August Organization Project: Office Closet

I don't have any pictures of this one because I really wasn't prepared to tackle it. My thought process was basically, "Hm. I should work on National Boards planning. Don't wanna. Let's look in the office closet and see what I can throw out."

I did end up getting rid of one box. But not one box of stuff. I consolidated. Now there are fewer boxes and just a tiny bit less stuff.

I couldn't bring myself to get rid of the things in that closet for the most part. Shortly before I got married and moved into my husband's house, my parents moved out of their house (the one where I spent all of high school and stored all my pre-college life stuff). Consequently, I spent one weekend before their move packing up my room at my parents' house and stowing the boxes in Tyler's office closet. Most of what I could chuck, I chucked in Durham rather than hauling it into my new life with me.

So, while I didn't get rid of much yesterday, I did rediscover some treasures, such as...

• a "tooth pillow" in which to store lost teeth for the tooth fairy, made by Grandma Likness
• a doily and some figurines that I actually took out of the boxes and put around the house
• an album full of pictures and memorabilia of our childhood dog, including the song we wrote about her (really, we did)
• all my stuff from my study abroad semester in Finland
• a news clipping of my brother driving his race car at the Orange County Speedway
• scrapbooks from before the days of acid-free paper and die-cut shapes
• the best stories I wrote in elementary and middle school, all typed on the Apple IIGS and printed with the trusty dot matrix printer
• journals and other incriminating evidence of awkward adolescence that should probably be incinerated at first opportunity
• all the tumble-polished rock jewelry from Great Grandpa Boehm
• a gift from the museum guft shop from my best friend in first grade

And soooo much more. So, I pretty much labeled everything "for posterity," organized it by form and function, and put it all back in the closet. I know that professional organizers will tell you not to store a whole closet full of your misspent youth, but most professional organizers probably store their misspent youths at their parents' houses like normal people. So I'm keeping it. At least for now.

Getting My Foot in the Door

Remember how I said they should hire me to write for Unclutterer? Well, I'm on, sort of. Here's a before and after project post in which one of my projects is featured. The post is on the Real Simple: Home and Organizing blog, but blogger Erin Doland is the editor-in-chief of Unclutterer. Neat, huh? (Disclaimer: No, they're not hiring me or anything. I just sent in my pictures when Erin asked for before-and-after project pics. But hey...)

Is that a purse or a duffle bag?

There is no doubt in my mind that physical space is at more of a premium now than ever. Airline luggage is just one example. It used to be nothing for my grandparents to seriously over-pack and end up with their two carry-on items each, plus two checked bags each, every time they came to visit. Now, they'll be paying out the wazoo to do such a thing. Since my post today is more about everyday space-saving, I'll direct you to this post from Unclutterer for avoiding bag check fees at airports by packing more efficiently. I'm a pretty good packer already (winner for smallest/lightest baggage on church trip to London two years ago), but a lot of the pointers at Unclutterer are specifically for newer airport regulations and restrictions, so it is quite helpful.

As far as day-to-day packing, I do have a few favorites.

1. Space-Saving Items: If you must carry it with you, at least try to find it in a compact size. Some of my space-saving items:

• fold-up shopping bag from Target -- For 99 cents, I get a reusable shopping bag that folds to the size of a check book. The bag isn't huge, but it works for quick trips, and I don't forget to bring it into the store because it's already in my purse.
• fold-up hair brush with compact mirror -- Gotta have it, and it would be completely impractical to carry around a full-size hairbrush.
• teeny tiny flat Bible -- Not completely necessary to carry around everywhere, but nice to have at times. I got this as a gift. It is the thinnest one I have ever seen, and it's leather bound, so it holds together well. I think it would make a great backpacking Bible also, for my outdoor-adventure-seeking friends.

2. One item I wish I had: iPhone. In another great post by Unclutterer, Erin posts about iPhone apps that reduce clutter.

• planner: Instead of carrying a calendar or planner, use the iPhone to access your Google Calendar.
• wallet: Instead of carrying around huge amounts of store membership cards, take digital pictures of them, and put them in your iPhone. Sonja gave me a great demo of this on her iPhone. It really is snazzy.
• address book: Duh, you don't need one if all your contact info is accessible by iPhone.

