3 Keys Thursday: 3 Key Steps to Cleaning out a Drawer

Dodgerton Skillhause via Morguefile

Cleaning out a drawer is an immensely satisfying task. It's a small space, so it doesn't take hours, and the payoff is not only immediate, it's ongoing. Every time you open the drawer, you're greeted with the fruits of your labor -- at least as long as everyone using the drawer is clued in to the system at work.

Ready to get started? Here are three key steps to revamping a drawer.

Assess the situation. I like to start by taking everything out of the drawer and literally cleaning the inside of the drawer itself, especially if it's in the kitchen or bathroom. This approach not only gives me a fresh start, but also works with my I need to see it personal style because it allows me to lay the contents of the drawer out so I can see everything that has found its way into this small space. Finally, I like to line the drawer with pretty paper (bedroom drawers) or shelf liner (kitchens and bathrooms). That extra step works as a motivator. If the drawer starts out looking nice, I'm more likely to make sure I keep it that way.

Sort your stuff. You knew this was coming, and probably know what I'm going to ask. Should everything you just took out of this drawer go back in? Once I've set the drawer's contents out on a flat surface, I sort them into categories so I can see what I have, what can be tossed, and what might need to be replaced. Again, this works for my I need to see it personal style and balances out the organizational styles (drop and run for me and I know I put it somewhere for my husband) that got that mystery thing into the drawer in the first place. The key question here will be, "is this the best location for this item?" When considering location, think about ease of access, similarity, and proximity. In other words, is this item easy to get to, stored with similar things and stored close to where it's used most often?

Divide and conquer. I'm a huge fan of the drawer divider. My favorite is the one in my office that is  molded plastic and not fits perfectly into the drawer, but is also well-configured for the things that go into it. But, since it's not possible to find the right fit and the right configuration for every drawer, I also sometimes fashion my own. Small plastic containers (I like the ones that are rectangular and about the right size for a pile of forks or spoons), gift boxes (can be cut to fit the space) or even the in/out boxes that stack (used individually and unstacked unless you have a really deep drawer) are all good drawer divider components. Dividing the drawer makes it easy to see where everything belongs (especially important when multiple family members are using the same drawer) and, best of all, to see everything in the drawer so you can easily find what you need every time you open it.

Drawer divider tools: wooden in-box, small plastic bins
nested inside a larger rectangular bin, and
paper drinking cups. Odd, but it works.

Whether you're finally attacking an overstuffed junk drawer or spending twenty minutes on a quick
home office improvement, cleaning out a drawer is one of those tasks that can offer an excellent return on investment, even when the time you have to invest is limited.

True Confessions Wednesday: Organizing is Contagious

True Confession #29: I am inspired by other people's organizational efforts. 

Last weekend, we moved my daughter out of college housing for the last time. As a senior, her housing was a literal house with three other girls. Four girls, five bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, eat-in kitchen and finished space that used to be a garage, along with a small back porch and a yard the university took care of for them. It was basically a great little starter house with fewer responsibilities, and she only got to live there for a little over a semester. I felt really cheated for her.

She had a lot of fun putting her room together and adapting to living in a house instead of a dorm, and she had the belongings to prove it. She'd gone up once after spring break to bring some things home and had found out on the way home that she wouldn't be returning to face-to-face classes this semester.

And so, on the designated day in May at the designated hour (COVID-19 had led to staggered move-out times, with no overlapping between roommates), we arrived to pick up everything the university had already packed up. With the house to ourselves, we did a little sorting through the boxes in the common rooms, a little culling of the boxes in her room and managed to fit everything into the backs of our two cars. She got to do a masked visit with a few friends in other houses who had the same move-out time that she did and before we left, she and I spent a little time sitting in her living room processing it all. In the end, it was a low-drama move out and we didn't have to leave anything of substance behind except memories.

Then we got home, and the real adventure began.

She had started readying her bedroom prior to the move out, and the piles of things to be sold or donated had already begun to form. Now, they are larger.

She is methodical in her work, and thorough, putting her styles to work and consulting with me when she needs a second opinion. And while the piles are setting my teeth on edge a bit, the brainstorming, combined with my first summer off in several years, is nudging me to do some re-organizing and re-configuring of my own.  On Saturday night, I appropriated a cast-off drawer unit of hers and re-did a section of my office. Things are still a little chaotic because what was a good move aesthetically triggered some organizational challenges I've yet to resolve. It's a process.

