Taking Back The Junk Room

When we moved into this house 4 years ago, as we have done with every one of the 11 moves we've done in the last 17 years, we labeled boxes with colors to designate in which room each should go.  Our current house is 1,700 square feet but our previous house was 3,008 square feet.  Although every room in the previous house was most definitely not filled, we had plenty of room and storage, so it never looked cluttered.  When we moved into this house, the 3rd bedroom became a catch all for things that did not have a place in the the kitchen, living room, family room, bathrooms, B's bedroom, our bedroom, basement or garage.  The color assigned to this 3rd bedroom was black so it became known as "the black room".

We figured that as we settled into this house, we would be able to go through the boxes in the black room and either find a place for those things or get rid of them.  Four years later, some things have moved out of that room, but not much, and many more things that came into the house ended up there if we could not find a place for them.  I had always hoped it would be a bedroom for another child, but I need to let that go.

At my family's yard sale this past weekend, B got his great-great grandmother's rocking chair and I got an old kindergarten table.  I decided it was time to clean out the black room, put the kindergarten table and my great grandmother's rocker in there, and create a space for B to read and display his LEGO creations!  When I told B my idea, he was not agreeable.  He wanted the rocker to be in the family room so he could rock when he watched TV (he currently rolls back and forth or bounces on a stability ball when in the family room) and he liked building LEGOS on his bed, thank-you-very-much.  No matter what I said, he was adamant that he did not want that table and would not use that room.  The hubs and I told him that we'll just try it and if he doesn't want to use it that's fine with us.

Why, oh why did I not think to take a before picture of the black room?!  The hubs was off yesterday and we spent the day cleaning the house and cleaning out the black room.  I removed 2 bags of garbage, 2 bags of recycles, emptied 5 boxes and filled the back of my car with donations for Be Yoga's Garage Sale For A Good Cause.  We put in the kindergarten table as a LEGO table, my great-great grandmother's rocking chair, the gliding rocker from B's nursery that he does not want us to get rid of, my hope chest that was already buried in the room and a mirror that has been on the floor of the upstairs' hallway wall for 4 years!  Oh, and the supplies for Craft Club are nicely stored under the LEGO table.

My parents came over for dinner last night.  While I was making dinner and talking to my mom, my dad and B disappeared for almost an hour.  When my dad reappeared, he told me that B showed him his new "LEGO room" and asked my dad to help him move all his LEGO creations that were scattered around his bedroom to his LEGO room.  LOL!  My, how quickly B changed his tune!  ;o)  He has announced that he loves this new room and we have only gotten him out of it the past 33 hours for meals and to sleep!  Here is the room last night...

Today, B did his "Life of Fred" Math work on the stairs, as usual.  However, when it was time to do Story of the World for History, he asked if we could please work in the LEGO room.  While I read this week's chapter and then asked him the review questions, he built on the LEGO table and then did his SOTW map work on the LEGO table.

I am so happy and at peace with the use of this 3rd bedroom now.  And very glad to change the name from the black room to the LEGO room.  :o)