I have a phobia of organizing products.
It was a late-onset phobia that developed in my mid-thirties. Right around the same time that my delusions that I would become organized once I became a true grown-up started to reveal themselves as . . . delusions.
Y’know. Since I was in my mid-thirties and could no longer deny that I was a grown up.
I had purchased (and been gifted by my well-meaning mother) many an organizing product. Mostly . . . storage tubs.
Storage tubs that I over-filled with random stuff to be dealt with later.
Storage tubs that over-filled my closets and bedroom and garage with . . . random stuff to be dealt with later.
Random stuff that I never dealt with later.
Soooo. As I’ve worked to declutter and develop decluttering methods that make a real impact on our home (instead of just enabling my love of procrastination), I’ve focused on dealing with each individual item instead of packing it away for future frustration.
That has worked exceedingly well for me.
But . . . I found that even when I actually needed a storage bin, I was still rather phobic. (Which doesn’t make sense, but if I call it a phobia it doesn’t have to make sense, right?)
When I worked on the Master Bedroom Saga decluttering project, I got to the point where I knew that I needed a new organizing solution for storing out-of-season clothes.
Instead of calling it a “new” solution, perhaps I should just call it a solution.
Because what I had been doing hadn’t been working.
It was a nice thought to hide extra clothes inside a table-that’s-not-really-a-table, but they were only hidden until a frantic search for something-or-other left the table’s secret life exposed. And as someone who tends to leave off the last step of any given task . . . the mess that resulted usually stuck around for a while.
I’ve blogged about this frustrating should-work-but-doesn’t storage solution before, so if you’re one of the people who suggested I give up on it . . . go ahead and tell me you told me so.
With much fear inside my Slob Heart, I shelled out the money for some tubs. Clear tubs
Three.
For my three kids.
I put each child’s off-season clothing into his/her own tub and then (eventually) put his/her tub in his/her closet. In his/her room.
Not my room.
And that’s one less constant source of disaster in my room.
We’ll see how it works in their rooms. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the three years of my deslobification process, it’s that even though not all organizing solutions are going to work, it’s still okay to give them a shot. You I can always try a new way later.
But even if this solution doesn’t work perfectly in their rooms, it’s a sure-thing that it will improve mine.
Disclaimer(s):
Disclaimer #1: I put (eventually) in the paragraph above where I said I put the tubs in the kids’ closets. At the point when I typed that, those tubs were still sitting just outside my laundry room where they’d been hidden during the two home group meetings we’d had since I filled them. But now, they really are in the closets. Because I just put them there. Blogging motivates doing. It’s my plan and it’s working.
Disclaimer #2: While I do acknowledge that you-were-right-and-I-was-wrong on the whole “Why do you still have clothes stored inside that table-that’s-not-really-a-table?” argument, I’m not ready to acquiesce to those who question the need to store off-season clothing at all. In fact, while I love having you here as readers . . . I do question your need for your own deslobification process. If one year’s worth of clothing truly doesn’t over-fill a closet and you have the presence of mind to be fully aware of what your children are wearing at any given moment . . . I admire your Not-a-Slob Brain. I’d love to be at that point. But I’m not.
Disclaimer #3: That link to clear plastic storage containers
Currently, I do not swap out seasonal clothes. Partly because we have plenty of space in our closet, (especially when I’m behind on putting stuff away) and partly because we don’t have kids yet. I remember the seasonal clothing change out from growing up, and though I realize it will be necessary when we have kids, I am absolutely not looking forward to it!
Just a passing thought. If you wait until you have kids to follow the seasonal switch and storing of clothes, you will not have established habits. It is the habit of doing something successfully that creates good organizational skills. Skill you definitely want to pass on to your children in the future.
If you wait, you might not be able to get it together before the chaos begins.
I hope this helps.
1. I have not commented that you should give up the table idea, but I have often thought it. Actually, you sticking with a non-working system helped me to reevaluate some of my non-working systems. It’s obvious when your system isn’t working. Not so obvious when my system isn’t working. Reevaluating some old systems has helped me to get un-stuck in a few areas, so thank you!
