Tomorrow begins the glorious, glorious period at work known as the "dark" or "nonpublishing" weeks, in we do not put "new content" on the "site" so we have time to catch up on old projects and start new ones. Dark weeks are the most wonderful time of the year.
And I'm going to do an off-the-job dark-week project as well: Fix my damn room. For those of you who don't know, I have a gigantic room. Literally, five of my junior-year dorm rooms could fit in this room -- it has a sort of office-y desk area, a sitting area with a couch and a recliner, a bed area, an area where only things I don't use live.
But that whole thing about how you expand or contract to fill a space? True. I'm tired of the gigantic yellow room being a gigantic yellow mess. What's stopped me from dealing with this before, aside from abject laziness, is that it's not unliveable... the mess is sort of underground, in the structural organization. Like, I can see the top of my desk, but my phone bill from 2002 is cohabitating with my vacation photos from last summer, and the big zip drive I haven't used in three years is within easy reach but I can't find my favorite t-shirt.
Do any of you have organizational solutions you think I should implement? I'm thinking about going to the Container Store today just to look around and get ideas (read: I'm thinking about going to the Container Store today to wind up spending $50 on random things that probably won't help me but look pretty) but I'm pretty open to things. I would move furniture around, or acquire another piece of mass-produced Swedish yuppiedom if it would help.
Main problems:
1. Clothes.
1a. Exposed clothes. Why, when I have all this furniture, do I need these plastic bins for my socks and tanktops sitting out on the top of my stuff?
1b. Overcrowding. Must get rid of things. Must.
2. Bills and papers. Right now, they're in gray file folders that look nice and neat, but I don't want to pull them out and file things every time I get another piece of paper from the bank, so I pile everything on top of them, both obscuring their function and design.
3. Plants. Too many, most not thriving on sunless window sill (how am I slowly killing an aloe plant? Aren't they supposed to be unkillable?)
4. Weird bad area. The place near the couch where old things live.
5. Old laptop and printer. I need to sell these things on craigslist.
6. CDs. Except for the occasional new one, I haven't listened to a real live CD in like 2 years, since the birth of iTunes. Do you sell them to a second-hand place? Put them in a box in the basement?
So! I know many of you are organizationally inclined, so please feel free to offer any suggestions that have worked for you, especially in the bill-filing and clothes categories. Also, if you'd like to come over and magically complete this project for me, I would not complain.
6 comments:
Go to the Container Store and spend the money. It's worth it. Just wander around and don't let those guys try to organize your room for you. They piss me off every time I'm in there.
(as an aside...if you come to the one on Rockville Pike, we can have dinner. Or something)
Try some m!racle grow every other time you water your plants. Sell your CDs at a second=hand store. There's a great one right near my house so you could pack them up and bring them with you in November;>
hi. I have issues with clothes, too. They like to live on the floor. I don't enjoy that so much, though. It is really irritating to look at the clothes on the floor and be pissed off that they're on the floor, and then realize that they're on the floor because that's where I PUT THEM. So, I don't know about that one. I try to pick up everything about 2-3 times a week, though, so it doesn't seem quite so horrible.
But really? The main solution to all of your problems? Throw things away. Just get rid of it. I mean, if you can sell it, sell it. But don't hold onto something because you're "going to sell it later." Either list it or chuck it. if you haven't used it in a year, you don't need it. I try to look at everything I have and ask myself if 1) I really need it, or 2) I really want it. I mean, REALLY want it. I once heard someone describe it as a friendship. Is it a close friend or an aquaintance? If it's a close friend, you can keep it. If it's an aquaintance, it goes in the sell or toss pile.
um, that should be acquaintance. Apparently I lose all of my spelling skills when I comment at midnight. :)
Okay, I had some time to think about this, which is funny because I've got stuff all over the place. (I'm moving! or something like that)
Try the Miracle Grow. Or maybe move the plants to a different part of the house, where they would get more sun. Remember to open your window. And water them not so much (which I suspect is what is wrong with your aloe...too much water)
Get some new closet organizers that will make it easier to store all your clothes. And some of those under the bed things for the other season's clothes. If you have less to look at, you'll be more inclined to put what you are wearing away regularly. If it's the wrong size, toss it. Make someone's day at the Salvation Army very happy.
And get some sort of organizers for all your desk stuff and paper. Filing cabinent, baskets, something.
And get rid of the CDs. Why listen to CDs when you've got the iPod? Just rip all the music and sell them somewhere.
That's funny. My aloe plants are always the first to die, but I can only keep simple houseplants (pothos, baby purple fuzzy, etc) alive. Orchids and african violets are goners at my house.
I like everyone else's suggestions, though a word to the wise about the Container Store. It's very expensive, and if you aren't committed to sticking with the organization system you just have more stuff cluttering up your space. Target has very similar things for cheaper.
As the Girl Who Moved Ten Times between 1997 and 2003, I can suggest a couple simple strategies for de-cluttering that will make the process seem less daunting, however. For drawers containing makeup/grooming/bath and body products, just open it and throw out ten things. This includes caps to bottles of products you used up, dead batteries and random stuff like that. Just ten things. Takes two minutes.
For clothes... According to Carson from Queer Eye, clothes have a two year expiration date. If you haven't worn it in two years, out the door it goes. Unless you have a specific emotional attachment, get rid of it. I did this a few years ago when I decided to shop at J. Jill and Ann Taylor Loft and be happy at the size I was. My closet looked like Old Navy with all the cut-for-teens khakis in four sizes.The ability to look in your closet and like everything you see is awesome. Also, if you only have clothes you actually wear, the motivation to do laundry increases because the closet gets diconcertingly empty as the hamper gets full, which keeps dirty stuff off the floor. AND I happen to know you've recently purchased a lot of clothing you really, really like.... Just sayin.'
Implement that TLC "Clean Sweep" show's One-Touch method. Walk around your room and touch individual objects. Ask yourself and go with your first instinct: Keep? Sell? or Toss? Try not to quibble or say, "Oh, this was a gift, so..." The object made you happy for a while, and now it's time for it to make someone else happy.
Inspire yourself with a feminist act. Women's shelters are always looking for clothing and bath and body products, even if they're only half-full. After you declutter your grooming products, take anything you don't use regularly, along with all those clothes you haven't worn in two years, and take them to the shelter before you lose momentum. Tell yourself how nice it would be if you needed a crisis shelter and found a cozy fleece sweatshirt and Cucumber Melon body lotion waiting for you.
Hope that helps!
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