O is for ..........Organising

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm a sucker for being organised.  I like everything to have a place and preferably be in it.  It just makes life so much easier, saves time and means that things are so much easier to find when you need them.  Most of our house is pretty organised.  Occasionally, the odd surface, drawer or cupboard gets messy and needs a clear out, but I try to do this on quite a regular basis, so that clutter doesn't build up and get too overwhelming.

Last week for example, I managed to (re-)organise some drawers in the sewing room and made a bit of room in one, into which I could transfer some fabrics that were being stored in a pine blanket box in the living room.  This was great as it meant that I could free up some space in the blanket box for another purpose. 

I've decided that this is where I am going to keep most of my homemade quilts during the summer months, when they are not needed.  I'm not quite in a position to put them in there yet, as I am still in the process of making two of them and then I need to paint the box once it is empty, which is one of the jobs on my 52 Projects list. It feels great though, to know that I will eventually have a home for the quilts which are quite bulky.  In the winter, when they are in use, I can also use this box to hide away summer clothes, which makes it even more flexible storage.  This in turn will make the bedroom look a lot less cluttered which will be an added bonus.  Baby steps, but I'm getting there slowly.

Last weekend, I decided to (re-)organise the contents of  a chest of drawers in the dining room.  One drawer had various bits and pieces in it, another various bits of old paperwork and the third various children's craft items, mainly from when Little Bird was a lot younger.   I decided to start on this drawer and see if there was anything we could now part with that was no longer relevant or useful.  Some of the craft items were donated to the charity shop as they were no longer used, a few were relocated to my sewing room and many were well past their best and thrown away or recycled. 

In addition, a separate box of craft papers that were being stored under the chest of drawers, were sorted through and could now be fitted into the existing drawer, thus removing a once necessary overflow storage solution.  This felt very satisfying, as it does mean that I am gradually reducing the clutter in the house and finding an appropriate space for everything to dwell.  The storage box can also now be used for another purpose when I find one, possibly under bed storage of some kind.

As a consequence of organising the drawers afresh, I was also able to completely empty at least one drawer and I have subsequently used this to house some board games which were clogging up the book shelves above.  It felt good to put them in here and create a much less cluttered feel in this room, which is now much more restful on the eyes. 

The plastic storage box full of craft items used to sit under this chest.  Now emptied and removed I have decided to use it to house the wool that was also being stored in the blanket box, as I can then slip it under the bed in the sewing room.

It makes quite a good solution for the time being, as being transparent I can see what is in there instead of rummaging around in this bag that used to contain the wool and is now empty.  Hooray.

The blanket box is finally empty too now and ready for it's paint job, when I get around to completing it.  I think I might just paint the outside as the inside looks nice as it is.  It will save me time and effort too.  I may just line the bottom with wallpaper.

It may seem like I'm just moving things around, which of course I am, but I'm also finding places to store things that currently don't have a home and are or will be cluttering up the house when they are not being used in the summer.  There's still more organisation to be done around the house, as it is a constant and on-going process, but small victories over the clutter are nevertheless very encouraging.