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This is part 3 in a series about not using your home as a storage unit. In part 1, we discussed how your home should be for living; it should be filled with items that you use now and enjoy having around. In part 2, we reflected on whether or not we were storing any items for non-household members and what our motivations were behind those decisions. If feelings of resentment surface, this is a sign that it may be time to make some changes. In part 3, we will discuss how to set boundaries with those non-household members.
Part 2: Your Home is Not a Storage Unit: Are You Storing Other People's Items in Your Home?11/2/2020
Are you storing other people’s items in your home? People who don’t actually live there? … a grown child’s toys and memorabilia … your brother’s furniture that doesn’t fit in his current home … clothes or tools you borrowed from a friend … items you inherited from deceased family members … your great aunt’s furniture that you really don’t like Working as a professional organizer, I find that many people do have other people’s belongings stored in their home. The reasons are vast and varied. (Link to Part 1: Your Home is Not a Storage Unit.) There’s nothing necessarily wrong with having other people’s items in your home. But if you feel resentful about it, it may be time to take a closer look at why: What is your motivation for keeping other people’s items?
 Our homes are meant for us to live in… to do life in. They are meant to be filled with things that help us to live and things that make us happy while we are living there. Our homes are not meant to be a storage unit... filled with boxes or piles of things that you don’t actually use.
Take a moment to reflect on your home... are you using it the way you want to? If it feels more like a storage unit, it may be time to reassess and declutter. As you are organizing and rearranging your desk supplies, think vertical for storage! There are lots of ways to vertically arrange your papers and supplies. Marie Kondo, the Japanese Organizer, suggests that Komono Items (miscellaneous) be organized vertically whenever possible. The idea is to be able to see everything, whether you are opening a drawer or a box. Stacking items generally means that they will begin to get lost, you will forget what you own, and you will start purchasing duplicate items, which only adds to the clutter. The goal is not perfection. The goal is to be able to see what you have easily, find what you need quickly, and return items to their correct spot without a fuss. This means that every item needs a home! Use dividers in desk drawers to separate different types of items. Small plastic containers, cardboard lids from stationary packages, and even plastic trays that produce comes in may be just what you need for a drawer divider. The boxes that iPhones come in are very sturdy and work nicely as well. |
AuthorMy name is Laura, and I love all things organizing! Archives
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