Ode to Organization

Since January is the month designated for tax preparation, self-loathing, football and cleaning out closets, it's only natural the topic of organizing one's crap has been circulating amongst my friends and family this week.

During these conversations, I've decided Sterilite boxes are absolutely the most ineffective way for me to organize myself. You know, the ones you can stack in your closet and conveniently seal with duct tape when you move? They give you a false sense of organization. You actually don't have to deal with what's inside as long as you can keep stacking, resealing and avoiding. Hi, my name is Brianne, and I'm a Sterilite-aholic. (Hi, Brianne...) I'm really trying to break away from this nasty habit, and I will succeed in 2008.

Since I'm a curator of crap, I've decided to edit my collection a bit. I realized my own personal hoarding habits hit an all-time low when I was cleaning out my closet on MLK day. I had a collections of term papers, insanely complicated scrap booking supplies (they look like you'd use them to conduct arthroscopic surgery), unorganized photos and bills from, oh....2001. This has got to stop. Now that most of the junk is gone, I've been hunting and gathering for an upkeep method that might actually work with my lifestyle, and I think I've come up with a few tips that are universally helpful. These are my three resolutions for this year. Let's see if I actually stick to them.

1. Organization is like brushing your teeth.
It's needed daily, apparently. For those managing a household out there, my sister is raving about flylady.net. It's a day-by-day system of getting your house under control when you're in what they call CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome.) It starts off with just bleaching and shining your sink. I don't have quite the amount of mess a household with children might, but I like the philosophy of taking baby steps, and I'm sure moms that barely have time to shower will, too.

2. Treat my closet like a shrine.
I need to remember my closet contains clothing and shoes - you know that stuff I spend a ton of money on? My closet probably has the most value-per-square-foot of anywhere in the house, so why am I treating it like a red-headed stepchild? Instead of allowing sweaters and dresses to fall off the hangar and possibly meet their demise, I should probably keep it clean.

Anyway, a word about closets - there are a million opinions and preferences of how to organize this space. Lifehacker says to organize your closet left to right with outfits so you won't ever "overwear" anything. In an effort to rid herself of things she never wears, my former roommate Suzie has designed a system which she hangs her hangars backwards, and returns them to the closet the right way only after wearing them once or laundering them. After a month, all clothing on backward hangars goes to Goodwill. Harsh, but effective!

Another site has a four-box system of cleaning your closet that I could have used when I was knee-deep in birthday cards from 1999 and high school swim team shirts. They recommend "Box C" for items you are emotionally attached to, but unready to give up. It says to leave it be for a month, and if you don't use them, give to charity. Real Simple, patron of organization, gives 12 tips from "closet pros" (what a job) and they say "NO more wire hangars!" Haha.

3. Stop buying ugly boxes, or lack thereof.
There's a reason why I am unorganized. I refuse to spend money on shoe boxes or anything from The Container Store, because I'd rather spend it on things that are "fun." But really, if you can't find anything and your place looks like crap, all the Voluspa candles and west elm vases in the world won't make your apt look decent.


So, I'm taking note of Domino's cute ideas to be an organized individual. I especially liked their spread on Rashida Jones' place that showed me if they can make 400 square feet look good, I should be able to get it together. In fact, I think everyone should bookmark their "Get Organized" section. Speaking of west elm, I rather enjoy their canvas boxes to keep my crap calm, cool and collected.

To commit myself to this journey to organizational enlightenment, I'm aiming to post photos of my work. That will hopefully keep me on track, because who wants to broadcast photos of their messy room? Stay tuned...