When we were building the house, I was pretty excited about having a pantry. I didn’t want a giant butler’s pantry like the ones infecting the Pinterest, because I couldn’t imagine ever needing to store that much food all at once. We cook a lot, but usually in 4-6 servings at a time type of way. So, the small corner pantry that was already designed for our shmedium sized (but much larger than the condo) kitchen, was going to be perfect.
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A digital calendar is far more effective and efficient for my life. I put appointments into my phone as soon as I make them. I share a calendar with Chad so we know if/when one or the other has plans. Changing plans is as easy as the click of a button – no messy scratch offs. I don’t have to worry about my terrible handwriting or accidentally using the wrong pen color. When I remember to put the address in, my phone will tell me when to leave to arrive on time and how to get there. And yet, there’s something about putting pen to paper. Physically crossing something off of my to-do list. And most importantly, being able to flip through the calendar and find an appointment or the last time I had the pest control people out and not find that it was erased because the calendar only keeps 6 months in the past.
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Once the walls were up in the Blue House, I measured the space – which is L shaped… and we’ll discuss that in a later post – and set about designing our master closet. I always like there to be a division of some sort within a shared closet. For instance, if you have a reach-in closet, one side belongs to person A and the other side belongs to person B. If it’s a larger walk-in, then maybe one wall belongs to person A and the other to person B. If you’re the type of person who has a room masquerading as a closet, please adopt me.
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I purchased two sets of headrest hanger hooks which are really useful for hanging shopping bags, my gym bag, and a work tote – so they don’t topple over and spill their contents under the seats, never to be seen again. I also usually have a jacket that I leave in the car in the spring and fall in case I find a need for it, so having a place to hang it instead of wadding it up on the back seat is a nice change. I also keep a small umbrella, sunscreen, and a lint roller in the front passenger door drink holder area (pictured at the top of the post) – showing that not all car organization requires purchasing of organization tools.
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In my professional organizing days, I learned that about 60% of Americans cannot park their cars in their own garages due to clutter. So, if you don’t currently have room in your garage to park one or more of your vehicles, you certainly aren’t alone. Fortunately, the majority of situations I encountered, households suffered from a lack of a good organizational system, and not due to having “too much stuff”.
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The biggest issue with kitchen utensils is that they come in various lengths and sizes. They have multitudes of uses or are very specific in their use. They are used often or used once a year. All of these things make kitchen utensils and gadgets hard to categorize and store. But it most certainly can be done, without throwing everything into a drawer and hoping you don’t slice your hand the next time you’re rooting around for the item you need. Which is a holdover horror from the time I helped someone organize a kitchen drawer where they kept their knives in the drawer with all of their other utensils, just freely floating around, ready to bite the next unsuspecting victim. If you’re doing that, stop it, right now. Please.
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There are several ways to organize pots, pans, and lids but the first thing I always recommend is to pare down to what you actually use. The stainless steel cookware we have was part of a larger set, with a tiny sauce pan and a tiny pot and I never ever used them. Ok, the one or two times I did, I regretted using them and usually dumped the contents into the larger pot or pan. So I finally parted ways instead of trying to store the whole set, simply because it was part of a set. If you need permission to part with pieces of a set you don’t use: there it is, I give you permission.
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When I’m helping people get organized, I like to start small. It’s a hard place to be when you know you want to get organized but are feeling overwhelmed and don’t know where to start. So a small start is usually a drawer, or a small cabinet, something we can tackle in an hour or an afternoon, but can still give someone the confidence that they can organize a space. A spice drawer or cabinet is one such place to start.
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