Organizing like crazy

When I don't feel like cleaning the kitchen or the bathroom - either because it's extremely late or I just run out of steam - I usually find something to organize. This can take a few hours, a day or a week. But it prevents me from having to actually clean.

Last night I organized the closet in my "office," which contains my knitting and sewing stuff as well as empty boxes and bags for Christmas gifts, photo albums, newspaper clippings and old shoes I wore as a toddler.

It began with me looking for a scarf I'm expected to wear next Sunday during our fall concert. It ended with me sitting at my desk at 5 a.m. sorting tiny little buttons into separate mini ziplock bags. You know, those little buttons that come attached to your shirts, pants and jackets when you buy them - in case one falls off.

I realized my buttons were scattered all over the place - in desk drawers and among threads and needles - and figured the most logical place to keep them would be among my sewing stuff. I then, of course, needed to upgrade my little sewing kit to a bigger box to accommodate all the materials.

Of course, this seemed like an immensely important task at 5 a.m.

The Big Project

I'm very pleased to announce that my friend Beth and I did everything we set out to do during our organizing spree this weekend. An entire room was cleaned out at her house and we found room for (almost) everything.

While my friend usually needs a little nudge to get going, she really impressed me. Each morning, she was up at the crack of dawn, and after sending her husband off to work, she started throwing things out and putting things away until I got up four or five hours later.

Above, Beth is going through some old e-mails. To the right is a shelf I built in her laundry room for extra storage. We had some difficulty getting it in because of two door frames, but we finally managed to squeeze it into where it belongs.



Important papers and costumes were placed in safe plastic containers, since the basement room has a tendency of flooding every once in a while. A lace curtain hides the storage area from view, and we were able to fit a twin-sized bed into the room we just cleaned.



We took all the bottles and photos off this antique piano and pulled the piano out to clean the floor behind and underneath it. Of course, we also polished the piano with wood finish!

It's a new room, and Beth should be proud of all her work!