True Confessions Wednesday: Me and My Containers

Photo credit: MonikaP via Pixabay

The end of last month marked 4 1/2 years of writing Organizing by STYLE posts. Although I know I started in 2015, the answer the actual math led me to was still kind of a surprise.

As I close in my 600th post, I find that I sometimes struggle to come up with topics. Last weekend, I came up with something new to try -- something that will still focus on organization, but that also lets you know more about the person behind the posts. All along, I've told you that I'm in the trenches with you -- an organizational work-in-progress -- but these new posts will, I hope, share some of the ways that is true, along with the real life examples regular readers have come to expect.

So, today I'm introducing Wednesday True Confessions. I hope you enjoy them. As always, comments are welcome. I'd love to know if the new ideas are a misstep or a step in the right direction.

True Confession #1: I am a container collector. Last weekend, as I was working on decluttering my office, I realized that the magazine holders I was using to corral my notebooks were the wrong tool for the job. Fortunately, I only had to go my basement to find an appropriate replacement.

Okay, I admit it. I love to wander the container aisles of, well, pretty much any store. Although I go home empty-handed most of the time (unless I'm in search of a particular item), that has more to do with my container collection than a high degree of self-control. Between the bags and organizers I have left over from my days selling Thirty-One gifts and the office/paper organizers I have left over from my days as a school counselor doing organizer giveaways, I have quite the selection on hand in my basement. When I don't have the tool that's "just right," I go shopping (excitedly and without hesitation) but most of the time, I check my inventory before I buy.

I do have a weakness for paper storage products, though, along with unique containers and, of course, bargains. Consequently, when I give in to temptation and buy something to add to my collection, it's usually out of dollar bins (or at the dollar store) or in the office supply aisle.

Last weekend, I was grateful for my collection. Within fifteen minutes of identifying the container as the problem, I'd found something better, replaced the magazine holders and improved the look of the counter in my office.

Did I get rid of the magazine holders? Please. They were perfectly reusable. Just because they didn't work in the office doesn't mean they won't work somewhere else.

So into the basement they went because, after all, there's nothing quite like a container that's a perfect fit.