Like many people, I have several sizes of clothing. I have the ones I wear now and the ones I don't fit into anymore. Actually, I have ones I never fit into because Gran would always buy clothes that didn't fit me as some kind of twisted inspiration to lose weight. What was up with that?
Along with the Can't-Fit-Ass-Into-It clothing, I have professional clothing I just don't need right now because, well, you know. No professional activities. Anyway, all of this clothing has been occupying my dressers and never being worn or even seen. Because of this, all the clothes I do wear ended up living in some laundry baskets and a set of plastic office drawers. It was organized, but tacky and on the floor.
My roommate and I are going through a Spring clean/reorganize the house kind of thing. We do this every three years or so, as a way to cull crap out of the house we're not using and try to solve problems in item placement. You know how it goes. There are always things in the house that never go where they should. You keep telling yourself they'll get put up, but they don't. Instead of finding fault in yourself and laziness, just accept that the placement isn't working for you and find a new one. Trust me. It really does help.
We decided we were tired of so many uneven, rickety bookshelves dominating the living room. We talked about alternative placement for them, but just couldn't find anything viable. All the possible spaces were otherwise occupied. It was frustrating because we are both to the point where we'd really like to have a cleaner, less cluttered living area. As much as we brainstormed, we just couldn't find a solution.
Until, that is, I realized I could move the bookshelf into my room if I got rid of the clean clothes baskets. The best way to do this was to put the clothes I wasn't wearing into real storage.
Writing it now, I'm shocked I didn't realize this before. The baskets have always been a headache. I had to line them with garbage bags to keep the cats out of them so that fleas and cat puke couldn't come into contact with my clothes. Because this was annoying, it was like pulling teeth to get me to actually put them away. So my dirty clothes baskets ended up holding my clean clothes instead of the baskets they were supposed to be in. Yeah, this is sounding more insane by the word.
Anyway, I cleared out the unused clothing and repopulated my dressers with things I actually wear. I took the office storage tower that held my underthings and am now using it as storage for my hairdryer and stuff. Everything in my room is going to be so much more accessible.
I know I've mentioned this before, but if you're feeling cramped in a room, if you can find a way to even gain a line of space an inch wide, the room will feel huge to you. Every little bit of space you can reclaim makes it larger, easier, happier. Minor changes can make you feel so much better about the whole thing.
I think the point is that if you find yourself in constant conflict with a part of your life and solutions seem impossible, step back and examine the problem from a wider angle. Maybe you can't fix it because of the parameters you have. . . . but can you change one of those in a way that can make it fixable? We couldn't think of a place to move the bookshelf because I didn't allow myself to consider the place where my clothes lived as a possibility. Once I was able to see how I could change it, the possibilities opened up for us, and now the whole house has the potential to get a lot easier to handle.
The next time you find yourself needing to problem solve and see no options, begin to examine the barriers keeping you from your options. Do any of those have potential for change? If not, do any of the barriers surrounding those have it? Once you can find the places for alterations, who knows what you can accomplish!
Along with the Can't-Fit-Ass-Into-It clothing, I have professional clothing I just don't need right now because, well, you know. No professional activities. Anyway, all of this clothing has been occupying my dressers and never being worn or even seen. Because of this, all the clothes I do wear ended up living in some laundry baskets and a set of plastic office drawers. It was organized, but tacky and on the floor.
My roommate and I are going through a Spring clean/reorganize the house kind of thing. We do this every three years or so, as a way to cull crap out of the house we're not using and try to solve problems in item placement. You know how it goes. There are always things in the house that never go where they should. You keep telling yourself they'll get put up, but they don't. Instead of finding fault in yourself and laziness, just accept that the placement isn't working for you and find a new one. Trust me. It really does help.
We decided we were tired of so many uneven, rickety bookshelves dominating the living room. We talked about alternative placement for them, but just couldn't find anything viable. All the possible spaces were otherwise occupied. It was frustrating because we are both to the point where we'd really like to have a cleaner, less cluttered living area. As much as we brainstormed, we just couldn't find a solution.
Until, that is, I realized I could move the bookshelf into my room if I got rid of the clean clothes baskets. The best way to do this was to put the clothes I wasn't wearing into real storage.
Writing it now, I'm shocked I didn't realize this before. The baskets have always been a headache. I had to line them with garbage bags to keep the cats out of them so that fleas and cat puke couldn't come into contact with my clothes. Because this was annoying, it was like pulling teeth to get me to actually put them away. So my dirty clothes baskets ended up holding my clean clothes instead of the baskets they were supposed to be in. Yeah, this is sounding more insane by the word.
Anyway, I cleared out the unused clothing and repopulated my dressers with things I actually wear. I took the office storage tower that held my underthings and am now using it as storage for my hairdryer and stuff. Everything in my room is going to be so much more accessible.
I know I've mentioned this before, but if you're feeling cramped in a room, if you can find a way to even gain a line of space an inch wide, the room will feel huge to you. Every little bit of space you can reclaim makes it larger, easier, happier. Minor changes can make you feel so much better about the whole thing.
I think the point is that if you find yourself in constant conflict with a part of your life and solutions seem impossible, step back and examine the problem from a wider angle. Maybe you can't fix it because of the parameters you have. . . . but can you change one of those in a way that can make it fixable? We couldn't think of a place to move the bookshelf because I didn't allow myself to consider the place where my clothes lived as a possibility. Once I was able to see how I could change it, the possibilities opened up for us, and now the whole house has the potential to get a lot easier to handle.
The next time you find yourself needing to problem solve and see no options, begin to examine the barriers keeping you from your options. Do any of those have potential for change? If not, do any of the barriers surrounding those have it? Once you can find the places for alterations, who knows what you can accomplish!
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