2. I totally understand your need to store away seasonally inappropriate clothing for children. They can be a little crazy in their choices. I don’t really want my daughter wearing her old easter dress to church in October. Also, going though and pulling out inappropriate clothes helps me to see what they might need for the new season. It can be a real blessing to take a good long look in each closet.
3. I’m impressed with your master bedroom saga. It’s entertaining and helpful. We are in the middle of a big move and some of your thoughts are helpful when I’m looking at things what needs to go. As always, you are an encouragement and a source of sanity.
You inspire me, and best of all, you make me laugh! I am phobic of those bins too…they are the same at my home and in my garage. Ick. I am trying to deal with them, and tempted to buy some clear ones so at least we can see whats in them. I saw some American made ones (Good for American jobs to stay focused on Made in USA products :-), so I may take the plunge. What I will do with all the colorful ones in the garage once they are all empty…. I don’t know. I could build a VERY tall tower if I stacked them. Maybe they will .bless somebody else with them…unless that someone is like me…or you 🙂 Thanks for the chuckles this morning, now if I can only keep smiling as I again attempt my own de-slobification process.. My kids clothes ARE in my room. The family closet I dreamed of has become a nightmare……it is looking a lot like my garage . No, I don’t have a car in either…but come to think of it, I do have a little child size motorcycle in my closet and …thats really crazy. I think that it won’t get fixed for my son after all despite my hubbies good intentions…its been waiting…and it just may need to go, now! I see why your blog helps you!! I bet nobody else can confess a motorcycle in their closet, hope that makes you feel better!
That is what we have been doing since birth (the seasonal clothing tubs) for our children and it does work, as long as you put them out of reach of those little hands or threaten their life (LOL, not seriously!) if they do go into the tubs and make a mess of them and usually the bedroom floor, hense making more work for you to put the clothes away again! Our closets are big enough to store everything, but it makes it easier to use the closet and for our little ones to see what they have if there are fewer things hanging in there.
Thank you for being real. Sometimes I get to feeling like I am the only one that struggles with not being organized. I have prayed that I would be and worked hard but never seem to get much progress. Definately baby steps to getting better, but never seeming to arrive.
Thanks again for your encouragement.
I read in another place, that it is the dripping of water that wears away stone.
With that in mind, create a routine and set an alarm for the same time at least 5 days a week. When the alarm goes of, do not use any excuses. Get up, set the timer function in your phone for 20 minutes, and go to the current room you are working on to declutter. Work fir 15 minutes. Use the last 5 minutes to follow through with what you have worked on. Put the keeps where they will live in your home. Take the trash to the outside bin, and take the giveaways to the trunk of your car. (Keep an empty box or black trash bag in your car for that purpose) next time you pass a giveaway station drop it by. Don’t think about it not being full, just get it gone.
Creating a routine will eventually become a good habit. Just work in small areas at a time. Go clockwise around a room in book size moving box spaces at a time. Instead of thinking of the whole room, think of it in terms of a small box. Having routines keeps us from becoming overwhelmed.
I hope this is helpful.
I too finally cracked and bought clear tubs for the kids clothes and on this past Sunday morning when I was trying to find some weather-appropriate footwear for #2 out of #1’s hand-me-downs, those clear tubs saved me QUITE a lot of time. My husband did the storage unit auction thing last summer (talk about CLUTTER!!) and we have a lot of leftover tubs, but I really wish I could sell them and just get all clear. I think you are on to something there. Keep on plugging!
This cracked me up because I’m the opposite, even though I have cured the delusion that organizers will organize me, I still get the itch to hit the catalogs when some part of my house frustrates me. Surely having someone redo my pantry like they do on the home shows will fix it, right? (Except the real problem is that I dump things on the floor. I don’t think they make a product for that)
Also “And as someone who tends to leave off the last step of any given task . . . the mess that resulted usually stuck around for a while.” is something I need to have posted somewhere. THIS IS THE MAIN REASON MY HOUSE IS A MESS. I don’t consider putting away part of any task, so of course I harp on my kids about it, hoping to someday convince myself.