3. Other stuff to remember:

• If you don't use it, don't bring it. I used to carry around one of those little tiny stuffed-in-a-bag rain slickers in my purse, but I never ever used it. Too much trouble. I keep it in my glove compartment now, and that pretty much does the trick. By way of another example, I don't carry Advil anymore. I only rarely need it, and it's usually at work, so I keep a bottle in a locked desk drawer at work. No more rattly purse.
  
• Empty spare change periodically. For as much as I do not use cash, spare change weighs a lot for little benefit. Put it in a jar at home, and buy something when the jar gets full.
• Carry in pockets when practical. The last thing I want to do at a concert is lug a purse. I'll put my driver's license and my debit card and maybe some cash in my pocket and lock my purse in the trunk. This would work well for movie theaters too if I could remember. Theater floors are gross and not really somewhere I want to put my purse.
• Carry a smaller purse. Instead of using a huge purse because you have all kinds of crap to put in it, try using a smaller purse so you'll be forced to take only the essentials. You'll be surprised by how well you can live off a small one in most cases.

Leave some reader tips on reducing carried clutter in the comments!

You can even organize your hair.

Whenever people laugh at me for putting a high priority on organizing stuff, I tell them that when my stuff is a mess, it usually means my life is a mess. Sometimes, getting the mess in order can at least symbolically start getting my life in order. That's the main reason why I like my stuff clean, simple, and organized. Yeah, it's all about control, but at least I admit it.

So, when my stuff gets out of control, that bothers me. Recently, I've been aware that when my personal appearance gets out of control, that bothers me too. For example, when my hair situation is such that I can make a hobby of picking split ends, the bathroom floor has a veritable brunette carpet, I have to dump Dran-o down the shower regularly every two weeks to clear the hair clogs, and I'm not even bothering with anything but a ponytail anymore, I finally realize it is time for a haircut.

So, I haul myself and my gigantic hair over to Leon's to visit Amy. Amy takes one disapproving look at me and says, "You haven't been blow drying, have you?" Uh... actually, I did blow dry this morning, but it probably didn't count, since there was no styling involved. (Try getting 8 pounds of hair dry. You won't want to style it afterwards either.) So, I tell Amy to chop it all. I want it jaw-length, layered, thinned, and parted on the side.

Half an hour and seven inches later, I have organized hair, and my life feels like it's in better order.

Crafty people have cool organizing stuff.

My mother-in-law is teaching me how to crochet. It's something I've always kind of wanted to do. I even tried to teach myself how as a child, but it's hard to learn the basics from books. I ended up getting frustrated and quitting.

Like many new hobbies, crochet can also tempt one to spend more money than is absolutely necessary on cool new stuff. And cool new stuff abounds in craft stores. Much of the cool stuff has the sole function of organizing the craft stuff. Nancy, my mother-in-law, took me shopping recently and bought me this cool crochet stuff organizer:

Someday, when I have more than one hook, they will all fit in here, along with the super-neat-o folding miniature scissors (which I love) and anything else I can think of. This thing rolls up and fits in my crochet bag. Fortunately, I did not need to buy a bag because I am a teacher, and canvas bags multiply like rabbits in my closet. However, had I needed a really nifty bag with specialized compartments just for crochet, the craft store would have been happy to provide it.

To my delight and probably future financial demise, WalMart also has a decent yarn and craft section full of the basics and the not-so-basics.

I know I have at least one crocheting reader. I'm looking for a good blog or two that might give tips and patterns for beginners if you have any suggestions.

And now, just because I'm so proud, here are some gratuitous crochet pictures.

This is my first completed project -- a dish cloth for which I learned at least three new stitches by reading a book:

And here are the granny squares that will eventually find themselves in a blanket, maybe for my unborn (and not-yet-conceived and not-to-be-conceived-in-the-near-future) child because it will probably take me years to finish:

I love the yarn I'm using on these. It's so soft, I want to crochet just so I can touch the yarn. (Tactile much?)

What are your favorite craft organizers? Anything you bought for your hobby because it was cool, only to discover you could have lived without it? Also, feel free to tell me how beautiful my stuff is for a beginner. :)

Summer Organization Project #3: The DVD Collection

I've been working feverishly all week trying to get this project done so that I'll have something to show for it. This was one of those projects that takes two weeks and causes a mess. There were DVD cases all over the living room floor for the length of the project.

