A place for everything, #(@&$(!!!!!!!

[kellid]

This phrase, while it makes soooooooooo much sense to me, drives me batty.

To dissect de-cluttering even more, what is your thought process while this event is taking place. It's my biggest dilemma, I believe. I want to accomplish this so badly, so I will go through, sort, and then stuff stays on top of counters or in inconvenient places until I find the perfect place for it, which has not really happened yet. What are your solutions for this process?

[LittleLlama]

Subing because I want to know too! My DH is int he habit of finding things that are not in a proper place and stacking them up usually in a space I use, so there are piles of stuff everywhere with no proper "home". I have had a little luck in just getting rid of things that stay in those stacks for too long.

[fek&fuzz]

Get some containers. My boyfriend's house is very cluttered, no place for anything so everything is just piled on counters, tables, etc. Sometimes I am lukcy enough to be able to organize and neaten it.
CD's go on the shelf under the TV. Magazines and books go on the bookshelf. Coats that were piled on chairs go in the coat closet. Pictures and cards go in the nice boxes I convinced him to buy for pictures and cards. THen the boxes go on the book shelf.

There really can be a place for everything. To make space for things in the kitchen you might have to take everything out of the cabinets and drawers, and then put them back in an orderly fashion (after you get rid of stuff you don't use, or store elsewhere things you only use once a year.) Then there will be more space in the cabinets and drawers for the things that are on the counters.

Start with just one space. Once you have the stuff organized, don't stop and leave it on the counter or some inconvenient place, figure out where it should go and then put it there. Get furniture that doubles as storage: extra blankets could go in a dresser that is used as a sideboard, or in a flip top ottoman.

What exactly are you having trouble finding a place for?

[DTmama1]

Right now that is driving me nuts because i SOO want to go out and spend more money on storage solutions for both our hosue adn the playroom (I do hoem daycare), we really don't have the money right now. I know what I want to do, but I don't want to go with cheapo stuff to save a few bucks, I want stuff that will last. I want it organized NOW!!

[TigerTail]

Originally Posted by DTmama1

Right now that is driving me nuts because i SOO want to go out and spend more money on storage solutions for both our hosue adn the playroom (I do hoem daycare), we really don't have the money right now. I know what I want to do, but I don't want to go with cheapo stuff to save a few bucks, I want stuff that will last. I want it organized NOW!!

cheapo stuff that matches is better than fabulosity that will take years to acquire. i just got four matching baskets at dollar tree for my bathroom crap (i have ZERO storage). four bucks, & it looks really nice. the two 'better quality' non-matching baskets are going to goodwill. matching wouldn't seem as though it is important, but it simplifies & lets A.D.D. minds relax.

[USAmma]

A couple of years ago I put a large basket on the counter with a sign that said, "If you don't know where to put it, put it here." My dh used to pick things up and pile them on any flat surface. When the basket got full we would both put the things away. If we couldn't find a place we either discovered a home for it or we tossed it. I wish I had kept up with that system! I'm back to decluttering.

[pageta]

I have a "gathering" room for the things that I am not sure where to store. Sometimes I decide we really don't need them - other times I come up with a really good place to store them or get rid of something else and put them in its place. But with major decluttering, if you have one area of the house where you put things you're not sure what to do with (ours is the bedroom in the basement that we hardly ever use), you can go through things without having to stare at a big mess. The only down side is that you get tired of clearing out that room because it seems like you do it over and over and over again...but really, that's what it's there for.

[phroggies]

Originally Posted by TigerTail

cheapo stuff that matches is better than fabulosity that will take years to acquire.

I second that--and if it doesn't show, then even matching isn't so important. When I first "found a place for everything," I used ANYTHING I could find--shoeboxes, empty cottage cheese containers, whatever. Now that we're in a nicer place I'm slowly upgrading these, but a ton of my drawers are full of empty check boxes and other improvised dividers.

Two further thoughts: a) having places out of sight not only means that you don't have to worry about how your containers look but also means you have nice uncluttered surfaces, which I find very motivational (and easy to dust) and b) using what you have on hand is a great way to declutter in and of itself--I found that in my pack-rat phases I tended to accumulate all sorts of containers and this was a good way to put them to use.

Okay, three thoughts: if you can just get the entire house like this just ONCE, it will be so much easier from there on out.

[alexisyael]

Right now, I'm trying to make a place for library books, which tend to get scattered all around the house and end up cluttering up surfaces and baby stuff (which is mostly all new to us -- baby is due mid-May). We got a dresser for the baby stuff yesterday, now I just need to wash and sort the stuff into drawers.

