Gettin' My Scheisse Together

We visited the Jazzman's mother on Saturday afternoon. She has a sweet little condo southeast of Columbus. The size of the unit is probably about 1100 square feet—about the size of the condo FOMC and I had in Sarasota when our boys were about two and four. But the woman has a walk-in closet, and it's immaculate. I covet her walk-in closet!

My large 1927 home has a small closet in each of the four bedrooms. To supplement that, I have a large antique armoire and a double dresser in my bedroom. And I have a hanging rack in the basement. And, yet, I have stuff everywhere. Clothes everywhere. I've started putting all my handcrafted [hand-dyed quilted silk] jackets in the closet in the grandkids' room. But that doesn't solve the problem. That's the closest I've come to sorting my wardrobe. There is no plan.

I start putting, for example, t-shirts in one drawer and sweaters in another. But then the drawer gets full, and both t-shirts and sweaters go into a third drawer. So when I want a specific t-shirt, as I did this morning, I simply cannot find it. I quickly riffle through three drawers, and am unable to find the shirt I'm looking for, so I totally change what I plan to wear that day.

A similar situation occurs in my sewing room. My very long workday dictates that I have minimal time for sewing. I sit down to work on a project, and I can't find something I need for a specific task. I start digging through drawers and boxes, then shelves and storage bins, and I cannot find the tool I seek. I waste half an hour looking for the tool and by the time I find it, my available time is exhausted.

My stuff expands to fill all available space. I am a space junkie. I need SpaceEaters Anonymous!

I've been working since the first of January to keep my house in an orderly fashion, such that if someone knocked on my door I would not be embarrassed to ask him or her into my home. I've kept that up for three months. I guess now it's time to apply that same concept to my closets.

I'm not sure where or how to start. I didn't develop this tendency overnight, and I'm probably not going to be able to solve the problem overnight. But it's got to stop. Got. To. Stop.

By documenting the problem in this space, maybe I'll give myself the kick in the butt that I need to start the process.

Now I'm committed to reporting in on my progress. Hold me to it, okay?