"A Place for Everything and Everything In Its Place"

I go through these organizing streaks. They usually are a result of visiting an organized person's house and admiring their organized-ness. Or sometimes they are caused by a fit of despair from tripping over items on the floor that have no real place to be put away in.

One time an organizing streak was caused by a very sweet little girl inside me. (I think they call it nesting.) Boy howdy, I sure got my whole kitchen and laundry room put in order and talk about clean.

The truth of the matter is, I feel better about life, think more clearly, get more done, and even make better meals if my house is decently in order. If everything has a place to go.

Oh there's some shoes out in the middle of the dining room? No worries, they have a shelf in the closet to sit on so I scurry in there. But listen, before that shoe shelf came to be, those black high heels would have sat in my dining room until the next time I wanted to wear them. Tripped over numerous times, scowled at, and possibly kicked partially under the table.

I've been designing solutions for many such problems in my life. For example, the mail. I skip down my driveway to the mailbox and bring back a stack of bills, magazines, and riffraff. It goes onto my kitchen counter where it is simply in the way, gets wet splatters from dishes, and falls onto the floor numerous times. But there's no real good place for it to go. Enter, mail rack on the wall of the entry. Here is the perfect spot to put it the minute I enter the house. Eye level so I don't forget about it. Out of the way so it doesn't get misplaced, lost, or drenched. There is also a slot for outgoing mail that needs a ride down to the mailbox.

A few other examples are a specific roomy cookbook shelf where my cookbooks are no longer falling over, getting bent, and looking sloppy.

An organized pantry where I know how to find things, appliances that I use most are on lower shelves and easy to get out, like-minded things are contained together in totes or boxes. For instance, one tote holds all the dried fruit, nuts and seeds. One basket holds only cereal options. The next holds all the different sugars and sweeteners.

A toy box/hamper sort of thing where all the many baby toys can be hurriedly dumped into.

We each have our own ways of organizing and what works for us. Pinterest of course is chock-full of ideas if you really feel blank.

But I will tell you, when things habe a place to go and be put away into, I notice a significant increase in my productivity each day.

"A place for everything and everything in its place."