Christa, Day 41: This Goes Here, That Goes There

Have a place for everything. Age-old advice, but it’s the best advice on keeping things organized. After you declutter. Read more here.

Or don't since the link is borked. Maybe Leo originally linked to this article, which was then at a different URL? It seems as good as any for making clear the benefits of having a place for every little thing. Which is easy, I suppose, when you're a minimalist. But when you're not, trying to find a, as in one, place for everything could very well require a spreadsheet. In the article I linked, I could name the location of everything except for my 2009 tax docs. Most likely, they're in the filing cabinet. Most likely. But everything in the post falls into the category "essentials." There's the minimalism again. If you asked me to pinpoint the location of, say, the glue sticks for my hot glue gun, the spray paint for my daughter's outdoor chair project, my rollerblades, and my wedding guestbook, I don't know if I'd be so sure of my answers.

I think that as one pares down and gets closer to living in a household that is focused on mostly essentials followed by a few things of beauty followed by toys (for the parents among you), it becomes easier to find a place for everything and put everything in its place.

It's something I was thinking about today as I washed a few dinner dishes and wiped down my stove. Specifically, how clean my kitchen has been lately, and my living room, too. Tidying up before a gathering of friends was easy last week, and the laundry is getting put away faster than every before. There has simply been less to clean and organize since I began the 72 Ideas in 72 Days Project, and I'm loving the change. I think I feel lighter, maybe even happier. Less stuff has translated into less to worry about - less to find a permanent place for somewhere under my tiny roof.

We're not perfect, by any stretch. There's still plenty in the house that has no place and plenty that still needs to be purged. I'm rather jealous of all the people who can give away or consign their baby gear without a second thought - we'd like to have another baby someday and so have kept everything from gear to clothes and it takes up a lot of space. It will be sad when my baby-making days are over, but on the other hand it will be awesome to slowly give away all the wee onesies when we don't need them anymore.

I don't have any real actionable item to speak of today. Just more of the same: decluttering, organizing, purging, and reorganizing!

Christa, Day 40: My Decluttering Crutch

I can't believe that we've already reached Day 40 of the 72 Ideas in 72 Days Project! We're more than half over and I feel like there's still so much to do and so much to explore in the realm of voluntary simplicity. And, yes, still so much decluttering left to do! Which brings me to today's idea:

Declutter before organizing. Many people make the mistake of taking a cluttered desk or filing cabinet or closet or drawer, and trying to organize it. Unfortunately, that’s not only hard to do, it keeps things complicated. Simplify the process by getting rid of as much of the junk as possible, and then organizing. If you declutter enough, you won’t need to organize at all.

This brings me right back to the Basement of Dorian Gray - which I talked about on Day 9 - and our household's bad habit of putting clutter out of sight. Eventually, it's out of mind, too. Until it gets bad enough to drive me absolutely out of my head, that is. I suppose not letting it get to that point is what today's simplification idea is all about.Organized clutter is probably my decluttering clutch. Why should I get rid of X, Y, or Z? Look at how organized it all is!

I actually just this second was forced to look at some organized clutter. In a lidded khokhloma bowl on the piano I've mentioned once or twice, my daughter found all manner of things: tiny shells, a wee hook, old Star Trek Barbie accessories, beach glass, etc. She's two, so none of these things were really appropriate playthings and none serves any actual purpose. Why did I stow them in the bowl? The quick answer is that I really have no idea. Might need the hook some day? The toys had memories attached? Who can say.

The point is that as good as I am at getting rid of the big things, the small things are my crutch. It's so easy to keep papers or tiny bits of sea glass or anything else that can be stashed in a corner or stowed in a beautiful lidded bowl from old Mother Russia. I'm not sure what my action item from here on should be... suck it up and learn to throw stuff out better? Small scale decluttering? Create a system for dealing with one type of organized clutter, like paper? All of the above?  I've been working on my kitchen drawers, still, and have encountered a lot of organized clutter. But I'm working on it, so it's all good.

Christa, Day 11: Editing. And a Zucchini!

*raises hand* Compulsive straightener here! As mentioned in a previous post, I almost can't make it through a room without wiping something, shifting something, or grabbing something to put back in its rightful place. However, that hasn't stopped me from acquiring TOO. MUCH. STUFF. Sometimes I think it's a uniquely American dilemma even though I know it's not strictly true. But you have to admit, we here in the U.S. certainly go about our daily lives surrounded by a near constant barrage of advertising imploring us to buy, collect, refresh, update, whiten, upgrade, etc. And while we're not big shoppers, I am the sort who somehow ends of just... acquiring things. Which brings me to today's list item:

Edit your rooms. One room at a time, go around the room and eliminate the unnecessary. Act as a newspaper editor, trying to leave only the minimum, and deleting everything else. Article here.

