It All Began with a Backsplash

 Last week, we had a new backsplash installed in our kitchen. In preparation, I had to clear off all the counters.

Talk about an exercise in not seeing what's right in front of you. The collection of baskets, appliances, spices and other sundry items that lived on my countertops filled a sizable portion of my dining room table. And that was without the toaster oven, which contributed to the cause by dying right before the process began. 

When the backsplash was finished, I started slowly adding items back onto the counters. Surely not all of this needed to go back?

No, it did not. But that was good news and bad news. Whatever didn't go back onto the counter needed to go somewhere else. 

And thus began my latest exercise in domino organizing.

I'm not complaining. In fact, it's kind of exciting. One of the things I love about time off from work is that I get to do things like this without feeling as though I should be doing something else. Not only do I feel productive, but everything looks better and functions better when I'm finished. 

Or it doesn't, and I know I need to find a new solution. Either way, things improve.

As of this writing, the tally of reconfigured spaces is five drawers and two bins, not counting a few side projects that sprouted from this one. 

I'm going to need a map to find things in my kitchen and dining room.

Each of these projects has left odds and ends in its wake. Consequently, the next activity is finding homes for all of those things. I've been playing the pick-one-up-and-put-it-away game for several days now, grabbing an object as I pass by and deciding where it needs to go. 

You might think I'm tired of organizing at this point, but that assumption would be incorrect. The resulting clear space and de-cluttering only leaves me hungry for more. My reward? Clear space and piles of stuff I no longer need that can be ditched or donated.  

Sometimes, it takes upending the status quo to see a better way to do things. 

And I love the new backsplash.

But I have no idea where that new toaster oven is going to go.