I live in a small house. It’s not so small that we can’t all fit in it, but there are 5 of us living in a house made for a family of 2…or maybe 3, but definitely not a growing family with 3 girls. We have one bathroom, a tiny kitchen, and a HUGE storage problem. We have a very large unfinished attic, but it is upstairs, and to go up with the baby in my arms every time I need to get something is just not going to happen. Ditto for trying to make things work in what little storage locations I have on the mail living floor. When we moved in, we converted this closet into a pantry and that shelf into a place for towels. But, the trouble with that is that in a busy household where there mama is being pulled in multiple directions is that I don’t have time to get everything back to where it needs to go.
Yes, I could walk my boots back to my clothes closet, but that is in the front of the house in what is designed to be a coat closet. And I could put the zip lock bags back in the pantry, but that’s over by the bathroom in a storage closet that we outfitted with cheap plastic shelves. And the mounds of towels falling all over the laundry room? That is because we have no linen closet and the wire shelves in the laundry room are also stuffed with everything else that doesn’t have a home. I need to have everything stored near its place of use. If I have to walk to another room, go into an area I wouldn’t otherwise need, or reorganize things every time I need to put something away, it won’t get put away. I need accessible storage, and I need it yesterday.
I’m a neak freak. Not a clean freak. The dust bunnies in the corner don’t bother me, but the stacks of papers and craft supplies on my desk are driving me bonkers. I don’t really have a space all to my own, and I don’t have anywhere to put the things that I use on a daily or weekly basis.
A couple of my 2013 goals are designed to get this mess under control. I know it won’t be easy, and I know I may not like having to part with some things that I own. But, in the end, I hope that I will find a more peaceful space to live in.
I started this process of clearing out the clutter at the end of 2012. I tried to go room by room, but even that was too much. So, now it is one space at a time. Over and over again, moving through the house until everything has a home and everything is in its home. It may take the whole year.
My first area of 2013 is the kitchen. I started with just one area of the kitchen. The counter space on the window side. Just a tiny area, but it’s usually piled with baked goods, the butter crock, my homemade bread, snacks for the baby, produce, snack bags, and whatever I’ve used to prep tonight’s dinner. Sometimes it is so full that I can’t even see the counter. Add to that, the fact that I have a total of THREE cabinets for the whole kitchen. And half of each of them is hard to reach. I have a row of drawers, too, and those are also full. So, I need some creative use of space. Something that will keep the stuff corralled and possibly off the actual counter surface. I’m not opposed to hanging baskets, hooks on the wall, and the like. I just need to reclaim the space. So, I’ll show you what it looks like AFTER I cleared out most of the clutter. This is a major improvement, but I want more. I want the space CLEAR and all of this stuff put away. Ideas? I need them! Suggestions? Keep them coming! Personal help? Come on over! I’ll bake the brownies and you can help me store my stuff!
More on clearing the clutter to come…for now, enjoy (or cringe) at my “before” pictures.
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