Since I did nothing yesterday but *think* about getting rid of big stuff and on top of that, had nothing profound to say about it (unlike my fellow contributors who addressed stuff like debt and the larger clutter they don't have), I am going to stand up right this second and do some impromptu editing. Just as a way to get started, mind.

What did I edit in less than five minutes of walking around my house?

• A red metal and glass gumball machine
• A potpourri tin shaped like a treasure chest
• A cut glass pitcher
• A silver butter dish
• A brass bowl
• A big round vase
• Two sarongs (that are being repurposed dress-up items)
• The contents of a wee glass box (flattened coin, 9/11 pin, another pin, etc.)
• A cat picture frame with a picture of our wedding cake topper 
• A getting-on-vintage leather Coach purse from when Coach still manufactured in NY

Obviously, each of those things had either value to me or meaning to me or was otherwise valuable to me at some point in my life. But for the most part, I had no idea why I had these things. Or if they were gifts, they'd been taking up a fair amount of space without being at least somewhat useful. Honestly, donating some of these things will feel a little odd, but I'd rather have the usable space than the stuff itself.

Does anyone else feel like that? And then feel a little guilty about it? At some point, years ago, I apparently lost my emotional connection to stuff.

P.S. - Tonight I decluttered my fridge by beer battering a zucchini and frying it up. That counts, right?

Christa, Day 9: My Dirtiest Little Secret

Truth: I am compulsive straightener. I like that everything has a place, and I like when things are in their places. Stop by my house most days and you won't see too much of a mes because I'm the clean as you go type, and my husband is, too. BUT my dedication to neatness comes at a price. I like to call that price the Closets of Dorian Gray, the Basement of Dorian Gray, and the Bathroom Cabinets of Dorian Gray. Not to mention the Pretty Boxes of Dorian Gray.

What's today's simple living list item?

Purge your stuff. If you can devote a weekend to purging the stuff you don’t want, it feels seriously terrific. Get boxes and trash bags for the stuff you want to donate or toss. Here’s my guide on decluttering. Here’s a post on starting small. More on purging below.

So what's the problem? Considering how many donation pick-ups I do each year, I ought to be a pro at decluttering and simplifying by losing the stuff, right? Problem is, I have a couple of blockages that get in the way of my ever doing a purge that goes beyond two boxes of said stuff.

One of which is my attachment to sentimental clutter and gifts. I realized only recently that yes, I am in fact afraid to get rid of items that I associate with special people or places because I'm afraid I'll forget those places without the things.

Which isn't true, and is actually kind of silly.

Second on the list might be the little voice saying "But I might need this someday!" Which is sometimes true, but mostly not true. And when it is true, I usually don't remember I have the thing I need until after I've bought a new one OR I can't find the thing I know I have. Considering that this doesn't happen often, having to buy the occasional new thing shouldn't bug me.

And third, being that I am a habitual straightener, I sometimes need somewhere to stash the "indecision items". That's the stuff I'm on the fence about. Do I shred it or file it? Donate it or make a pledge to wear it come winter. Where should spray paint really be stored if I plan to use it soon? And so on. The consequence is that my closets and basement and certain other areas are often full of stuff that needs to either be put away or tossed - whenever I happen to figure out which.

So today I finally felt like I had a concrete something to work on. Step one was taking photos of the problem areas, which I was going to share here but really, cluttered closets just aren't that visually interesting. Step two was actually doing some decluttering. Since I couldn't get to everything today, I chose one problem area to tackle: the front coat closet. Here's a before and after:




No spectacular change here, but the closet floor is ready for shoes and I hung up what needed hanging. I also organized our cold weather gear in preparation for fall and winter, and pulled a lot of stuff to either be packed away for future babies or go to the Goodwill. Or to where it actually belongs. In the next couple of days, I plan to do the same for the other areas I photographed. Like my daughter's closet, the cabinet over the toilet, and the "kitchen dump" that's supposed to be a temporary placement area for keys and mail but has a lot more in it than that.

Honestly, I do feel a little anxious about showing my secret clutter to the world - especially after the Attorney At Large's neat-riffic Day 9 - but I think it's healthy in that it will help me STOP STASHING STUFF IN CORNERS JUST SO NO ONE WILL SEE IT. Yes, I have clutter! Yes, I have stuff that never seems to find its proper place. Come over some time and ask to see it and I will. How about that?