I'm trying to be patient with the piles, knowing that they are temporary, and part of a larger process. She has her own styles and her own plan of attack and she's made enormous progress in a short time. Meanwhile, I love being her assistant/consultant as she transforms her room into a transitional living space and inspires me to make some changes of my own.

What inspires you to organize?

STYLE Then & Now: Containers, College and Changing Spaces

Tomorrow, we accompany my daughter to Connecticut to move her out of college housing for the very last time. That trip, combined with yesterday's True Confession, made the post below (from the archives) particularly apt today. 

As I re-read the post today, I thought about the containers that lasted all four years and the ones she discarded. Perhaps most notable, though, were the ones she sought out, especially this year when she lived in an off-camps house with more room to maneuver and more space to fill. Over the past four years in five different spaces (not including her bedroom at home), her tastes and styles have combined to create a personalized organizational system that works for her. I'm glad I was smart enough to step back and enjoy my front-row seat as her process took shape. 

And she's not finished. I have no doubt that process will continue to evolve as she refines it for whatever space she is in. 

For now, that space is her childhood bedroom, which she's already begun to shape into something new. Over the past few weeks, she's been sorting and tossing, making room for young adulthood as she ushers childhood out the door. 

I'm sure I'll have stories to share. Stay tuned.

Last week, we brought my daughter home from college. When we sent her off to school last year, we weren't sure what her storage space would look like, so we sent a variety of containers -- soft and squishy, round plastic without lids, rectangular see-through plastic with lids, rolling....

It was quite a combination. Some have survived the transition from one year (and one dorm room) to the next; others have been abandoned based on space restrictions, functionality or both. 

Container selection is one of my favorite parts of organization, but it can also be the most overwhelming, especially when each year brings a new room in a new building. There are so many choices, both functional and beautiful, that it's easy to get lost in the aisles, trying to narrow the choices. Add responsible shopping (matching your styles and your budget) to the list, and it can be tempting to run screaming from the store, empty-handed. 

Confused about what might work for your styles? Check out this chart, which summarizes the preferred container qualities for each personal and organizational style. As you look over the chart, think about whether or not the recommendations match your personal preferences. Where can you find crossover? 

As an I need to see it/drop and run person, I can use containers that are clear, color-coded, labeled and/or unusual/unique because these container attributes match both of my styles. My container preference, however, will change depending on what I'm storing and where I'm storing it. In addition, two people who identify themselves as the same style will have different personal preferences. Clear drawers may be a perfect match for one I need to see it person, for example, but be a disaster for another because she can’t see what’s at the back of the drawer.  

Alexas Fotos via Pixabay

What if you've identified yourself as one style, but you're drawn to containers listed in another category? As long as they haven't proven unsuccessful in the past, give them a shot! There’s no harm in trying different things to get an idea of what works and what doesn’t. 

Once the chart reflects your personal preferences, tuck it into your wallet, your purse, your glove compartment or your reusable shopping bag so you have it with you when you go to the store. 

If you’re still in the sampling stage, there are many worthwhile containers to be had at dollar stores, grocery stores and on sale at variety stores. 

If you know just what you're looking for, more power to you! Feel free to buy those perfect containers in multiples if you already know they work for your styles. Just keep the receipt in case you over-buy or underestimate in terms of size or usefulness. (Not that I would know anything about that).

What's your favorite container?

True Confessions Wednesday: A Corner on the Market

True Confession #28: My basement could pass for an outpost of The Container Store. 

I'd like to say it all started when I retired and the leftovers from the organizer giveaways I did with my students made their way into my basement.

I'd like to say that, but I don't think it's entirely true. Bringing all of those things home simply put my existing container supply over the top. And my stint as a Thirty-One Gifts consultant did not make the piles any smaller.

We have lived in our house (a three bedroom cape cod) for almost 26 years. Many of the spaces in the house have changed over time, keeping pace with the life changes that have occurred. A guest room became a nursery, then a bedroom whose decor and storage grew and changed with its occupant. A downstairs bedroom became an office, then a catch-all space, then a playroom, and, finally, a family room. A side porch became an office.

Not only did the different versions of each of the rooms necessitate its own unique storage, but tastes changed over time as well. Plastic bins hidden behind closet doors didn't make the cut when storage came out of the closet and into the living space. Storage for toddler toys didn't do the trick for tween collections or the electronics that followed. And this afternoon, the young adult who inhabits what was once the nursery spent several hours trying to figure out where her college furniture will go when we bring it home in a few days.

Meanwhile, the usable castoffs have taken up residence -- and space -- in my basement. Bins of various sizes and colors, some with lids, some without, are stacked in a corner of my basement. A variety of leftover paper storage, cloth bins and various purses and tote bags inhabit other areas.

