1 Month of Daily Minimizing—The Results!

Posted on by lisaflorence

During the month of November 2014 I got rid of 662 items from my home. 411 donated, 244 trashed (they deserved it), 7 consigned. This does not include the 136 items I put in my basement for storage. I still have these, but now they’re out of my everyday space, and part of an ongoing what-do-I-actually-need experiment. I will revisit these items after the holiday season (February).

 

Here’s an image of what 30-days of minimizing looks looks like:

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For feel-good donations (things I gave to Somerville Homeless Coalition, to help set up apartments for families) the benefit was incomparable! All those donations made me feel great. I’d do it all over again.

For laundry, I got so rid of so much excess clothing and linens that I can easily get by only doing one load of laundry per week. Minimizing means I spend almost zero time sorting. I’ve also removed all the pile-up potential. Liberating!

For tax deductible donations I estimate $236 (Not bad considering almost nothing was of any real monetary value.

Update: For consigned items, $196.80.

What a wonderful month! It really did get easier. It also paved room for me to get creative with some Christmas decor. The last few days of the month were focused on junk mail and paper purging, so it seemed wonderfully appropriate that my creative outlet was all about paper! I’m working on a wall tree made entirely of scrap paper.

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Here’s a pic of my final drop off at Salvation Army this month! It’s always thrilling to see what is no longer in my living space.

And for the final daily purge of the month, I got rid of…

Five junk mailings & six Christmas ornaments

Thanks so much for reading!

 

MP3s Don’t Need Shelves

Posted on by lisaflorence

I did get rid of my standard five+ items today (blah blah blah)…

  1. 10 pieces of mail
  2. two old dining chairs
  3. a plant-hook stand
  4. a lampshade
  5. an old fireplace log holder… that was appraised and not worth anything

BUT, the real HOLY SMOKES award goes to my husband who consolidated the volume of his entire CD collection

from this…

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Shown above: 15 bags FILLED with unwanted CD jewel cases, and the shelves they once lived on.

… to this!!!!

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Shown above: FIVE books. Each filled at 75% capacity, to provide room to grow. This is some dramatic space reduction!!!

I want to linger on this point a little while. Look at that purged pile of shelves and jewel cases again. See how much space that is!!! This is the size of a beautiful big closet. I can’t get away from this thought. I feel like we just paid for an addition to our home. I feel like a carpenter was interviewed, hired, here and gone. Leaving in his wake one big closet, freshly built!!! But, it’s dreamlike because all this extra space cost only $150 (five big cd cases at $30 each), didn’t require any labor research or disruption in daily life. It required several hours on the couch, transferring CDs while watching House Hunters and other TV favorites. It can be kind of therapeutic to do this sort of sorting (I didn’t do any of it, I’m just thinking back to the last time I did anything like this, which was possibly about twelve years ago).

The shelves, we no longer need, are awesome. They seem super useful. I thought of keeping them to store my tchotchkes (oh wait, I got rid of most of those) or some toiletry products (ug! got rid of those too)… ok, ok, I’m illustrating a point in a rather goofy format. These shelves are great! But, shelves are for shelving things. If you don’t got much in the way of things, what good are shelves?

Happy November 29, Everyone! I’ll see you tomorrow for the final day of my November Pact to Purge. WOW! Really? Just for your info, I do keep checking the calendar to confirm November does only go up to 30!!!! HAHHA, this is how psyched I am.

Unclutter Mail, Part 2

Posted on by lisaflorence

FullSizeRenderGrabbed a handful of papers from the “I’ll get to that at some point” pile by the front door Left: 29 pieces in today’s unclutter pile.

Weeded out the junk. Felt manipulated by some charity freebies (a calendar, some Christmas cards). Really don’t like this, or how it makes me feel. I put those things in my goods-to-donate pile. Not good to have this vibe living in ones home. It’s out!

Poured a cup of coffee (Barrington Roasting, really been enjoying their beans)

Sorted through the important stuff. Paid two bills! A great reinforcer to the necessity of clearing the clutter.

I couldn’t tackle as big a pile as I set out. I finally decided this was ok since my objective is to address the paper clutter. As long as I make progress and do at least five pieces/day. This is what I’ll commit to. I’ve exceed that.

I got rid of 22 pieces of mail today!!!

Thanks for your support. See you tomorrow!

 

 

The home stretch! (and it’s paved in paper)

Posted on by lisaflorence

The most positive thing I can do for myself (today and for the rest of the month) is to purge the paper. After 24 consecutive days of uncluttering  (kitchen things, linens, trinkets, clothes, etc) it is now the paper that is causing me the most mental unrest.

Let’s tackle this!

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To ensure follow through, I started off simple. I went to our mail caddy (upper left). I did a quick sort of mine vs. husband’s. I found a great coupon (upper right). I felt a little sad for having missed this, but reminded myself that staying away from stores when I just don’t feel the need to shop, saves me more money than any coupon ever could.

