The following is a guest post from regular contributor, Deana at Your Happy Stuff.
If there is one thing I hear over and over when it comes to clearing hurdles to create a calm life, it’s “I don’t know what to DO with everything that piles up on my kitchen counter!”
We all know about the benefits of filing cabinets and desk organizers and systems, YET countertops everywhere are still the #1 magnet for life’s little things. Especially if you are a busy mom.
A couple years ago I had two BIG organizing “issues” (that seemed magnetized to my kitchen countertops):
1. Incoming mail that seemed to multiply everywhere
2. No-place for my office since we turned mine into a bedroom for my son
The needs of our space changed, but the size of our space didn’t.
That’s when I created my Swiss-Army Closet! It’s basically my adaptable personal assistant and I think every busy woman needs one.
Initially this closet was dedicated just to linens. But to soothe my organizing frustrations I had to think outside the box – or in this case, the rectangle.
I gave a lot of thought to the support I needed from this closet and decided that the linens needed to be pared back to exactly what we used, so I could have room for:
– paper processing and file storage – gift wrapping supplies – vacuum cleaner (great central location for this hard-worker) – backstock of household paper products – incoming mail holding area – mobile office – collection point for odds and ends (that eventually need a home, but not right now) – small paper reminders/coupons that I didn’t want to lose – sewing machine and supplies
A LOT goes on in this little closet – and as you can see, it’s nothing fancy. I didn’t add shelving systems or redesign it, I just worked with the space I had and used boxes (as needed) from other areas of the house.
But this closet doesn’t need to be fancy. It just needs to be my assistant – waiting to collect things for me and hand things to me throughout the course of my week.
When the mail enters our home, it gets sorted into two piles: junk and keep.
The junk gets recycled or trashed right away. And the unopened “keep” goes to the closet – into it’s holding area. I deal with all the mail on Saturday mornings over a cup of coffee.
Any receipts, coupons, or notes that would normally get lost in the bottom of my purse get pinned to the cork in my closet (I unpin and ditch the old stuff on Saturday mornings.)
When I need to work, I grab my “office in a box” and set myself up where-ever feels most comfortable that day (the screen porch, by a window, on my bed…I rather like the variety of moving around).
Does this closet get discombobulated by the end of a week? Sure it does! It’s a busy place. But I have created a routine of calming it on Saturday mornings when my time is more relaxed. This typically takes all of 10 minutes. Truth bomb – if I didn’t do that, this closet would quickly turn into a stressful junk pit.
When I created my Swiss-Army Closet, I had to seriously release a bunch of stuff I hardly used to make room for things I use every day.
Because of your busy life, do you feel like you could use a personal assistant in your home? Do you also have a closet that is currently storing stuff you hardly ever use? Well, then you know what to do this weekend…
Create your own Swiss-Army Closet. Good luck!
Deana Ward of Your Happy Stuff loves helping overwhelmed women simplify and calm their lives. As a breakthrough life coach and creator of the 4-week rut buster, Happiness Hotwire, she helps her clients decide how they want to live and gives them simple steps and accountability to make it happen. Be sure to get your FREE gift and weekly tips from Deana over at Your Happy Stuff. You can also find her on Facebook and Pinterest.
All of the posts in this 31 day to organized closets series can be found by clicking on the graphic below.
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