Okay, organization junkies...

[Reya]

From reactions to my cabinet, I can see there are others who share the madness!

 

I'm not a naturally neat person. Some people are. I'm naturally a pig. HOWEVER, I realize the importance of neatness and enforce it upon myself as much as I can.

 

This is my front closet and entry landing station, which pretty much wipes out my flickr account for the month!

 

I try to make it as easy as possible to be neat, so I don't overcrowd and overstuff my house. There are a lot of people who might think, "Sure, neither would I with a big house," but that's not true. Our old house had 4,000 sqft. (Actually, 4,050....) We paid the going rate for 1,600sqft because it had issues address by remodeling. :-) While we lived in that house, my great-aunt (childless) died and both sets of grandparents downsized--one once, the other twice--and then died. I was the ONLY grandchild out of college during the deaths of 3 of the 4, while I was the only grandchild with a house at the death of the last. So you can imagine what I got.

 

Our house in NM was cluttered. I had an entire room FULL of storage--floor to ceiling. I had three eating tables--breakfast and 2 formal dining. I had end tables, chairs, and tons and tons of books.

 

Then we downsized to 3,200sqft, and 600sqft is the dance practice room that DH always wanted. So we have 2,600 sqft of living space. That's 1,450 less sqft of living space.

 

More than that, I lost rooms. The old place had 6 bedrooms. The new one has 4. The old place had 3 living areas and 1 playroom. The new one has 2, total. The old one had a formal dining room and an eat-in kitchen. The new one has only an eat-in kitchen with a space smaller than many apartments for the eat-in area. The old pantry was 4'x8'. The new one is 4'x4.5'. The old laundry/craft room was 10'x16'. The new one? 9x10, but is also hold two big water purifiers, a water softener, the well tank, and the waterheater. The old master bedroom closet was 9'x7'. The new one is a 4.5' reach-in. The old kids rooms all had 6-8' closets. The new ones are 4'. The old master bath was 8'x16'. The new one was 4'x8', with a bump-out for the toilet. (This is currently being changed!)

 

The total built-in storage space other than bedroom closets on the main floors was one 3x3' closet in the family room, so it could double as a guest room, and the 6' reach-in entryway closet. There are two storage closets in the basement, totaling 12'x3'.

 

So no, we don't have a small house, but compared to what we DID have, it is a big change. And guess what? My new house is many times more orderly than my old one! Despite the challenges of inherited belongings, major downsizing, very little dedicated storage space, and adding another member to our family, our new house stays much cleaner and neater, and everything looks far less messy when it's put up than before, too.

 

Even a very small home would be able to put many of my strategies to use. I don't promise that they're original, but they work! Also, most of what I do is very cheap, so it's good for people with tight budgets.

[motherdear]

but the images won't show up.

[MrsMe]

I can see the photos..... Very organized. I think the bigger the house the bigger the mess. Too small, same problem. Something not too big, not too small is just right!

 

I'm good at organization. If I had it my way, I'd dump loads of what I have. I have a lot of odd little end/tv tables and comforters that were costly and if I sold them I could get what I really need. But I'm getting to the point that I have issues with giving things away for free and I can't have a yard sale in the middle of the boonies. Taking them to the thrift store makes me cringe as the workers seem to get first dibs w/o paying and it defys the purpose of where their money goes.

 

I like to change and rearrange so I end up sticking it in our shed then try to reuse it later...which sometimes is an annoyance in itself since I feel then I HAVE to use the junk. I'm sure you can relate as you seem to have had many of the same items. :)

[Reya]

It should appear now okay. Might have been an issue of trying too soon after I finished the album!

 

>But I'm getting to the point that I have issues with giving things away for free and I can't have a yard sale in the middle of the boonies. Taking them to the thrift store makes me cringe as the workers seem to get first dibs w/o paying and it defys the purpose of where their money goes.

 

If you're a net income tax payer, donating still gets you a tax break.

 

You can list things for free in your Pennysaver or its equivalent if you don't have Craigslist there. You can also see if there are any community yard sales in grocery parking lots or the like that you can get a table at at the local town.

 

I don't do yard sales. I may some day--just have a "post-kids" yard sale--but for now, it's eBay, Lupus, Vietnam Vets, Salvation Army, Freecycle, and Craigslist!

 

BTW, anyone want an antique scythe? $15.... :-)

 

(We have some WEIRD stuff left by previous owners!)

[katilac]

I can see the photos..... Very organized. I think the bigger the house the bigger the mess. Too small, same problem. Something not too big, not too small is just right!

 

I'm good at organization. If I had it my way, I'd dump loads of what I have. I have a lot of odd little end/tv tables and comforters that were costly and if I sold them I could get what I really need. But I'm getting to the point that I have issues with giving things away for free and I can't have a yard sale in the middle of the boonies. Taking them to the thrift store makes me cringe as the workers seem to get first dibs w/o paying and it defys the purpose of where their money goes.

QUOTE]

 

Why do you think that about the thrift stores? I'm sure workers do get first dibs sometimes, but I wouldn't think that there's any more employee theft than what goes on at any store.

 

A lot of stuff obviously does make it to the shelves, so I wouldn't let that stop me from dumping loads of stuff that I don't need. You could also see if a nearby church or homeless shelter wants the tables and things; they often have programs that help people moving into an apartment.

[Reya]

Oh, I forgot about the homeless!

 

The local homeless ministry takes travel-sized toiletries, which means that I can get DH to part with the hotel soaps and shampoos he always brings home.

 

DH has hoarder impulses, but if I convince him that we're getting money for something or that it's going to someone who can use it if it's not something that can be sold, he's okay now. When we first married, we had fights over whether to recycle grocery bags once we had a bag full of bags. He wanted to keep them.

 

FOREVER.

 

He's neither a shopper nor a freebie hunter, so it's never been THAT bad, though!

[MrsMe]

Why do you think that about the thrift stores? I'm sure workers do get first dibs sometimes' date=' but I wouldn't think that there's any more employee theft than what goes on at any store. [/color']

A lot of stuff obviously does make it to the shelves, so I wouldn't let that stop me from dumping loads of stuff that I don't need. You could also see if a nearby church or homeless shelter wants the tables and things; they often have programs that help people moving into an apartment.

 

Not thrift stores, thee thrift store of mine. Because I know people that work there. The money was supposed to go to a certain cause and when I drop off big items I'd assume that would rake in some good contributions. But when the the big item is "taken" it bugs me. It wasn't my intention for it to be a freebie to a worker, but some money though purchasing to go to this cause. So it's a bit irritating. I don't care much about the little things, but the big stuff.

 

I freecycled a lot of my stuff for a while, but then you get people who complain about having to come get it. I mean geez, it's FREE and was in great shape. I like the programs you mentioned that help people move into an apartment. I once took a bunch of things down to a women's shelter, but then I heard they had to pay for it when I was told they didn't. So I need to do better homework.