Well, Den, That's a Job Done

Some people talk about a guy needing a "man cave."  Yeah, well, I'm not so sure about that.  It sounds very faux-psychological to me.  But still, I have many hobbies, which are very important to the way I live my life, and so when we built the house, we did designate one of the rooms as "my den."  This room has served as the center of our financial work (definitely NOT a hobby) for many years, but it has also become the storage place for the objects related to my hobbies.

A few years back, I redecorated my den, and shared the photos on a Favorite Foto Friday.

Over the ensuing three years, however, my den became, well, ummm, you see, ummm.  Oh, I'll just say it.

It was a MESS.

I spent a great deal of time in the house alone over those three years, but very little of that time was spent in the den.  I would go into it to retrieve something, or to hastily put something in it, telling myself I would store that "something" in its proper place -- later.  But it didn't happen.  Stuff and things were stacked around the room on surfaces high and low.

Now, it's not as if the room should have been on an episode of "Hoarding" -- I don't have that much stuff.  But the room was not really usable, and it was certainly not presentable.  I had lost track of where some of my Great Courses were, I could not find some of the maps I had created for our Dungeons and Dragons sessions, and there were games which I had not opened since purchasing them, as they sat as the base of a pile of -- well -- stuff and things.

So, this past Saturday, I finally devoted the time to cleaning, organizing, and tossing what needed to be tossed.  The results are highly satisfying to me.  I'll share a couple of photos.

Desk, and the Star Wall.  Some newer Star Wars items have been added.




The dice are too pretty to put in a closet.  And they are used at least once a month, so this makes them easy to find.




The shelves continue to hold "a few of my favorite things."




I was able to organize my Great Courses more efficiently.  A single shelf holds the few courses I have not yet completed (on the left) and the course books for those I have completed (on the right.)




Need a closer look?





Then, of course, there is the closet, which looks innocuous when closed.




Buuuut when it is open, you can see the extent of my Magic: the Gathering passion.  (White boxes contain Magic cards, either in decks (which are more easily seen in an old post) or in boxes, sleeved and ready for putting into a deck.




So, that's a job done. Now, sharing the house again, and truly appreciating the ability to find my possessions -- especially my gaming possessions, I believe I am motivated to keep the room clean enough to be useful. At least, I hope so.

And if not -- well -- at least this is proof that it's possible.