Here's the old space:



This photo was actually taken last summer. I added two more CD shelves since then, which allowed me to get all of the CDs off the floor. It's hard to see in the picture, but the DVDs are taking up the entire bottom of the TV stand as well as all the space on top of the TV and all the space one top of the TV stand.

Here is the project in progress:


Here, I am in the process of putting all of the DVDs into plastic sleeves, labeling the sleeves, and then filing the sleeves in cases. I got the idea from this guy on Flickr. His is much more involved than mine. I didn't cut the case up or anything. I just put the DVD itself in the sleeve. We decided to save the DVD cases because we sometimes sell old ones, and the stores won't take them without cases. So, 3 18-gallan tubs full of DVD cases have now found homes in my closets, but the entertainment center looks a lot better. :)

Here's the finished product:


The DVDs are all hiding down here below the stereo:


Now, you can select a box by genre (thriller/action, comedy/romantic comedy, drama/romance, or horror/sci fi) and then browse the box alphabetically:


I used Snap-N-Store CD storage boxes, which are available at Office Max and other office supply stores as well. The boxes are economical at around $6 a box, they look good, and they store flat when you're not keeping CDs or DVDs in them. One box will hold 165 CDs or DVDs in sleeves like this.

My next step is to find a good cataloging or database system with which I could search electronically within all of our movies to find the one I want. (The catch is that I don't want to do a lot of data entry, or I'd just create a database myself.) Right now, there are around 400 DVDs in the collection. If you know of a good service (preferably free) that I could use to create such a catalog, please let me know! I'm thinking with all of the great book organizing solutions available on the web, there should be something for movies too.

Happy 4th, and happy organizing!

Practical Application

I'm going to try to keep it short today, since I have an organizing project to finish, hopefully before Tyler gets home. :) (If I finish it, I'll post it tomorrow.)

So, I thought that today I'd share a little bit of how my (three) readers have used the suggestions here so far. I am so impressed by their creativity and inspired ideas!

Kimberly adapted the spice cabinet post for her needs, which is just what I hoped folks would do. Yay! She had the great idea of using a Rubbermaid drawer in a cabinet if your kitchen just doesn't have the necessary drawer space for a spice drawer. She also applied the same idea to her bathroom by creating a medicine drawer in the absence of a medicine cabinet! How I wish I had had the same wonderful idea in the last place that I lived...

Everyone loves Sharpies (especially the silver one), including Sonja and Emily.

Sonja was possibly inspired by the laundry room clean-up and says: "I actually did my laundry room this weekend too, although my space us a lot smaller than yours. I finally got a 3 bin sorting hamper and installed a rack for hanging. (Repurposed an unused shower curtain rod.)" She even sent me an awesome picture of her newly-organized space (picture on the right). I love the shower curtain rod for hanging stuff, and her laundry closet with stacking units on the right was what really gave me hope for my laundry closet in the first place, months ago. Update: For a more detailed description of her laundry room, see Sonja's laundry room blog entry.

So, thanks, readers, and keep the comments and photos coming!

Summer Organization Project #2: The Laundry Closet

Having conquered the spice shelf and (lack of) pantry situation in my kitchen already this summer, I moved quickly on to Summer Organization Project #2: The Laundry Closet. While it really wasn't that bad to begin with, I knew I could use the space more efficiently and effectively, hence the project. Here's the old space:


This is right after my husband and I got our brand new pretty washer and dryer (Thanks, Ty!). I had originally wanted to take the shelf out and stack the units on the right where the washer is and then re-do the shelving to create a pantry-like space, since the laundry closet is in the kitchen. However, neither the dryer power cord nor the vent would reach that far, so we ended up with this alternative set-up. I like it fine, especially since I have room to leave the washer door open to air out (quite necessary for front-loading washers if you do not wish for them to smell of poo) and still close the closet doors. My plumber suggested that I get pedestals for the units, which basically stands them up higher and gives them a storage drawer underneath. That would be fabulous except that I already paid a crapload for the actual machines, and the pedestals cost a pretty penny as well. I was pretty sure I could get my space organized (and make use of vertical space) for practically nothing. And I was right.

