Don’t you just love walking into your closet with a chandelier lighting the way so you can look at your walls of shoes? It’s so nice to take a break for a few minutes and put your feet up on your full-size couch with a glass of wine while you decide what to wear. Decisions, decisions… Oh wait, was that your closet or were you pinning a photo to your “Closet Organizing” board? Ahhh, to dream…
Sorry, back to reality. Pinterest is definitely a really fun site with amazing recipes, great inspirational quotes and creative ideas for any project you can think of. I have nothing at all against the site itself and I think it would have been awesome to use when my kids were little. What I do have a problem with is people getting a false sense of reality from those oh so picture perfect photos. A photo is just a snapshot in time that doesn’t change. Living a real life in a real home means movement, messes, more stuff, less stuff, projects, spills and repairs. We should live in our homes and use our stuff and that means that things will get messy sometimes. And, that’s okay.
I can easily help a client get organized. First we take a “before” photo. Then we pull things out, make decisions and part with some stuff. After that, we place what’s being kept in organizing bins, baskets or drawers. Tada! We can now take the “after” photo and we have a perfect moment in time. That’s it, it’s just a moment and maybe it’s even just a second. In real life, the items that are being kept will be pulled out, used and put back many times over.Occasionally, the system will need a little maintenance or tune-up. And, that’s okay.
The good news is that once you have decluttered and created a system, it’s much easier to maintain a system than to start from scratch. You can get things out, get a little messy and then restore order when you are ready to because you know exactly where things go. Now, that’s the reality of being organized!
Go ahead, enjoy your boards and get inspired Drool over the amazing craft rooms, the beautiful nurseries and over-the-top kitchens. Take the ideas and run with them. Just please keep in mind, they are just pictures and you shouldn’t hold your home to the standard of a static photo. Enjoy your home, get a little messy and live in the real world. And of course, you’re welcome to follow my organizing boards…
Courtest of my Efficient Organization column in the Lake Stevens Ledger.
