Okay, so we won’t talk about the huge lapse between posts, agreed? Agreed.
It’s spring! Well, sort of. At least I’ve heard that some parts of the world are enjoying spring. We had snow yesterday but it didn’t stick so it shouldn’t count. Anyway, the calendar says April 20 and that’s technically spring and I’ve been getting the spring cleaning itch. Mind you, it’s just a little tickle at this point and I’m doing my best to ignore it, but I’ve been scratching ever so lightly. Mostly I’ve been trying to tame the clutter. My personal bane has always been organization. I just can’t seem to get the hang of it. I really like the idea of being organized and I am a total whore for organizational tools: I have baskets, cases, bags, drawer units and all manner of other fancy doo-dads coming out my ears. Most of them are empty. Others are piled to overflowing with a random assortment of mostly unrelated crap stuff. Val has promised to kill me if I bring another basket into the house. (Me: But they’re so preeeeeeettty! Him: NOOOOOOOO!)
That’s all about to end.
I have two–count ’em TWO–of these:
Oh yeah. Be jealous.
I ran into a friend at the grocery store and she asked me if I wanted two library card catalogs. Someone was giving her three and she only had need for one. Of course I said yes. (She also asked if we could use their awesome grill, since they’re getting a new one AND I came out of the store with 5 boxes of Girl Scout cookies and a $10 grocery store gift card for subscribing to the paper. Most lucrative trip to the store EVER!) Talking Val into it was a little bit tricky but he came around once I convinced him that getting these would allow us to reduce some of the unused organizational tools and virtually eliminate all clutter. (Well, there may also have been an epic bout of pouting.) We moved them last weekend. When I say “we”, what I really mean is “he”. I opened doors and herded cats, mostly, though I still managed to hurt my back. Those suckers are heavy. About 300 lbs each. Without the drawers. One man. One handcart. One hernia.
The master plan (mine) was to put one in the living room and the other upstairs in our room for craft stuff. The reality was that, without at least four strong, burly men to move them, they were both staying downstairs. So much for master plans. It totally works, though, because I do most of my quilting, knitting, beading etc. downstairs anyway so it makes sense to keep all that stuff where it’s most accessible.
The one in the living room (actually, it’s on the cusp of the living room/kitchen dining area) holds assorted household effluvia. Behold:
The Tape Drawer--Sadly, this isnt even all of the tape...
Sporks! Yes, we DO need an entire drawer just for sporks. Why do you ask?
What? Like you dont have a flask drawer? Tchuh! DONT JUDGE ME!!!
I don’t have labels made yet but I also have drawers for electronics, iPods & accessories, office supplies, first aid, hair stuff, glasses stuff, tools and batteries, among other things. Ideally, these would be put into alphabetical order and for the most part they will be, but drawers containing dangerous/sharp things will have to go on the top row to keep little fingers safe.
I haven’t even started filling the craft drawers yet. I think this will be a little trickier, since I do need to keep certain things in certain places. A huge portion of my stuff won’t fit in these drawers of course, but they will be perfect for stray knitting needles, circulars, needle gauges (I have several), scissors (of which I have MANY), thread, quilting notions, small rulers, fusible web–the possibilities are endless. Someday, when we live in an actual house with an actual whole crafting area just for me, I will have one of these in there and have pretty displays of knitting needles and a basket of yarn on top. For now, it’s by the stairs, holding my mother’s silver tea service and a couple of plants.
Wild Potatoes 