Household Organization: 2009
As of late, I’ve felt a little chaotic as I stroll around here because it appears that we have way too much stuff. Yet I feel a perhaps irrational attachment to the junk I’ve purchased over the years. So, I wish to keep the stuff that still works; unless space shortages force me to pitch it.
My clinging to my stuff might originate in the notion that I doubt that I’ll ever have the middle-class level of income, that I did when I worked as a software engineer. Translation: I’ll probably never be able to afford to buy this junk again. So throwing it out gives me the jitters, even though much of it I haven’t used in years.
But, maybe I won’t have to order a dumpster. A better solution might be to organize it all very well, so that I know where to find each and every item. So to that end, I begin the effort of eliminating clutter here at the house, and in this post, I’ll write about this effort as it unfolds. I’ll tell you about each step I take to combat the junk monster such as building additional shelving for various free walls, and purchasing a storage shed, and so on. You’ll get it all here and you just might find some useful information herein to aid you in your organizational goals.
Look to the comments below to see the journal style entries for this effort.
I don’t anticipate that this project will ever end because there’s always better places for things than where you have them currently, and better ways of organizing in general. So come along with me here as I write about the many discoveries I know I’m going to make as I embark on this undertaking.
November 12th, 2009 at 8:03 am
09:15 AM: Gathered up all light bulbs around here, boxed or bagged the ones that I have many of, and put them all in one place in the basement.
10:01 AM: Put all Christmas lights that I’ve not yet put up this year, into one place in the basement.
November 13th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
12:00 PM: Picked up several different sizes of storage baskets at Wal Mart today, and put all our non-fluorescent bulbs together in some of these baskets.
November 14th, 2009 at 9:59 pm
11:00 AM: Put all the blue flood lights purchased last year for the Christmas lighting, 2008 project into one storage basket. One bulb broke with a surprisingly loud bang. So I may have to individually wrap each light to keep it safe, and whole.
11:15 PM: Grouped all my wood screws, sheet metal screws, and machine screws together and put them each in their own storage basket.
November 15th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
11:15 AM: Found some other screws lying around and put them in their appropriate baskets.
November 16th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
12:14 PM: Cleared out all the excess stuff from the cellar way area. The brooms have a more permanent, concealed home now inside the cabinet beside the cellar door, the sewing machine went to the basement, and any coats not currently used went into the living room closet.
05:30 PM: Filled up all the baskets purchased during last Friday’s shopping trip. So next trip, I need many more baskets. I also threw out several of those old tube-type radios I’d purchased on eBay back in 2006. But there is still much to organize (as well as pitch) in the basement.
November 18th, 2009 at 10:46 am
05:00 PM: I cleaned and organized my bedroom today.
November 21st, 2009 at 6:38 am
08:30 AM: Filled the four big totes I purchased on yesterday’s shopping trip, with Christmas garland, which had previously been laying around in a disorderly fashion, in roughly ten big, black garbage bags, on the cellar floor. Getting those sacks up off the floor, and out of sight, definitely cut down on the clutter. I feel like I’ve won a significant victory in this war against clutter today.
Next trip however, I’ll require at least eight more of these totes, to provide a permanent storage location for our many strings of Christmas lights.
10:00 AM: Organized DVDs in my bedroom, and took those that I’ve already seen but did not like down to the basement.
03:00 PM: I put into Zip Loc bags all loose items around the room and attempted to classify them properly — all empty glasses cases went into one bag, while the cases that had eyeglasses in them I placed in another. I bagged all my lens cleaning cloths as well.
04:00 PM: Next, I used the dishpans purchased on yesterday’s shopping trip to store cleaning and personal hygene chemicals. I also placed a basket on the shelf beside the TV, and put a few razors and nail clippers in it, as I tend to use these items while watching TV.
06:00 PM: I took everything out of the little cabinet underneath the TV, pitched one or two old remote controls, and carried the dip meter and antenna checker I’d purchased back in 2000, down to the basement. These aren’t really bedroom-items, and so, shouldn’t be here.
09:00 PM: Found a box to put the paper we recycle into, placed it my upstairs office, and moved all used but no longer needed papers into it.
09:15 PM: Also, see the bedroom cleaning efforts for today for more details.
