Think Inside The Box

I confess an obession with boxes.  Boxes, baskets, bins and containers of all kinds.  The thought of gathering related objects and storing them together in one box or container is my idea of nirvana.  Quirky?  Maybe.  But this obsession is really the cornerstone of my organizational philosophy which is to organize the "stuff" essential to your life and work so you can find it and utilize it fast, efficiently and easily.  I like to create storage bins for essential tasks or items that I have to perform or utilize on a regular basis.  For instance, I have to bath my little yorkie, Dixie, about every two weeks.  I keep all the essentials for her bath like shampoo, grooming spray, brush, her little hairbows and even the apron I wear to keep from getting soaked, all in a pink plastic bin on the shelf in my laundry room.  Of course I have to make sure I have Dixie under one arm before I reach for that bin, because she has learned to recognize it and will hide if she sees me bring it out.  Aside from a towel, all I need is in that pink bin...once she's bathed and groomed, and looking so cute, everything goes back in the bin and back on the shelf, ready for the next bath.  Other bins on that shelf include one for light bulbs (I have a lot of lamps in my house...at my age ambient light is essential!), one contains dusting supplies (I'm allergic to dust and in Texas you get a lot of dust), and my toolbox resides on that shelf as well.  Your repititous tasks are probably different from mine, but identifying them and gathering the essentials for those tasks and keeping them handy will organize your life and save you tons of time.

My favorite box is a 2'x1.5' plastic, Rubbermaid container, whose lid I lost somewhere along the way, that I call my "project box".  Whenever I have a specific project to work on, I gather all the items needed to complete that project in this box so once I'm ready to begin I have all I need in one place.  For instance, several months ago I decided to sew curtains and cushions for the window seat in my dining room, I thought I'd re-cover my dining table chairs as well.  Bit by bit, I began placing fabric, thread, sewing notions, staple gun, etc., into the project box.  I was pretty busy and I didn't know when I would get the time to put the window seat together, but when I finally found myself with some free time I had everything for the project in one place, ready to go.  After completing the window seat, I then used my project box to gather up all the papers I needed to file my taxes.  Currently, the project box contains a jar of spackle and a small paint roller...I have holes to patch and paint where I installed new curtain rods.  I don't know when I'll get to that project, but because of the box I know I WILL GET TO IT.  The project box resides on the daybed in my home office so I can easily toss in the things I need and serves as reminder to eventually complete that project.

I said I was obsessed,

Happy Organizing