Yesterday I shared a Container Concept Story with a sad ending.
Today, I’m sharing a happy one!!
While decluttering, I unearthed some tablecloths.
Ugh. Tablecloths. A reminder of how I once thought I’d be a Tablecloth Type. Y’know, back when I assumed Future Me would host bi-monthly dinner parties and have a beautifully decorated table at all times.
Reality Me gave up on tablecloths when she accepted that it’s waaaay easier to wipe off a table than to add another unnecessary item to the laundry pile.
But it still caused a little ache in my heart when I found these tablecloths and assumed I needed to stick them in the Donate Box.
I went ahead and asked my first decluttering question, though. “If I were looking for this item, where would I look for it first?”
I headed to the Tablecloth Drawer in my china cabinet.
And guess what I found there?
Room. Empty Space.
Once I removed the how-in-the-world-did-those-end-up-in-here-when-they-have-a-designated-spot-somewhere-else gift bags, the Tablecloth Drawer had room for two more tablecloths!! I was able to keep two!!
(What? you’re wondering about the not-a-tablecloth-but-a-sheet-with-writing-on-it? This should explain.)
And to prove it:
A closed-all-the-way drawer.
That’s a big deal ’round here, y’all.
Please note: I’ve never claimed to be a Proper Folding Blogger, but even I was rather horrified at the you-call-that-folding?? of the tablecloths in the picture. I’m always amazed at how I see things in a picture that escape my Slob Vision in real life. Neither amazed nor horrified enough to go fold them properly, but whatever.
Not sure what The Container Concept is? Here’s a post and a podcast about it.
I’m really loving this “series” on the container concept. I still remember the first time I read about your concept and it just blew my mind. I had never thought of drawers and cabinets as containers before. Thanks again for sharing these great lessons.
Wanna know what kind of freedom I felt today? The freedom to throw away two lids from those other kinds of containers, the plastic sorting kind. It was awesome and I couldn’t wait to share with you. Weirdo? Maybe just a little. But it made me feel good and I got some strength from you to do it!
Share anytime!!!
Hey…if you haven’t gotten rid of your donation box…the one with the extra tablecloths…here’s something to consider. If you have a picnic basket or cooler (or both), you might throw a couple in there. I’ve always kept some older tablecloths to take to parks because picnic tables are just too full of the ick factor for me to put food or dishes on an uncovered one. I’ll be honest with you though, after a dollar store opened in town, I just buy a couple of tablecloths there…and throw them away when we leave.
Now I’m going to go smack my head against the wall because after clicking on one of your links above, I found the wreath I wanted to make for Christmas this year…and forgot about it. :/
I just discovered your helpful and truthful blog this morning as I was trying to start one more time to clean and organize my house. I keep saying it’s impossible bit I know I can do it! Can’t wait to read all of your previous posts to catch up. I think you may become my hero. Thank you!!!
Welcome!!
Dear Dana,
I only just stumbled across your blog and I’m reading from the beginning and I just wanted to leave a comment before I went to bed- thank you! Thank you for sharing your struggle and your journey! I read for far too many hours today, when the kids were napping and I was supposed to do other stuff, lol. But I couldn’t stop nodding and almost predicting what you were going to say next because the endless cycle, the clean and then CHAOS, the thought and behavior patterns, OMG, the seriously ADHD tendencies, so, so familiar!
I have 3 small children, ages 5, 3, and 4 months, I realize I’m in a stressful and messy stage of life, but I NEED to get some habits down, NEED to develop habits to maintain. I hate housework, it doesn’t come naturally or easily to me, even though I was very, very much raised to be a homemaker (seriously, I was taught that my sole lot in life was to bear children and be a keeper at home, period). Yeah, I suuuuuck at it. Much as I enjoy having clean and tidy surroundings, my mental state craves it, I totally have Slob Vision and you’ve inspired me to get started with one or two daily non-negotiables. I honestly have been considering something like this, just one habit at a time until it stuck, to try and get a handle on the daily rat race. My home is ruling me and sucking far, far too much emotional and mental energy- I need to learn how to turn it around and rule my own home. Not that I will ever be Suzy Homemaker and have it down pat, I’ll probably always struggle a little, tidying little messes is not my natural tendency either, even though big messes totally overwhelm me and make me want to run away. But all I want is to have an acceptably tidy home and habits that allow me to maintain it (eventually we’ll get to decluttering) so that I have more energy (and less anxiety) to pour into my kids and husband and the doula business I’m passionate about (way more passionate than housekeeping, lol). And I’ve been afraid of challenging myself to one thing at a time, my perfectionism can hardly stand the idea of not tackling ALLLLLLL TEH THINGS at once, even though it makes do much sense for a person like me, I’ve been procrastinating on picking just one thing and GOING with it for fear of failure and not doing it perfectly, but YOU have so encouraged me to just do it. Thank you, thank you!
And I think I will be implementing a daily checklist over on my little-used blog just for the accountability and to have something to blog about.
Welcome!!! Love hearing your story, Reggie!
Who the hell is Suzy Homemaker anyway??? She’s got nothing on us because we live in the real world….lol
I rolled my tablecloths and found I could store more. Also found that I could see what I have. Much easier to find them than on a stack which always gets messy when you are searching, especially when you are searching in a hurry!