At a mom’s group meeting several years ago I heard a speaker on home organization say that you should make a rule to remove one old thing every time you bring something new into your home.
Everyone else nodded knowingly.
I had absolutely no concept what she was talking about.
I’ve finally figured out why I didn’t get it.
In my house at the time, and up until I started this blog, there was so much clutter that swapping one for one wouldn’t have had any effect. If your drawers won’t close because you have 20 more pairs of shorts than you need, why would you remove one when you got another pair? 21-too-many looks about the same as 20-too-many, so you might as well just shove a little harder and keep them all.
I got out my summer clothes last week. As I designated one of my drawers for my shorts (a new concept for me), I realized that I have some really ugly shorts. Old, mommy-waisted, not-exactly-the-right-size-anymore shorts. But I also don’t have the money to go buy myself a new wardrobe – one of the mixed blessings of having lost some weight. So, I decided that as I find new shorts – on sale or at garage sales, I’ll swap them out one for one. And suddenly this tried and true organizing concept made sense. It only works if you have what you need, not what you need . . . plus 35 more.
I’ve also been thinking of applying the same concept to my cookbook stash. I read a while back on Orgjunkie.com that she likes having a shelf designated for certain things, so she can be conscious of how much she has. I’d been thinking about my cookbooks since reading that.
I have a cookbook shelf in my pantry. But I also had a shelf-thingy on top of my fridge with more cookbooks “on” it.
It was a pretty lousy little shelf, so the cookbooks fell off (obviously) and it was in an incredibly inconvenient spot. Since I’m not one to use cookbooks as regularly as I should, having to get on a chair to get to them made it even less likely that I would use them.
So I took everything off of the top of the fridge (including the pot that I debated removing pre-picture since it belongs to one of the three real-life people who read my blog, and I’ve had it for probably two years now, sitting up on the fridge so I’ll remember to take it back . . . . ).
I took the shelf out to the garage sale, and I windexed the ultra-nasty-probably-never-before-cleaned fridge top. Lest you think that no one can see up there, we do have a 6’7″ friend who comes over regularly. Seriously.
I replaced the pot, you know . . . so I’ll remember to give it back. Here’s the fridge top now.
I then picked out the cookbooks I wanted to keep and added them to my cookbook shelf in the pantry. I only had to purge a few from the shelf in order to make room.
I got rid of these:
And here’s my designated Cookbook Shelf:
I’m happy with the ones I was able to keep. I really like this concept, now that I finally get it. It doesn’t mean that I can never get any new cookbooks, it just means that I have a physical space to keep to. When I find a new one I love, it will be time to decide which old one I haven’t used.
I don’t have the room for 500 cookbooks, and I really don’t need 500 cookbooks, but with my excessive personality, I could easily end up with 500, filling up every shelf of the pantry and spilling out onto the floor and into boxes if I don’t set up boundaries.
I’m linking this up for Works for Me Wednesday over at Wearethatfamily.com.
Terrific job – looking at your cookbook collection it is obvious that you absolutely "get it" now.
Careful – cleared spaces like the one above your fridge become addictive!!
Not mine…
I sent you the meal in that particular pot because I had no need of it. You can throw it out, sell it in your garage sale, or keep it for yourself. It isn't the greatest pot. I'm sure laughing though!
But I do want my Susan May Warren book back. Reading your blog all these weeks, and I'm finally understanding why I haven't gotten it back yet. But the top of my fridge is nowhere near as clean as yours is! I'm getting the windex…NOW!
Popping over to visit from WFMW. I am also a reforming slob and so I relate to being clueless in the past when organized people talked about their strategies.
Your new cookbook shelf looks great! Congrats on baby steps.
What a wonderful concept! Thanks for sharing.
I'm going to clean the top of my fridge now, too! Thanks for sharing.
I have a very organized friend. She has curio cabinet that she uses for her Disney snow globe collection. A few years ago, I asked if she had gotten anymore lately. Her response? “Oh, no. I’m not collecting those anymore.” Her cabinet was full, so she stopped. It was a revelation to me. I never knew you could stop collecting something! She’s the same person who made me realize that you can read a magazine, then throw it away. Really! You don’t have to save it forever on the off chance that you’ll want to read that article again, or do that craft project, or…. She’s my go-to person for “what should I do with this?”