1.19.2011

Love-Hate Wednesday – the organization edition

I ran across this article this week (not literally- I’m a terrible runner) and I love it!!!

This family from Northern California lives without throwing anything out- like nothing. It’s a packaging free zone! Not to mention the fact that they each live with about 15 items of clothing!  I’m inspired.

So inspired, I’m going to deal with one of my major hates this week... my bedroom closet K
I’m a tidy person...kind of. Our house is generally very clean to the outside observer.  What they don’t know, however, is my tidiness is pretty much limited to things you can see when someone gives you a quick house tour. Anything behind doors, in cupboards, tucked into drawers, tossed into the basement...you get my drift... is pretty much fair game for the mess fairies.
 As a result, my kitchen pantry looks like my pottery and dry goods are having a frat party, my front closet is like a winter wear store pillaged by Vikings, and my bedroom closet...well...it’s the worst of all. .. I want to say it only appears to have been nested in by small animals, but if I’m honest, my cat actually does go in there to nest and Judah uses it as his make-believe bear den.  Yes, people, it’s true, my name is Jennie and I’m a closet mess-hider.
This is my bedroom...

Looks tidy right?


And this is my closet...
 
Step one towards closet rehabilitation – admit you have a problem-  check!
Step two- organize it- yikes...


Another thing I’m loving this week....
These super-cute mini file boxes from FreeStyleGifts on Etsy, complete with repurposed record covers for dividers. I think this could be just the ticket for all the loose recipes I currently have shoved into a cookbook. A gift to myself? Methinks so!



And my final hate for the week...the weather. I’m sorry, but it’s hard to get spring-cleaning-like inspiration when everything outside is grey and brown- and not a particularly pretty shade of either.
Here’s the view out my window... blech!


As a result of all this dark, awfulness that is winter, I spend much of my time staring off into space, imagining myself in warm destinations.
This year, I can up my daydreams one level by living vicariously through my parents. They are, for the first time in 30 years of marriage, taking a tropical vacation, just the two of them. I LOVE this!
My mom gives up most of every week to look after Judah for us, creating the equivalent of a toddler utopia in her home every day (last week she suspended all her pot lids on a rope between her fridge and stove and let him go at it with a mallet- awesome, right?), and my dad is just a nice guy who could use a vacation.

So all in all, the fact that they get to go here makes me very happy!




Happy winter dreaming everyone!

6 comments:

  1. Kris and I are CHAMPION surface cleaners. Everything looks good to the casual observer - but just like you, everything behind closed doors is a disaster. I love the *idea* of being organized - I even like organzing. I just have no clue how to keep things organized...

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  2. I'm with you. Every 6 months or so I go on a whirlwind organization binge. Everything lasts for about 3 weeks and then starts to slide again. Once it gets really bad, we move. Then I'm forced to purge. Desperate times...

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  3. My bedroom closet is a mess, too. Eeeks! Even worse is our office. We kinda moved in and I said, "I'll deal with it later", but nooooo.
    Maybe I should get on it!

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  4. You have a newborn. That's a pretty good excuse to do nothing in my books. Save the office for our visit, I should be on a Martha-Stewartesque organizing streak by then :)

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  5. Hmm...Jen... Dear... Sorry but I don't reckon your bedroom (ie bed, etc.) was ever like that when I visited last weekend. Nice try, though, dear Dear!

    80))

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  6. Cat, that's because hanging out with you is way more fun than making my bed ;)

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