home work

Have you checked out The William Morris Project Jules came up with over at Pancakes and French Fries?

For 31 days she chose to live "according to the famous William Morris quote, 'Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.'”

I think of that quote every time I set out to tidy a cabinet, drawer or closet. I am a terrific organizer when I set my mind to it, but the unfortunate truth is that if a spot in my house isn't organized in the first place, it's likely to stay unorganized for a long time. When we moved in April I had no idea where I wanted things to go. I basically threw stuff into closets, shut the doors and figured I'd deal with it later. 

It's been seven months and I'm still dealing with it.

This coat closet was probably the most unused space in our house until a few days ago. Right after we moved we shoved all of our flattened moving boxes in there along with yard tools, golf clubs, tennis shoes, charcoal, car washing supplies and random curtain rods. Last week I turned on my Spotify Mad Men playlist and got to work taking everything out and then deciding what should go back in. I reassembled the shelving unit that we kept in the pantry of our old house, moved the golf clubs to the basement, brought a few of our winter coats out of storage and added the fabric storage bins that were sitting empty in my closet. Now they'll hold hats, gloves and scarves.

Oh gosh. The under-the-sink cabinet. Previous bane of my existence. Not anymore! Before, this space was crammed with FIVE huge jugs of dishwashing soap and a million plastic bags were floating around. I could never find what I was looking for and I was always knocking things over. Now everything is neatly tucked away. The paper bag holds bags (shocker) and my lunchbox is hidden behind it. 

Other than the top shelf, my skinny little pantry stays nice and tidy. At first I was disappointed by how small it is compared to our old one, but I've come to realize that having a smaller pantry forces me to buy only what we need.

Next space to get the William Morris treatment — our "craigslist" room. It's a scary place!