I do the same thing with the big tubs-fill them with random stuff. But now I have 3 bins outside with Christmas stuff and one clear one with my hubby’s old Boy Scout t-shirts that I will (one day) make a quilt out of. What gets me is those shoebox sized bins. I buy about a dozen whenever I feel the need to clean up. But these end up getting filled and their lids end up getting mixed up or crushed. I have over 20 that I end up throwing away every year because I can’t find the lids. I always have the best of intentions, but it never works. They are filled with pencils, art supplies, and kids toys. It’s frustrating.
I really wish I could afford to click and buy from ALL of your affiliate links. It makes me sad that I can’t. (I HAVE done a few) Still, you deserve every penny and more. I doubt that ANY of your readers begrudge you this. You bring so much to my days. Thanks for all of your hard work, your humor and your support of your readers.
I am still a clutter bug and mostly okay with it.
I decided a while ago that I loved the idea of clear totes with lids. Attached lids are best maybe.
Recently I was at Target and saw something that made the idea of clear totes completely stellar. The new totes they have can be opened while stacked via a door on the side!
That could have been so helpful already. I need to get some quick. Slowly I am getting a handle on what helps me and what is of no use to me trying to be a little organized. Usually I just hate that word.
To me function is over appearance and my life is fairly functional so there is very little reason to change.
What?? A door on the side?? I will totally be looking for those!
I too have bins. MANY bins. I’ve done mostly well purging with each season, but my problem is that in our teensy tiny house with even teensier, tinier closets that don’t have adequate shelving (which cannot be changed as it’s a landlord issue), we also have ONE storage space, which isn’t even technically meant for storage. It’s under the stairs in our icebox basement. We have no garage. We have NO storage space. But we are a family of 5 with three growing boys, and despite efforts to purge, somehow it’s like the fish and the bread – it just keeps multiplying. They have one dresser each with four drawers, which barely fits sweaters just because of their thickness, not because of the quantity. That means we have no choice but to change out seasonal clothes. HOW do I do that when clothes are still in the dirty pile, er, mountain? If I go through all their drawers and clear out summer clothes to make room for winter and put all summer clothes in a nice and tidy bin, inevitably I continue to discover more summer clothes as I do laundry. And then they get set aside to put in the bins “later”, which we all know never comes. So I FEEL like I HAVE to do ALL the laundry so I can get it all in the bins at the same time, otherwise, it’s a huge effort to dig out the dang bins to put in 3 shirts.
Do you have ANY advice for this frazzled mom trying desperately to conquer her teeny tiny home with three feet of storage space – for EVERYTHING? When I read your “issues”, as it were, I am reading myself. I’m a perfectionist, but that means I have a very messy home and can’t get on top of things to get to the “just maintaining” point instead of desperately trying to catch up. I DO purge – to the point of frustration from my husband. But again, it seems no matter how much junk goes out, more things multiply – and I don’t have money to go shopping, so I’m not bringing it in! AACK!
Sorry for the length. Just like you thought about being organized when you grow up, I keep thinking we won’t live in this stupid house forever, and when we finally get into a house that actually fits our family comfortable, THEN I’ll be organized. I feel like it’s not fair if living here means I have to get rid of practically everything I own and love just to make it fit, when no one else has to do that. 🙁 Moving just isn’t an option right now, and who knows what God will bring our way and when. Finding joy in this small home that can’t even host another family for dinner is seriously testing me. We literally only have 6 chairs at our kitchen table – 5 of which are filled by just our family alone. We have no dining room or large long dining room table. I love having people over, but when you have four couch/chair cushions to seat them, it’s hard to host. I feel like I will never get anywhere, despite my best effforts.
I’ll stop before jumping on another rabbit trail. 🙂 So yeah… bins. And storage in a small home. Go.
