February 20, 2008
10%
Written by Shirley Karr in Jaunty PostEvery winter we get a “teaser” week, when the skies clear and temperatures soar into the low 60s. It’s a break from four months of rain that gives us the will to live until spring arrives. Teaser week often causes premature spring fever. Our teaser just ended, which means I’ve been cleaning like crazy.
Last year, a minor pregnancy complication required me to rest with ice packs on both hands for 20 minutes, three times a day. I’m not in to daytime TV but I was very much in to “nesting” so I set our DVR to record every episode of Mission Organization on HGTV. If you fast-forward through the commercials, it’s exactly 20 minutes. Perfect.
For four months I learned tips and tricks for getting and staying organized. The show taught me to think about using things in different ways than they were originally intended, or “repurposing.” Sort (the categories are keep, toss, and donate/sell), clean, then put away. Over and over again.
Sometimes they spent $20,000 on custom built-in cabinets, but most of the time the organization systems implemented were within the price range of non-CEOs. They organized and put things away in such an attractive, efficient manner it was almost art. Most of the people seemed likely to stay organized once the professionals left them to their own devices. I was hugely inspired to make long-lasting changes in my own cluttered, unorganized spaces.
Alas, I had zero energy and moved like a slug so I got very little of it done before Daniel arrived. He was five months old before we finally made enough space in the former guest/storage room for his crib and dresser. I was going to say finished his room, but we’re not. Among the issues, we’re still stymied on where to store large suitcases and several blankets/comforters that aren’t in use now but will be when he gets older, or when we have company. But if we take down the bunk beds, where will guests sleep?
Seven months postpartum I finally have an iota of energy back. (The baby naps now, and I’ve been taking iron supplements.) During our teaser week I’ve cleaned drawers and cupboards, finding stuff we haven’t touched in literally ten years and forgot we had. I clean and toss with a vengeance, getting over (to some extent) my need to hold on to things, brutal in whittling down the number of items to put in their new, tidy home. That is the underlying cause for much of my cluttter, I think – not having a proper place to put everything.
But… every time I get to the putting back stage, the part Mission O made look so easy, I want to pull my hair out. Because even though I have all these neat ideas (pun intended) and new tools, there is room to neatly put away only about 90% of the stuff that’s left.
That last 10% drives me bonkers.
By the time I get it crammed into the space it has to go into it’s no longer neat and tidy. And what did the designer seriously think we’d be able to do with the top part of the pantry, a cupboard that goes three feet back but is five feet off the ground? I don’t have the arms of an orangutan. There’s room for Marty the Midget to hide up there, as well as the sack of cake flour that expired (mumble, mumble) ago. And I still have to find someplace for a new category of stored items – baby food.
Btw, I’m still waiting for Mission O to tackle a real challenge — organizing a writer’s office. Those so-called home offices where people just need a place to pay bills and surf the ‘net? Don’t count. Let’s see them store a blizzard of important papers and a small library of books in a typical suburban 10×10 bedroom/office in a way that can stay neat for creative types who need to see all their stuff. Please?
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Shana Says:
Oh, Shirley! You should write the TV show and suggest they tackle that real challenge: your office (or mine, if you want). I mean, my office looks neat and organized but underneath it’s really not. I just don’t have time to get everything exactly how I want it. If I spent 3 days doing that, when would I write? But I suppose I could take the time if a TV show wanted to come out and feature me.
brownone Says:
Shirley, you have me cracking up here! Those shows on HGTV make it all look SO easy! The people on the shows get things done in two days with no complications. Well, we redid the guest/kids’ bathroom last year. Instead of taking two days, it took more like two weeks (and we didn’t even replace the toilet or tub). We painted, tiled the floor, replaced the sink/vanity, and put up some beadboard and hooks.
Robyn DeHart Says:
When we first bought this house I TIVO’d all the Mission: Organization episodes too and we have baskets and boxes and the like in every room to keep things tidy and organized. But my office remains an issue - I think part of it is that I have to share with The Professor despite the fact that he has an office at his school. I recently did a massive organization/clean in there and tossed 3 huge garbage bags of stuff so I’ve got most of it controlled. But Shirley, it’s that extra 10%. I agree with Shana, write MO and suggest they do a real office.
Margo Maguire Says:
We purge (heh) periodically. And I never reorganize my office until I turn in a book, which means it gets messier and messier until I reach the breaking point … I finish a book and it all gets straightened out, only to repeat the process with the next book!
Shirley Karr Says:
I’m not sure MO is still in production. My new fave is Design On A Dime because they make stuff and “repurpose” and don’t spend a year’s income to make a huge difference. And dh will watch it, but he complains about MO. No, I don’t believe they get it all done in one day even with a crew, but it gives me good ideas.
Mary M Says:
Design on a Dime is fun to watch! I’d love to watch one of the Jaunty Quills on MO.
Anne Mallory Says:
I love HGTV.
Shirley, have you considered putting up a wall of filing cabinets? Or shelves with filing boxes? That way you can label a drawer or a box by book, category, whatever and just organize that way.
Shirley Karr Says:
I have a wall of book shelves. The filing cabinets and boxes idea doesn’t work because of my pathalogical need to see my stuff. Out of sight, out of mind, even though I know that about myself. I even forget about the oranges stored just inside the garage door.
Anne Mallory Says:
Oh. That makes it a little harder.
You should totally write to the show/station and offer the challenge!
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