The good news is that if we ever need storage for, well, anything, we know just where to look. And it's free. Kinda.

The bad news is that it's most likely more than we will ever need. But, since it's not really taking up enough space to be bothersome, there it all stays.

The college graduate living upstairs will likely take some of it with her when she moves into an

The Container Store

apartment of her own -- or at least that's my current excuse for leaving it all as is. She's also going through a sell-the-old-stuff-online phase that may allow me to thin the collection a bit.

At some point, I'll have had enough and I'll sort through all of them (again) and decide what to keep, what to sell, and what to donate. But, until we can actually get the boxes of donations that are already down there out of the house, it feels futile. And, as is often the case, I'm sure that I'll need exactly the container I donated right after I give it away.

So for now, there they sit, gathering dust and waiting to be useful. My own little outpost of The Container Store, ready to corral some clutter.

3 Keys Thursday: 3 Keys for Setting Yourself Up for that End-of-Day Routine

Dodgerton Skillhause via Morguefile

Last week, I wrote about my end of day routine -- the one that I use to try to create a line between work and home at the end of a work-from-home day. As I was writing the post, I realized that what seemed like three simple steps had a lot more behind them.

Clearing off the desk, for example -- a task I rarely accomplished in 27 years as a school counselor unless I wasn't returning to the same building the next day -- was now part of my nightly routine. Why can I do it now?

It's all in the set up.

Make it functional. When I cleared off my desk, it wasn't an entirely clean sweep. I kept necessary storage on top of my desk so it's easy to keep the desk from getting out of hand during the day. Then, when we switched to online learning, I considered the set-up I needed -- down to keeping pens and pencils easily (and neatly) accessible. Having designated homes for everything within reach makes it much easier to clear my desk off, even when I'm tired at the end of the day.

Don't forget to put some fun in functional. When I did the desk revamp, I not only made sure the storage was attractive, but also kept some pretty things out as well. While there's a fine line between decor and clutter, an attractive space can motivate us to keep things looking nice.

Make everything the right size. Container rule #1 -- the size you need with a little room to grow. I've had an auxiliary workspace in my office almost since the room was renovated -- a counter that runs the length of the room. The room is small, but the counter is spacious, which sounds like a good thing but has instead resulted in the counter becoming a magnet for my drop and run style. My small, round, table, however, is big enough to hold what I need for the day, but small enough that I don't have room for extraneous things, which means it's not too overwhelming to sort at the end of the day when motivation is fading fast.

While every habit (good or bad) develops over time, we can increase the likelihood that a good habit will stick when we make it just as easy to do the thing we want to do as it is to take the shortcut we usually take. Quite honestly, I never thought I'd be a clear-desk-at-the-end-of-the-day girl and, if it weren't for my small table, I wouldn't be now. But, just as a bed that's made suddenly makes the whole bedroom look better, a desk that's in order does the same for an office. Even better, it offers an additional payoff -- stepping into the office to get to work the next day doesn't seem so bad after all.

True Confessions Wednesday: Sticking to a Routine -- or Not

True confession #27: I am sometimes free flow and sometimes structured. Everyone has a Type A organizer friend who is seemingly always on it. She sets a goal, establishes a routine and rarely deviates from it.

Or maybe that she is a he -- I've just described my husband.

Me? I'm mood-driven. I make lists and I get to the things that are on them, but I'm also likely to take a detour (or two) along the way. Is this a bad thing?

Not always. When I try to force myself to chip away at my to-do list, but am actually interested in doing something else, I tend to procrastinate and do neither. Consequently, I've learned that caving in and doing the task I want to be doing (within reason) while I have the energy to do it is sometimes a good call. Sometimes, this choice even gives me a wave of energy I can ride from the beginning of the task to its completion.

Score one for free flow.

Notice, please, that I'm comparing two tasks, like washing the dishes when I should be writing a blog post (okay, that's just procrastination) or cleaning out a drawer when I should be grading papers (too close to call). I'm not talking about binge-watching The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel when I should be doing something productive -- that's an entirely different post.

Right now, I'm in a nose-to-the-grindstone kind of week. I have a deadline for grading papers and calculating grades, and so I have no real option to go off-topic. (This, of course, only makes me want to go off-topic even more). At times like these, I often segment my day to get a sense of completion, breaking the day up into 30-60 minute segments in order to stay on task, assigning a task to each time block in order to get things done.

Score one for structured.

