Rearranging Things -- Bag Count

I worked today to reconfigure the small bedroom space that has served as our exercise room, library, and general catchall space for assorted crap of all sorts.  It has, for years now, held a treadmill, an exercise bike,

and another piece of exercise equipment that is called a health rider.  The three pieces of equipment were crammed uncomfortably into the relatively tiny little room in such a way that it was a chore just to inch between them.  Added to the general chaos of the place, a large purple core strengthening ball rolls around in the cracks depending on what else we are trying to do in there.

At the same time, we've had various home office furniture scattered here and there -- a desk and a printer stand tucked into the living room behind the couch, and a two drawer credenza file acting as a catch all in the entry way.

Tom uses the treadmill regularly.  He likes to put the TV on and just go after it.  I seldom use the treadmill because the room itself is so ugly it makes me crazy -- I just hate to go in there.  Neither of us are frequent flyers on the exercise bike or the health rider.

I've been looking at it all for awhile now; poking at it in my mind; trying to make it all fit better and work better, and maybe even look better.  Gradually, I came to see a realignment of the parts and pieces that would make it all work better.  The simple story is that I moved the treadmill out to the space behind the couch where the desk and printer used to live.  I pushed the health rider and the exercise bike into opposite corners, and then moved the desk so that it is perpendicular to the book shelves, facing the window.  I moved the file cabinet so that it backs up to the desk -- making a sort of office furniture peninsula.  Then I put the printer stand at the end of that grouping.

• The little room is much tidier.  Looks neater.  Makes some sort of visual sense now.
• The space behind the couch is cleaner looking, without all that desk and printer clutter.  
• He and I can now use the treadmill without having to be isolated in the small exercise room.  Treadmill-ing can now be a more sociable activity.
• A large, unattractive, dusty, silk rubber tree plant has been loaded into the car to be hauled off to the second hand store.  
• Three sets of ridiculously heavy dumbbell weights (15 pound, 20 pound, and 25 pound) have been, likewise donated to Goodwill.  
• Likewise, the giant purple core exercise ball is on its way to Goodwill.  

With all of that, and a few other odds and ends cleaned out from the garage over the weekend, the "bag" count is up to 32, and things are beginning to feel more livable around here.