Why is it that only the chronically disorganized and scattered, like myself, fall victim to magazine covers promising to cure clutter, once and for all. I don’t see neatniks, like my sister, whose house always looks perfect, perusing stacks of clutter-clearing articles, then leaving them behind, thereby creating more clutter. It’s the slobs like me who do things like that.
I am not entirely hopeless… I do seem to be able to develop some systems that are simple and foolproof enough that even I can maintain them. My spice rack, a small shallow built-in cabinet off of my kitchen, is always organized, with A-M spices on one shelf and N-Z on another. My pantry, while not perfect, is neat enough to be functional, with shelves for baking, breakfast items, canned goods, etc. But many of the other areas of my home are constant sources of chaos and stress: my desk area, the storage closet where I keep cleaning supplies and decorative accessories, the back door with its shoes and school papers and mail. As my mother in law said, when we discussed this today, sometimes it would be nice to have a long, uninterrupted block of time when you could just pull everything out of all the closets and start over. But who has that kind of time. Massive, days-long organizational projects are not on the horizon for me right now, so I am looking for very small, doable projects that will solve the little, annoying clutter problems of my life without too much time or effort:
Button Box, $15: You know those little packets of extra buttons and thread that you get when you buy a new dress? Well, I save those. All of those. I have a little (too little) decorative box in my closet that I have been stashing those in for years. In Eva’s room, the buttons go in an inconveniently located lacquer box. The problem? I don’t label them, or even attach them to a brand tag, so I don’t know which buttons go with which garment. Not only is this a problem when I actually lose a button that I need to replace, as happened recently with a beloved black dress, but it’s also a problem because I can never throw a button away because I don’t know if I still have the item that it goes with. Sigh. So I’ve decided that the best way to solve this problem is to put a small, pretty stapler and pen right near my new, improved button box. Now when I buy something with an extra button, I will staple the button to the tag, and possibly add a description, so I know how to match them up later. I think this box will be perfect. That way, I’ll never forget what’s in it.
Tidy Tablecloths: I really hate tablecloths, as a rule. They are such a hassle. But sometimes, the occasion calls for them, or I need to disguise an unattractive table or protect a beautiful one, and so I turn to the trusty pile in my linen closet. I hate having to unfold them all to see what they look like and what size they are, and the folding has inevitably left them wrinkled. So I loved a reader’s idea, in a recent issue of Real Simple, of hanging tablecloths and labeling each hanger with the size. Genius. They are accessible and unwrinkled… I might even start using them more often. These handy hangers, about $10, will help with that project.
Neat Necklaces: I am blessed enough to have two jewelry drawers in my closet, but they can’t begin to contain the assortment of bangles, beads and baubles I’ve accumulated over the years. And what’s always bothered me is that the precious gets mixed in with the disposable. That’s why I was so excited when fellow stylist Susan Burkett, in a recent visit with my closet, pointed out that I have one flat surface, on the side of my built-ins, that is not being used, and could be put to great use to hang necklaces. Love it. A frame like the one she pinned on Pinterest, above, would make it even cuter. Or I could follow my mom’s example and hang them on one of those special tie-racks stick them on a clothing rod. No more tangled necklaces, and I am more likely to wear what I can see!
Organizationally Challenged
Winnie says
Great ideas!! Thanks for sharing.