My husband and I purchased our "starter home" -- a small, white brick Cape Cod a block away from the local high school -- more than 30 years ago.
We still live there.
Once, when my daughter was small, we tried to find a new house. There were lots of possibilities but, in the end, nothing better than where we already were. So, we made some additions, did some renovations and stayed put. A few years ago, we added a sunroom.
It's safe to say we're not going anywhere.
Although additional storage was part of the ongoing evolution of our house, we still seem to have more stuff than space. Part of that is truly a space problem, but part of it is a stuff problem.
Case in point: my office. "Office" is a rather generous description for what's actually an enclosed side patio with no closet space. We added a countertop (usually cluttered, in part because there's not enough storage space) and two kitchen cabinet units (four cupboards in all) that have been overstuffed almost since they were installed. I've been telling my husband that I'm out of space for years now.
But a recent deep dive into the cupboards uncovered quite a few things that were no longer earning their keep, and a few that could be moved to other spots in the house where similar items were stored. I'm still mid-project, but the cabinets are no longer full, leaving me with the hope that, with the proper planning and organization, I have enough room for everything that needs to live in my office.
That said, this isn't always how the story ends. Several months ago, we finally replaced the shed that we purchased only a few years after we bought the house. The replacement is a little more than twice as long as the one we had, with additional storage bonuses like a loft and shelves. It's not (yet) full and, when organized, would probably have even more available space (but I am not the keeper of the shed). Not only does it look much nicer than its predecessor, but there's finally room for my husband to get to what he needs without taking out half the contents of the shed. In this case, upsizing was necessary; the old shed was sufficient for the few tools we had as new homeowners, but we quickly outgrew the original building. No matter how well organized it was, it barely contained what needed to live there.
It's easy to imagine that if we just had a bigger house, more closets, a usable basement (or attic) or more storage in general that all of our organization problems would be solved. While it's basic geometry that a certain amount of space is necessary to contain a certain amount of stuff, what we contain and how we contain it matters too. Our new shed, with its bountiful space doesn't have to be well-organized (yet) because it has more space than we actually need.
My office cabinets are another matter. Keeping that small space organized involves making decisions about not just what stays and what goes, but also about what goes where and how to best utilize every inch of available space. I'm not complaining. I wasn't fond of geometry, but I do love Tetris; fortunately, a good organizing puzzle resembles the latter as much as the former.
I'm having a lot of fun solving this latest organizing puzzle and taking not-so-secret pleasure in getting rid of stuff I no longer need. I'm hoping that, in the end, my office will feel less cramped, thanks to the combination of weeding, tossing, and re-configuring. And who knows? I might just have enough space after all.
Just don't tell my husband.