November 22nd, 2009 at 1:16 pm
03:15 PM: Used all the containers purchased during the shopping trip two days ago. I filled them with nails, screws, bathroom cleaning supplies, socks, personal hygiene items, and so on. Hopefully when Garrett takes me to Altoona to pick up [Emmy] today, I can pick up a few more big baskets and storage containers.
09:30 PM: Bought thirteen more medium- and small-sized storage baskets on today’s shopping trip. In the process of loading these up now.
November 24th, 2009 at 6:06 pm
08:05 PM: All thirteen baskets that I purchased during this past Sunday’s shopping trip have been deployed. Yet I’ve still very far to go in order to completely vanquish the clutter and mess. So on the next shopping trip, I must get more baskets.
December 1st, 2009 at 1:51 pm
12:30 PM: Deployed ten small baskets purchased on today’s shopping trip, in the plumbing section of our basement. I filled these with copper and PVC fittings of various designs and sizes, new and used valves that were left over from the household re-plumbing project that finished up in the spring of 2008, and plumbing tools. All the baskets purchased today are filled now. I need more.
10:00 PM: Deployed all the shoe box-style containers I purchased on today’s shopping trip either in the basement, or up here in the office. I’ll need at least twenty more of these as well.
December 3rd, 2009 at 9:20 pm
11:15 PM: Earlier tonight on our latest shopping trip, we picked up twenty-one shoe box style storage containers, eight latch able small storage boxes, and five 18-gallon totes. I’ll deploy these in the next day or two.
December 4th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
02:30 PM: Deployed all six of the small (1.1 liter) lach boxes I purchased on last night’s shopping trip as follows:
* One for all my sewing tools and supplies
* One for my tie clip and pins
* One for my keys
* One for loose batteries
* One for spare LED bulbs
* One for Misc. hardware in the basement
Next trip, I need at least twenty more of these boxes.
03:45 PM: Deployed all five of the 18-gallon totes purchased on last night’s shopping trip as follows:
* Two for blankets, sheets, and other bedding in my bedroom
* Three for my old clothes, summer towels, extra laundry bags, et al, that had been lying around, loosely, in the attic.
Next trip, I need at least ten more of these totes as well.
05:00 PM: Deployed all twenty-one of the 5.7-liter storage boxes in the plumbing section of the basement, to hold various sizes and various materials of pipe fittings, valves, clamps, and supplies like solder, glue, flux, and plumbers dope. This means that all containers purchased during yesterday’s shopping trip have been utilized.
December 6th, 2009 at 9:12 am
Working in the 2nd floor office today as follows:
11:10 AM: Gathered together into one box, all alumni association papers, receipts, checks, cards, letters, and so on.
11:26 AM: Moved the second office chair here, back down to the first floor office, where it came from a little while back, when we were clearing out that room down there, for the Thanksgiving Dinner, 2009 project.
12:50 PM: Grouped Mom’s loose meds and supplies into Zip Loc bags.
01:30 PM: Unloaded four of Mom’s med trays that I’d filled prior to the last time she went to the nursing facility. The meds she takes have changed in terms of the actual drugs taken as well as the times of day they’re to be administered. So, I’ve discarded the obsolete meds, and re-bottled the ones she still takes.
December 8th, 2009 at 9:34 pm
11:30 PM: Today, I accomplished the following:
* Filed numerous papers in the 2nd floor office
* Purchased numerous Sterilite storage containers during tonight’s shopping trip.
I’ll deploy these containers over the next few days.
December 9th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
05:30 PM: Deployed all the 1.1-liter latch-able storage containers purchased during yesterday’s shopping trip. I found places for most of them in the bedroom, with the rest going down to the workbenches in the basement. I did leave a couple empty ones in both places because something just right will come along to put in them quite soon. I’m sure of it.
December 10th, 2009 at 10:50 am
12:40 PM: Put loose items on the south east wall shelves into two baskets; envelopes, checkbooks, calculators, hole punches, and new checks. Yep, I’m winning the clutter war, little by little.
12:45 PM: Moved the Access database development books to the archival storage book case downstairs, as I don’t think I’ll be doing any database work in the near future.
December 31st, 2009 at 11:14 am
12:00 PM: Purchased 18 more of the 18-gallon totes during today’s shopping trip.
03:25 PM: Deployed four of the eighteen totes purchased earlier today, for holding Christmas lights.