 days (1 year, 1 month, 5 days) since I last updated this page. While I considered this project "done" 399 days ago, the remaining work I wanted to do - organizing - is not totally done. While I believed "these tasks are likely to stretch out across the rest of 2016," the truth is that I am not 100% complete with all of the following high-level tasks:
file CD booklets & inlays in designated folders
file the gigantic Rubbermaid of CD booklets & inlay cards into hanging folders in the desk's file cabinet
DONE!replace the file cabinet in the closet with a bookcase
DONE! empty the existing bookcase in the closet which involves
filing the CD booklets & inlay cards into hanging folders in the desk's file cabinet
organizing board games
organizing miscellaneous other "things" that are there now
DONE! move the 24 notebooks that make up the 10 year journal project into a bookcase shelf in the closet
So what has been done. I now have the black metal file cabinet in the sump pump room. I have the two bookcases in the den closet. As noted above, I do not have the CD booklets & inlay cards filed. They will not be filed in the desk file cabinet. I might be able to have a drawer in the black metal file cabinet for them, but that will depend upon some reorganization (not done) of the files I have in the desk file cabinet. I have some of the CD booklets & inlays filed into hanging folders, but I am not even CLOSE to being done. I will say that it does feel good to have the file cabinet out of the den, though I have to confess: I only got that done on Sunday, October 29, 2017. My main motivation for doing it on that day was so I could update this page with some success! (GRIN)
Saturday & Sunday
20190105 & 20190106
8 hours combined
I'm weighing my options about how to deal with the mess that I had previously not dealt with for a very long time. Over the weekend, I finally began to address the mess. Back on 8/29/2016, (2 years, 4 months, 1 week, 1 day or 860 days ago) I started the task of putting my CDs onto spindles (per my own blog page). As I did this, I would put the CD booklet & inlay card into a large Rubbermaid, which I would eventually store in the den. My intent was to organize the CD booklets & inlay cards into hanging files, by initial letter of the artist. Thus, the "A" hanging folder would have all of my AC/DC & Anthrax CD booklets & inlay cards of CD inlay cards. The intent was that if I ever wanted or needed to look at them, it would be easy for me to do. According to my own tracking of this project, I first identified this task on 9/30/2016 . . . and did no work on it. I noted on the blog page that on 11/02/2017, I had not completed this task. It was simply not a high priority in my life. Given the choice to work on it or something else, the "something else" won.
If I could go back in time, I know now that I should have done the filing as I took the CD out of its plastic case. Instead, I created a gigantic pile of work. So, finally, over the weekend, I needed to do something with this large Rubbermaid.
My first impulse was to recycle them - put all of the CD booklets & inlay cards in the recycle bin and be done.
Then, I received a suggestion that instead of recycling them all, using CD wallets to organize them might be an alternative.
So now, I'm wondering what that would that look like.
For the sake of this exercise, I am rounding up my CD collection to 6000 (it's really ~5900, give or take a few). Also, the assumption is that every CD on one of my spindles has both an inlay card and a CD booklet.
It's been 184 days (6 months, 3 days) since I updated this page. I worked on this idea to put my CD booklets and inlay cards into binders for 1 hour last night. I've gone as far as to calculate that if I purchased 400 capacity binders (using the estimate of 6000 CDs to have a nice round number), I would need to purchase 15. As of this moment, on Amazon.com, a binder is $18.99, which translates into spending $284.85 on CD binders to do this. This is better than the $900 estimate in the row above, but still, that's $0.05 a CD.
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