So, my hubby and I had a long conversation the other day that basically went this way:
Hubby: I know you love participating in your little swaps, getting free things in the mail, making things for charity.
Me: Yes I do, it is fun!
Hubby: I understand that, but you must understand our home is small and bursting out at the seams. You need to get rid of some of the clutter.
Me: (Of course I am on the defensive...haha) You don't have clutter?
Hubby: (Always level headed) I am not saying I don't, all I am saying is YOU need to stop bringing more things in the house.
Me: Okay, I will do my best!
The next day, I filled a bag of boys up for a friend from toys our little man no longer plays with, which emptied out his toy box quite a bit and made room for all the toys sitting around everywhere. The girls cleaned their room and tossed out a few things.
I sold the bread maker I just purchased for $20 a few weeks ago (I simply had to have fresh bread!) for $30 yesterday and today, I have a lady stopping by to pick up my 5 volumes of Natural Healing Guides (what was I thinking when I purchased those).
I am also donating a beautiful quilting planner to Shawnee's latest apron swap. It was given to me, however, I never used it as I have a Franklin Covey planner and use it as much as I can.
I have up for sale right now, many things to de-clutter my home...beautiful ceramic Desert Rose baskets and platters(not the old ones)/an old sewing table/antique glass lamp/a huge part of my stash/donating Christian books to our church library and tossing old clothing.
Hubby is right, we need space!
Me: I sold the bread maker and even made a profit.
Hubby: You just bought that, why are you getting rid of it?
Me: You were right, we need more space and less junk. Besides, I like making homemade bread with my hands.
Hubby: Don't start going overboard with what I said....meaning, don't start getting into my space and thinking you are going to get rid of things!
We aren't made for chaos, the Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 14:40: 'Everything should be done in a fitting and orderly manner.' However, my plan for organizing will not fit your lifestyle and the things you do I may not be able to do, organization is what works best for each of us in the least amount of time.
For example, our home is small. When you walk into the living room, you are in the living room, no foyer, no entry way, no special place to stop and look around, you are in! However, my husband and grands used to come in the door and everything from backpacks to shoes to rain gear wound up scattered in the living room. By the end of the day, there wasn't a space that wasn't covered. Including My DESK!!
We put up backpack/jacket hooks in the mudroom, over the door coat rack in the living room, girls bedroom and hooks inside closets. I moved a sofa table to the basement, placed a cabinet with door and drawers as close to the entry way as I could which holds, hats, gloves and scarves (this DOES work) & labeled the drawers so everyone has one.
I do my best when I am not working, to keep my roll top closed, that way people can't drop things on my desk. I even place my purse and keys on the coat rack in the living room (it WORKS), I have a basket on the floor for video game controllers and my hand weights...(it WORKS).
However, things that don't work are placing baskets in my bathroom cabinets even though they are labeled, because the kids toss whatever they want into them. Having a large lidded container under the bathroom sink for first aid supplies works, rolling towels kind of works, but having deeper than needed closets & no control over the size of these, doesn't work because everything gets pushed to the back.
Organization is individual. I am not always the most organized, but I keep rearranging things around to see if I can get better. I welcome comments, suggestions for things that work for you. We can all learn new things. If you have a tiny home as I do with no storage space, tell me what you do to make things work!
Have a blessed and organized day!
3 comments:
I soooo wish there were a magic bullet for organizing. Luckily we have lots of stuff in the attice, but... we need to get up there and go through all the stuff/crap. Ugh. Great job on your progress.
~Kimberlee
I really know where you're coming from Jean....we have a rather largish house for three of us.....but it STILL gets cluttered!....as they say, a place for everything....... If only we all could find it!!!
sugary hugs
Wendy XXX :O)
When we moved across country we found we couldn't take everything. We had to pay for excess weight. So we started to donate things to goodwill, give things we didn't REALLY need to neighbors etc. I found that the new house was ever so much nicer without all of the JUNK in it. We hadn't used most of it in years and years, and probably wouldn't ever use it again. If we REALLy needed something again, I decided we deserved to buy a new... whatever.. to use. I am much more relaxed, and even have gone through and tossed more and more since we have settled. It is liberating!
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