I got rid of 13 pieces of mail today!!!

Yup, proud.

Thanks for your support. See you tomorrow!

Lisa

 

Day 24—It’s expired

Posted on by lisaflorence

I must have known these meds were in the cabinet. Today is the fourth time (give or take) that I’ve de-stuffed from our big medicine cabinet. Did it take three previous purges to even be able to notice this batch? Seeing with the brain is the name of the minimizing game. It’s all expired. What will I find if I open the cupboard tomorrow?

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What I got rid of today

  1. Expired prescription #1
  2. Expired prescription #2
  3. Expired antacid tablets, box #1
  4. Expired antacid tablets, box #2
  5. Expired mouthwash
  6. Expired antacid controller, pills
  7. Expired Slippery Elm supplement
  8. Expired Robitussin

The good news is, all this went unused and lurked around because we generally feel well (and almost never go through our med cabinet).

Goodbye unwanted stuff!

Day 23—Paper clutter

Posted on by lisaflorence

Today is day 23 of my November Pact to Purge. Today is also the first day I’ve even touched, or addressed paper. I hate it! Can you relate? I hide it. I typically glance at it, shrug, think I should probably hang on to it, then shove it in a drawer. Last night, right before bed, I emptied (the smallest) drawer I tend to shove stuff into. I left the clutter on the dining table.

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The next morning, it was there waiting for me.

Over breakfast, I sorted through this small pile. I focused on my original commitment—just five things. I knew this was simple enough. I used it to motivate me.

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Here they are! The five things I got rid of today. Plus, why I hung on to them, and how I’m getting rid of them.

  1. Feline dental kit. Uh…how is this paper clutter? Yes, yes, good question. I guess I can only respond with a “see! This is exactly how messed up my paper clutter is!” ;) … moving on … I kept this for a while since I thought we’d maybe give this a try. Then I decided not to put our sweet 12-year-old kitty through this. Since it is still sealed, I threw it in our donate pile.
  2. Feline dental cleanser. (same reason and discard method as above)
  3. Empty peripheral containers. I find I always hang on to these just in case I need to return. These two things are well beyond that timeframe, therefore tossed in the recycle bin.
  4. Gift bag. I hung on to as a “what if…” but it’s probably been in that drawer for over a year. It’s still useful, therefore added to our donation pile.
  5. Pile of papers! All the papers went one of three ways (recycle, shred, or file). I recycle things like assembly instructions for a coat rack I put together almost two years ago. I shred anything that has my personal info on it (like packing slip from an old delivery). I file anything I want to keep (like the owner’s manual for our dishwasher).

I’m so glad I did this today! Papers are always on the back of my mind. Also, for me, starting off small is the key. If I went any more ambitious with the size of my pile, I’m pretty sure I would’ve just watched TV instead. Now, I feel so good that I think I’m ready to tackle a second—mini—pile!

Until tomorrow  . . .

Lisa

Day 22—Consignment Shop

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It went pretty well at the consignment shop this morning. They took seven things plus a ton of jewelry.

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November 10 — Five things I got rid of today (and why)

  1. Two sweaters
  2. Two scarves
  3. One jeans
  4. One shoes
  5. One belt
  6. A ton of my mom’s jewelry (not shown). She’s minimizing too!

What’s this all about? Check out my November pact to purge

5 Things Gone—Nov 21

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November 21 — Five things I got rid of today (and why)

  1. Shower cap (Never knew I had this! Too bad, I ended up buying a few as a result. They’re handy for containing shoes in your suitcase. I already have enough for that, so goodbye to this one)
  2. Sponge holder thingy (Broken. Saving because it could be fixed. But will I? I don’t need to, I have other dish sponges. It’s clutter)
  3. Soap dish
  4. Soap dish
  5. Soap dish

What’s this all about? Check out my November pact to purge

5 Things Gone—Practice Art

Posted on by lisaflorence

Not all art is sacred. Not all artists are born with talent, either. Therefore, practice art! Today’s purged stuff dates back to 1992-1998. I can’t say my newer art is light years ahead, but at least I know it’s time to let go of these very important (to my development) practice pieces.

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5 pieces of practice art gone today!

  1. Practice painting, lady
  2. Practice painting, fruit/still life
  3. Practice painting, dream scene
  4. Practice pad #1
  5. Practice pad #2 (Referencing my definition that a “thing” is a decision (every decision to toss equals one thing) this pad might count as 30 decisions (the number of sketches I flipped through, and decided to discard).

Have a nice day, everyone! I’ll see you tomorrow for day #20 of my November Pact to Purge

How Many Dishtowels Do You Need?

Posted on by lisaflorence

How many do you think you have? How many do you want?