I've tried to be like this all the time -- to emulate my Type A organizer friends who follow the rules and check things off their lists, but it's just not my style. Though slipping from free-flow to structured and back again doesn't seem logical, it works for me. It gives me the best of both worlds, allowing me to tackle things when I'm in the right frame of mind to do them well and to put my nose to the grindstone when I need to.

And, in the end, isn't the point just to get things done?

3 Keys Thursday: 3 Key End-of-Day Habits

Dodgerton Skillhause via Morguefile

These days, I'm spending a lot of time in my home office. As someone who often struggles to draw the line between work and home, I need something that says "day is done" and that leaves my workspace looking welcoming at the start of each day.

Until recently, I've never been very good at the "clear off your desk at the end of the day" routine but, ever since my last desk revamp a few months ago, I've been committed to doing just that. The first of my three end-of-day habits to emerge was clear my desk, an unmistakable sign that work time is drawing to a close.

Clearing off my desk is actually the second thing I do. The first is to set my table up for morning. I have a small, round table that was in my parents' house and ended up in my office by accident, which turned out to be serendipitous. I've always wanted an L-shaped desk, but my office is too small to support a desk that size. The small table, currently to the right of me (I'm right-handed) holds the materials I need for today's tasks.  At the end of the day, everything on the table either goes in the trash (lists), away (if I'm finished with it) or back on the table for the next day.

My final task is to put the pillows back on my chair. When I splurged on my new desk chair, I also made it home to a white lace pillow that had been my mom's, a small fleece throw and a pillow that says "I never met a chocolate I did not like." At the start of each day, I take the pillows off so I can sit in the chair and work and, at the end of the day, returning those pillows to their places signals close of business before I even leave the room. And, since this room has no door, having a signal like that is an important step in sharpening the line between work and home.

Though I don't always stop working completely after I "shut down" my office, taking these three steps to draw a line leaves me with a sense of peace and accomplishment and, even better, it makes
my office a space I want to walk into the next day.

How about you? When work and home lines blur, how do you separate one from the other?

True Confessions Wednesday: Something Old

True Confession #26: Sometimes, it pays to be a packrat.

On Monday night, (day 41 of self-imposed exile, for those of you keeping score at home), I pulled the lid off my signature scent (a fancy way of saying my only bottle of perfume) and the nozzle came off with it. Securely wedged inside, it wouldn't budge, leaving me with a nearly full bottle and no way to spray it. It was late, so I went to bed, saddened at the thought of wasting all of that perfume.

The next morning, I got up and took another look. Nope -- no miracles. Still inextricably wedged inside. I twisted the little strip of gold that remained at the top of the perfume bottle and the spray mechanism came loose.

Okay, good. I wouldn't have to waste the perfume. But where was I going to pour it? My mom used to have one of those vanity trays with the glass bottles for various fragrances, but those were long gone.

Wait.

I pulled open the top drawer of my dresser and there it was.

The old bottle.

There was only whisper of liquid left, but the most important part remained. I quickly pulled off the lid (gently this time), unscrewed the spray mechanism and, I'm embarrassed to say, got ready to pour.

Yeah, there was an easier way. I swapped the mechanisms and returned the old bottle to the drawer, exceedingly happy about a very simple thing.

When I saved that bottle, I had no really good reason. A faint aroma still lingered, so I tucked it in my dresser drawer as a sort of glass sachet.

Yeah. No good reason to keep it and pretty much every professional organizer on the planet would tell me to toss it. But I kept it because I wanted to and now I'm really glad I did.

Sometimes, we save things for a good reason. Other times, we just want to. We can't keep everything we've ever owned but, despite the fact that something borrowed should always be returned, something old doesn't always need to end up in the trash. (When it comes to something blue, I'll let you decide).

Has an all-but-empty perfume bottle led me to contradict Let it Go! (The L in STYLE)? Quite the opposite, actually. Let it Go! has always been about letting go of things on your own terms. If something has meaning or use and you have room for it, keep it. If its time has passed or it's not worth the space it will take up, perhaps it is time for it to exit your home, whether via donation, yard sale or -- dare I say it? -- the trash.

Now that I think of it, I'm not sure why I tucked that old bottle back in the drawer. Habit, I guess. Perhaps it's time to go back upstairs and apply my own rules. Its usefulness has passed (it consists of a non-working mechanism atop an all-but-empty bottle of perfume) and, if no further fragrance lingers, there's really no reason to keep it. And getting rid of something old makes way for something new or, perhaps even better, yields clear space.

But that's another post.