Without knowing your house, I can’t comment on the validity of putting each kid’s storage bin in his/her closet, on the floor if need be, so that putting in extra things is easier. As to hospitality: how about bringing the kitchen chairs into the living room and having a buffet meal? That should fit 10. Or fewer if the room is too small. But hospitality doesn’t have to mean a sit-down dinner. I entertain more in the summer, when we can be outside, since my room is also limited. Wishing you some solutions that bring you joy.
Without knowing your house, I can’t comment on the validity of putting each kid’s storage bin in his/her closet, on the floor if need be, so that putting in extra things is easier. As to hospitality: how about bringing the kitchen chairs into the living room and having a buffet meal? That should fit 10. Or fewer if the room is too small. But hospitality doesn’t have to mean a sit-down dinner. I entertain more in the summer, when we can be outside, since my room is also limited. Wishing you some solutions that bring you joy.
I just noticed that a year has gone by since your post. Has anything changed for the better?
As for storing things to be fixed or created… it’s not if you CAN or not… it’s if you WILL or not…
The thing with anything boxes is that you seem to lack the “crawl-on-top-of-the-slow-avalanche.”
My thing with anything boxes is that they should be taken out two or three at a time and if not diminished, than at least “this group of anything boxes are less random than they used to be.” With enough cycles of sorting… an anything box could eventually become “silicon ice molds and random baking utensils, plus a handful of random stuff that doesn’t have to do with cooking but might belong in the kitchen.”
I hate one-shot organization things. Right now, I’m keeping random kitchen stuff in industrial food containers because the food containers are inactive for the moment and I lost some beer boxes to rotten potatoes.
I totally feel your pain. I have 4 kids sharing one tiny closet. And 3 of us sharing my tiny closet. We also do not have a linen OR coat closet OR drawers in the bathroom! This is an older house that was probably once suitable for a family of 4 (not 7!), and now it’s probably even too small for 3 people.
my kids out of season clothing ends up in white plastic trashbags…. in the basement… with the non-fitting clothes slated for donation that are also in… white plastic trashbags….. guess what else ends up in white plastic trashbags in my house? uh yea, the trash. think i need a new system? (rhetorical)
My husband is the king of tubs. His idea of cleaning is fill the tub and hide it and deal with it later. Later usually being several years and then me going through them and shredding/recycling 80% of it because it’s school papers and mail. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve got serious slob blinders, but if I need to clean I try to only touch it once and put it where it needs to go or toss it. I am the one who eventually declutters and organizes. He just wants the surfaces cleared off for dusting and vaccuming. If we just worked together we might get somewhere!
I love your blog and podcasts. I can listen to you while I try to tackle a similar task. I used to have to watch Hoarders to get super motivated. Yours is much more uplifting and lots closer to my situation. I’m definitely not a hoarder. I can let go of lots of stuff in the name of sanity… it just keeps coming back through my door, mostly from school and the mailbox.
My problem with tubs and boxes is that even with clear ones, once something is in there and neatly put away, I forget they’re there, whether it’s shoes neatly at the bottom of my wardrobe or kichen cleaning stuff under the sink. So as I’ve forgotten they’re there, I go out and buy replacements.
Clear tubs are good. Easier to see what’s in them than in the not-clear tubs. The kind I inherited from my mother (and full of… Christmas stuff? I think?), and even the kind I’ve been known to buy a time or two…ok, twenty. lol
Yes, I still plan to declutter those tubs. Not this week; they’re not in a visible area. I’m working on visible ones first.
Your 5-minute ideas are working best for me, because of my (lack of) mobility issues. And, even better, I now have one of my housemates cautiously helping on decluttering her area as well. I’ve helped her get a whole 3 shelves done on a bookcase that she uses for her craft supplies! (That sounds pathetic when I write it; 3 shelves…instead of even one full bookcase…but it’s better. Better is good.)