Library books are hard... I'm a huge reader, and I LOVE going to the library, and I've *never* in 31 years had a really great system for where to put them!

[rebeccalizzie]

Originally Posted by alexisyael

Right now, I'm trying to make a place for library books, which tend to get scattered all around the house and end up cluttering up surfaces and baby stuff (which is mostly all new to us -- baby is due mid-May). We got a dresser for the baby stuff yesterday, now I just need to wash and sort the stuff into drawers.

Library books are hard... I'm a huge reader, and I LOVE going to the library, and I've *never* in 31 years had a really great system for where to put them!

I have picnic baskets. One under each end table in my living room. One holds DH's collection of magazines (and any I'm waiting to read), one holds DD's and my library books. I go the library weekly and get a pile of books each time, and I just throw them directly from the tote bag I use into the picnic basket. I almost always read sitting on the couch next to that end table anyway, so it's easy to toss the book back into the basket, and since it has a lid I can keep it neat. Everyone knows that's the home for library books, so when we find one it always goes there. The printout they give me at the library stays in my tote bag, which folds up and also goes in the picnic basket, or under the couch (our couch has a skirt to the floor). When I go back to the library I can check and make sure all the books are going back. The lid also has a little leather loop thing to hold it shut...which I'm hoping will help keep baby out for a while!

Loving this thread...

[katiecat]

One thing I do is watch where things seem to collect and just put a container there (usually a basket). Like there's a bookcase beside the chair where dh often sits in the living room so all his books and papers were getting thrown on one shelf and it always looked so messy. So I put a big basket on the shelf and now all that stuff goes in there. I never go through the basket - it's his stuff but as long as everything is in there it (looks) tidy.

Same with things on the shelves by the front door and all those miscellaneous papers that collect that you aren't quite ready to throw away yet but aren't terribly important either. I have one basket that sits on a shelf that all that stuff goes into and I go through it every once in a while.

What sorts of things do you have lying around?

Allison
ds 5/8/02

[TigerTail]

it's not perfect, but i have two leather bags that i keep the library books in- in & out (read & unread). they are by my dresser. i USED to have a stool i kept them stacked on there, but since dh broke the office chair it has been called into service.

i was keeping them on a shelf in the office, but for whatever reasons (inaccessibility most likely; i'm reading in the bedroom, not the office!) it wasn't working for me. leather bags on the floor by a wall is not perfection, but it is better than scattered all over the rooms.

progress not perfection!

[obiandelismom]

ITA with the improvised containers! We have tons of accumulated baskets all over the house, along with old diaper cartons, wipes boxes, etc. It really doesn't look all that junky, and it actually helps the kids know where things are. The "ball basket" is totally different from the "guy box" which is different from the "playmobile basket", etc. I never liked those racks-with-bins deals anyway, even if I could afford a nice one, because all the little bins look exactly the same to the kids, and they just dump whatever wherever.

One other trick for getting everything in its place is to sort first by ROOM. Even if you don't have a specific place for something, you usually know what room it should go in. Don't make yourself crazy when decluttering - if you're sorting through a pile of stuff that belongs all over the house, first sort into boxes by room. Then take each box into its correct room, and you'll find that the smaller pile is less overwhelming. Plus things will begin to naturally resolve themselves into groups, and before you know it you've got a category looking for a "place", at which time a place will usually announce itself!

[kellid]

Phewie! I was hoping this thread would kick in and that I didn't offend anyone with my @(*$&#&^$.

I love all the comments and suggestions. They might be simple, but I just couldn't get over the hump. Here are some things that are laying around.

*Dh has way too many shirts, socks and shorts (undies). We have a dresser for them that SHOULD hold them all, but they are squished and so when he gets one, he's messy, he pulls it out and 5 others come with it that don't get folded back up ('cause I'm not gonna fold it again). He won't get rid of any. Now I don't put them away, he's a big boy. They go on his dresser, stacked & messy. He doesn't put them away either. Instead of butting heads, maybe suggestions on another system? or what's worked for you?

*Ds books with no book shelf.

*Romote controls for TV

*Computer gear - paper, pens, stapler, bank doc's, etc.

*Our entrance goes into a stairwell that has no room for stuff, exept for a bend at the top. Hats, gloves, coats, shoes.

*kids toys, clothes. No dresser, only shelves in very small closet.

