Organizing Tips from the Clutter Queen-Week 2

Be Clear About Containerizing

It is time for a disclaimer, here. I am not writing this little series about organizing because I am an expert in the field and my belongings are always organized in show-room perfect style. I am writing this because:

(A) in spite of my ability to organize, I get going on my projects in full dove-tail mode, and I soon realize my home is the castle of the consummate clutter queen.

(B) Writing this is helping to motivate me to do what I know needs to be done if I am going to stay unburied by my "laundry room" organized piles long enough to do everything I want and need to do. In other words, by going public with my advice, I am drawing a line in the sand. If I do not follow through, someone is bound to notice and call me on it.

So, this week's tip on storage containers was learned through experience. I have used everything from an apple box for each child to store their childhood mementos, to detergent boxes for magazines to banana boxes or old dresser drawers to store fabric.

We live in the country, with its extra-abundance of dust, bugs and rodents. I have found rodent nests in my fabric, and black widow spiders in old receipt boxes (including the ones where the glue holding the cardboard together dissolved in our wonderful January foggy atmosphere and collapsed when a curious cat jumped on it, scattering the contents all over our shop building floor) Then there are the papers that have turned yellow and brittle due to the acid in either the cardboard box or wooden drawer in which they were stored.

But, the most common annoyance is that I sometimes seem to spend more time searching for things than getting things done.

So, here it is.....

Unless whatever being stored must be protected from exposure to light, I now get clear containers, or containers with color that are opaque enough that I can see the contents. If I have 3 peachy-colored totes, I can see which one has rolls of fabric, which one has yarn supplies and which one has last season's clothes. I do not need to fuss with labels or open the lids to dig around in the contents. Even with several totes stacked on top of each other or on a large shelf unit, I can tell at a glance which one has last year's tax receipts, which one has left-over Tupperware, which one has craft supplies, and which one has my Christmas-print quilting fabric. The totes themselves are light-weight, so I can usually move them around easily to get to the one that I can see at a glance holds the contents I want.

Along with the storage containers that have a capacity of several gallons, I have several medium-sized storage totes that are measured in quarts. Like portable office boxes (which I now always purchase with part of it clear) that I use for writing and research projects, I use these medium-size totes to organize craft and fabric projects. As I write this, one holds the makings of a full quilt top; one my purse fabric, pattern and accessories; one my vest-making fabrics and one my counted cross-stitch kits.

But, the real secret to my clear container organizational method is that I have a lot of those inexpensive clear shoeboxes. They are affordable (about a dollar each), lightweight, stack beautifully with their flat lids, and quickly organize and contain all manner of supplies and projects. Some of the things I store in my shoeboxes besides shoes are craft/jewelry-making supplies, sewing notions, note cards, family history memorabilia, cross-stitch supplies, extra office supplies, CDs, garden seeds and small tools, first-aid supplies, my first-day cover collection, packaged snacks for traveling, gift-wrap ribbon and tape, Christmas lights (wrapped around an old gift-wrap tube cut to size) and other small holiday decorations, cords and accessories for my computers/phones/cameras, bathroom supplies stored under the sink, scarves, and "junk drawer" stuff. I also have used about eight of them to organized my fat quarters of fabric for quilting by color or design type. Others I have used to keep together fabric and supplies for current or future projects. Oh, yes, then there are the shoeboxes that hold the UFOs--Unfinished Fabric Objects.

My parents gave me an overnight case when I was a teenager (We will not discuss how long ago that was.) When my children were little (we still will not discuss how long ago that was), I needed a place to put my sewing notions, such as bias tape, zippers, and fasteners. They ended up in that overnight case. For the last several years, I thought I had thrown out the case, because I could not find it anywhere.

Well, last winter when Buck cleaned out the shop in order to build his ham shack inside, the overnight case turned up. Last week, the contents were combined with the sewing notions I have acquired in the last decade. What I can tell you is, I will not need to purchase black or white bias tape for a very long time.

Wow! Amazing what getting everything together and organized in one place where I can see what I have can do!

These clear plastic containers protect my things from dust, pests and degrading chemicals such as the acid or formaldehyde in many cardboard or wood containers. I would love to keep them behind cabinet doors, but I do not have enough cabinets for everything. So, I use wire shelving (minimal dust collectors) to stack my clear storage boxes. I do make a point to protect the contents from direct sunlight.

I can keep my stuff better organized, see what I have, and find what I want without tearing the whole house apart looking.

Well, most of the time. I am still the clutter queen.