Better is great! The fact that anyone else is starting the process is terrific! Great work and continued success. What sweetie pie
First, I must say that I am so appreciate of your book on cleaning, and your videos/blog. As a person blessed with similar life long struggles, your honesty and ideas are refreshing. Secondly, if it is working for you, keep it up . . . but I have a few contrary thoughts 🙂
As a child I was often called a “pack rat” because I was always saving things I thought would be useful someday. I discovered the wonderful principle of letting the container limit your possessions many moons ago, and it has kept me sane despite my many other bad habits. So I love boxes and bins. Especially ones I can’t see inside of! The reason I don’t like clear bins is they still look messy and create visual clutter even when they only contain what they are supposed to and are properly put away. That is a huge discouragement to me to actually put things away in them. So I mostly use solid colored bins or cardboard boxes. BUT, I have hard and firm rules for myself when it comes to containers of any sort . . .
1. All containers must have a home. If they have no place to live, they are not solving any problems, and therefore, must go.
2. All containers must have a name. I label containers with my high tech label making gadget – a roll of masking tape and a sharpie marker.
3. Nothing may enter a container if it does not match the container’s name. Now, at a glance, I know which container to open for the item that I need. Looking for extra sheets to remake sick child’s bed in the middle of the night, well, they are in the container labeled “sheets.” Looking for the dog’s leash when I realized I am 10 min late for the vet? It is in the container labeled “dog stuff”. Everyone in the family can match items to their proper container because they are labeled . . . and it is easy to quickly check the box before you buy to prevent re-buying.
4. Cardboard boxes are my friends in environments that are low-risk for moisture damage, especially when the container is for children or for a temporary use, or if I am test-driving an idea. Why is that? Well, they are free, so if they are damaged by rough use of a child, or my idea did not pan out, or my usage ends . . . no guilt over wasted money. No effort to rehome it (recycle/trash is a no-brainer) or need to keep it “in case.”
5. If I am springing for plastic, I stick to 3 standard sizes. A small, medium, and large. This means that they fit together (like 3 small containers on a kitchen shelf give a uniform look and contain the jumble of cookie cutters, nutritional supplements, and food-processor attachments – they are all the same size and labeled, so if they are replaced on the shelf in a different order, everyone can still easily find what they need, and they still fit). Also, as someone who has moved more times than I would like, standard means they can change rooms and adapt to changing purposes as my life changes and my kids age. Containers that held baby blocks now hold a tween’s crochet supplies.
Hopefully some of that is helpful to the many people who are right along side me in the trenches, fighting the clutter battle!
Oh, and a thought on the seasonal clothing rotation, despite living in very tiny places most of my adult life, I have never rotated clothing seasonally. Let the container limit the wardrobe! I have had to store my entire wardrobe in under the bed bins and an over the door hook thing when I had no closet and no dresser. But if our clothes won’t fit in their home (closet, dresser, whatever you use) . . . then we need to cull harder.
Sorry to be so lengthy! I hope all goes well with your new system!
I recently (that is last week!) stopped storing separately winter clothes and summer clothes. The truth is, I layer a lot (because you never know when air conditioning is going to be crazy cold or the heating crazy hot) and, except for winter coats and a few really thick sweaters, I’m wearing the same clothes all year round.
So I had to recognise that it only was enabling me to keep more stuff!
The sorting was hard, but thanks to your idea of filling the space /container I have, I was much more successful than in previous years. Thank you!!!
(It doesn’t work well for children because, let’s face it, most of them have no notion or don’t care about wearing weather appropriate clothes).
This and so many of your articles are extremely helpful and encouraging. Thank you for your willingness to help other deal with the issues that follow consumerism. We live with such abundance in this country. Now people need to deal with “all the stuff”. Your experiences are very telling and very helpful. Thank you.
I do swap out seasonal clothes. Basically I hate going to the closet and seeing down coats in the heat of July and sundresses in cold, dreary February. I find it gloomy. Also, right before the next season, when I unbox those clothes, I can take a fresh look to see if I need to buy anything else: fits, style, too worn, etc. I am more likely to move something on if I haven’t been looking at it for six months.