The whole apartment is small. Not alot of storage, but plenty enough I guess. We might find enough room to put shelves (ideas on really cheap ones or makeshift ones?) We can't hang stuff on walls and we still haven't brought out the baby stuff yet. Swing, pack-n-play, bouncy seat, stuff babies come with.

I'm not helpless, I just need help. I'm better at giving advice to others, other than myself.

[kerc]

*Dh has way too many shirts, socks and shorts (undies). ... Instead of butting heads, maybe suggestions on another system? or what's worked for you?

My dh is like this too. I eventually asked him to sort out a box to keep that he wasn't wearing on a regular basis and we'd keep them where he could get them but not deal with every day (under the bed at first). So we took out 2nd or 3rd string shirts. Some of which we now can give away because he hasn't worn them in 2-3 years.

*Ds books with no book shelf.

basket for books, maybe two if you need it or a large underbed storage drawer/box.

*Computer gear - paper, pens, stapler, bank doc's, etc.

we have a box we keep under the desk, behind where you put your feet.

*kids toys, clothes. No dresser, only shelves in very small closet.

keep it simple -- few clothes, few toys. We keep most of them in the basement. Dd2 doesn't have a dresser and I've taken to hanging everything except pants. DH hates it, but I really like it.



baby stuff: I've really come around to the idea that it is temporary. So although I am walking around the exersaucer to go to the door (or couch), it is there for 3-4 months and then done.

[sapphire_chan]

On dh's clothes, I had him do a seasonal clothing change and set him up with a big suitcase to put his winter clothes (this was last year), a basket to toss any sweaters he would never wear again and had no sentimental value, and a huge pile of his accumlated sweaters (most of which didn't fit anymore). Then when winter rolled around, he pulled the sweaters out and got rid of a few more that he decided he didn't need (all by himself! I was sooo happy!) and went through his summer clothes. The system also helps me purge my clothes. It's all very well to say "if you haven't worn it get rid of it," but for me it helps to set aside two evenings (well, more like 2hours each time) a year to just go through everything and decide "do I feel like taking the effort to fold this and put it in storage?" or "do I feel like taking the effort to fold this and put it back in my drawers?" Since folding clothes is my least favorite part of laundry (well, actually hanging things up is, but I've already eliminated most items that have to be hung and keep my skirts in a drawer) my wardrobe no longer has anything I loathe.

[sapphire_chan]

There was a thread about using gutters for a book shelf. It was a really nifty idea since it allowed the books to face forward and was easier for children to put books on themselves. I'll see if I can find it. http://www.mothering.com/discussions...ghlight=gutter

[kellid]

I love this idea!!!!!!!! I don't know if I can use it because we rent, but I will take the idea with me to the next place we can hang stuff. Thank you for pulling that archive thread for me and everyone!

[sapphire_chan]

It could be worth asking your landlord. In our last apartment dh and I mounted a shelf and hung pictures up with nails all over the place and when we mentioned to the leasing office that "of course we'll repair any holes in the walls from pictures" they said not to worry about it because their standard policy on getting an apartment ready to rent was to repair any holes and put a fresh coat of paint on the walls. "As long as it can be fixed with spackle and covered with one coat of white paint, don't worry about it."

Plus, if you can mount stuff to the walls it'll open up lots of other possibilities for you.

Incidentally, an ordinary sewing needle is strong enough to hold most pictures and leaves an invisible hole, so if there is a "no holes" policy, you can still hang some things up. (More of a decorating tip rather than organizing, but it's just a good thing to know when renting.)

[schatz]

we are in major declutter mode at my house right now -- our town has a village-wide garage sale in two weeks that we are getting ready for. I am amazed every year that we have stuff to sell. I think a huge part of the problem is accumulating too much in the first place and then just hanging on to everything. I've really gotten into the mode of if I haven't used it in recent memory (say a year or 6 months) - it goes - garage sale, goodwill, somewhere other than my house. I have kept clothes because I can still fit into them (but they are out of style) even though I won't ever wear them again. Not any more - well, I do have a few of my most favorite shirts from college (classic oxford shirts that I spent too much money on) and I will never get rid of my wedding dress even though dh rolls his eyes at me.

How do you find a place for everything? Shelves, pegs on the wall, baskets, bins. My dh (the most anti-clutter person on the earth - I swear) reworked our pantry closet so that my pans each have a peg on the wall and made racks for the lids -- yes, I'm lucky to have space but space is not necessarily equal to organization. Right now we're redoing the closet in the toy room so that the kids can hang up their own coats and the toys will be in small bins instead of a big box where you don't know what's in it.

whew - that was a ramble. sorry