The vertical space between the machines and the shelf turns out to be a great thing because I can hang wet stuff from the shelf on hangers, rather than putting a drying rack out in the house somewhere for a whole day with my bras on it. I was a little worried about how stuff would dry in the dark closet (mildew? gross.), but so far, it's been fine. And the top of the dryer actually works as a shelf for laundry products. Someday, I'll find some nice fabric bins to use to hold the stuff, but it works fine without them too. The washer moves around a bit too much on spin cycle to hold much on top, but a laundry basket can sit on it with no damage.


The real vertical space problem was with the shelf. There's a good amount of space between the shelf and the ceiling, so how can you maximize the space? Ladies and gentlemen, milk crates and dish tubs are two of mankind's greatest inventions. Behold....


Just pop a couple of milk crates onto the shelf, and you have instant stackability. Now, when I want my toolbox (which is frequently during the summer), I just slide it out of the crate, and everything else stays in place. Before, I had to unearth it from the stuff piled on top of it. Infrequently used stuff can go on top of the crates. If you have a bunch of little junk (vacuum cleaner bags, light bulbs, etc.), they can go in a dish tub on top of a crate. This works great for summer/winter rotations in clothes closets too. In summer, put the shorts and t-shirts in a crate and the sweaters on top. Swap them in the winter. If you want your closet to look cute, WalMart has some pretty stylish crate-like solutions that don't look nearly as cheap as they are. See?


And finally, for the Grilling Man, here's the grill corner of the newly-organized closet. I ended up with enough space to move this stuff out of the kitchen cabinets (more pantry space!) and into the laundry closet. Grilling tools can be affixed to the shelf rod with carabiner clips. (We had a couple of freebies leftover from an outdoor store sale event.) Here is also where all the ammo for Ty's veritable arsenal ended up, once again getting it out of the kitchen cabinets. The boxes contain my limited seasonal decor (other than Christmas stuff, which lives under the bed).


On my wish list for the laundry closet: over-the-door ironing board hanger if such a thing exists, wall-mounted broom rack for the corner by the dryer, fabric bins for the top of the dryer.

And now, having written this post with detailed description of my laundry room as though anyone is really that interested, I feel a little bit dweeby. This is probably along the same lines as learning Klingon so as to communicate secretly with other Trekkies, only I'm an organization geek instead of a sci fi geek (really, I promise). Oh well. Leave me a comment about your mad laundry room organizing skillz, or just ask me a trivia question about Star Trek because let's face it, I probably know the answer.

The Spice Cabinet Wave of the Future

Thanks for all of the wonderful responses to the last post! It's good to know I'm starting off with a loyal fan base. :)

I was a little surprised that two of the four comments mentioned the spice cabinet solution as something they would like to hear about. I'm actually quite proud of it myself, although I figured most readers would probably be underwhelmed. Perhaps I was mistaken.

So, without further ado, here is my new spice cabinet, costing absolutely nothing:


(I can't take credit for the idea, but I don't remember where I read it. I have a sneaking suspicion it was Real Simple Magazine, but my apologies to anyone I inadvertently ripped off.)

So, as you can see, my new spice cabinet is something just about everyone already has in their kitchen. All of the spices are now labeled on the lid and stored alphabetically in a deep kitchen drawer for easy access.


While organizing, I discovered that because our spice shelf was in such disarray, we had three containers of paprika and didn't even know it.

The hardest part of this fairly easy project was clearing out a deep kitchen drawer. I only have two drawers in my kitchen deep enough to house spice containers, so I had to make some choices. Formerly, the drawers contained kitchen linens and cook books. The kitchen linens needed a drawer more than the cook books, so I moved the cook books. They now live very happily on a high cabinet shelf. The shelf is an ideal spot for the books because we can reach the front of the shelf to pull books down, but before, we could never reach the items at the back of the shelf without standing on a chair. The books take up the whole front-to-back shelf space, which is much more effective and efficient than the previous supply-hiding that was going on back there.


If you're ready to start this project, you won't need much, but I do recommend getting a good medium point permanent black marker and a super-spiffy silver permanent marker. Silver permanent markers show up on dark surfaces (like black spice lids) and are widely available. I use mine all the time. So go ahead and get started!

Oh, and what's the best thing about my new spice cabinet? It inspired me to re-organize the rest of my kitchen cabinets, giving me plenty more pantry space in my pantry-less kitchen! Yay!