FullSizeRenderIf I hadn’t been minimizing, my guess would be around 20. Because I actually laundered (finally) and folded every single dishtowel in my house. I now know I have (had) 33! That’s a little excessive, wouldn’t you say? Even worse, this suggests some big pile-up potential in the laundry room.

My new goal is to never let laundry pile up. I thought about this and how I could only minimally alter my habits to get this to be easy. This brought me to ask “How many dishtowels do I actually need?”

Every Saturday I’d like to routinely do 1 load of clothes and 1 load of household. The household would consist of something like; 1 set of queen sheets, 3 additional pillow cases, 2 bath towels, 2 hand towels, 2-5 washcloths, 1-2 dishtowels, 1-2 dish rags.

The good, I edited my kitchen down to 12 towels (7 towels, 5 rags) to support this new method. Here’s how it looks!

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The bad, I know I need to get that number down further. However, it seems that trying to manage a balance of festive (those bottom two are ready for the Christmas season) with “ok to get dirty” is getting in my way.

This is exactly the benefit of committing to getting rid of only 5 items/day. It allows you to get momentum without going too far and feeling overwhelmed.

Regarding the dishtowels, and what they symbolize for me, I’m working on detangling like and want. I’m working on appreciating a thing in the moment and not bringing it home because it made me smile for a few bucks.

All that and I was only able to get 1 towel out of the house! The remaining 20 are shoved in a plastic bag in the back of my closet.

Here’s what I was able to get rid of today

  1. Sunny-side dishtowel (because folding it to look right was more complicated than I’d like)
  2. Duvet cover
  3. Pillowcases that match the Duvet cover (note: separate decision equals separate item. I thought about keeping these, at first. Feeling great about letting them go!)
  4. Flannel pillowcases
  5. Queen top sheet (fitted fell apart years ago)

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Day 16—More Square Footage!

Posted on by lisaflorence

I’m not a scientist, but I did enjoy Jr. High physics class. It’s the first time I heard “matter is neither created nor destroyed”.  It feels that way at home now. All the time I’ve invested in removing excessive things from my home, is coming back to me. For more than two weeks, I’ve been going through daily clutter purges. I did not lose, or waste, that time at all. It just shifted. Removing stuff means you’re removing choices. Fewer choices means fewer decisions. I’m talking about trivial choices and decisions. Ones that don’t matter one bit. For example, should I moisturize with coconut oil today or sesame? Who cares!!! right? This is exactly the type of choice that brings a false sense of freedom. I removed it, therefore I have more freedom. I have more time. I have more square footage in my house! Look at these piles I dropped off at Salvation Army yesterday (batch one above, batch two below). Does it seem like an insignificant volume? It is the size of a small hall closet. I just increased the size of my living space and removed brain tax. Ahhh! Hello Sunday!

Since yesterday, I have said . . .

  1. Goodbye Marimekko paper placematts that I forgot I had
  2. Goodbye THREE decks of cards. Because the two decks my husband added  weren’t enough . . .
  3. Goodbye six bath and body products that I never liked using (Moroccan hair oil scent goes from lovely to OMG WTF really really fast)
  4. Goodbye umpteenth med item that expired in 2010
  5. Goodbye unneeded tablecloth that I always idealized for being classic white, but ultimately was also too fearful to use

Here they are, forever in photography…and thankfully no longer in my home.

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Hats off! (then out the door). Today’s purge, hall closet.

Posted on by lisaflorence

It’s Saturday! Naturally I do bigger purges on days I have off. Sometimes it’s hard to know where to begin. I thought it might be useful to document my process.

Step 1 (it’s a two parter)—Find a space you care about (that is also driving you a little crazy), like a closet shelf (with an avalanche issue). Then, clear it out! (There it is. My clear shelf.)

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Step 2—Dump the stuff on a work surface (such as your dining table).Step 3—dump the pile on a work surface (like your dining table).

Step 3—Sort. Sun hats, mittens, gloves, baseball hats . . . etc.  A lot of “what ifs” here clogging up my valuable space.

Note: a “what if” applies to anything you rarely use but keep it just in case “what if a group of friends stop by and want to go for a walk and it’s cold out and none of them have hats! I better keep all these hats just incase that happens.” That’s not gonna happen. Don’t keep the hats for that reason.

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Step 4—Inventory. Use this to help you identify your excess items. Make decisions like “I will keep 10 hats” (or more, or less. This is a personal choice). Pick your favorites. Take the rest to Salvation Army.

I’d like to emphasize how valuable it is to confront yourself with the question of “how many _____do I need?”. This type of question gets you focused on you and your home (not the actual things cluttering it up). What you don’t want to do is emotionally connect with every hat you evaluate (“oh this would look so cute if I ever find that green plaid coat…”) This is the most challenging part of decluttering (or any change of meaning in your life), you have to change your thought process.

Also, if you’ve ever had a close relationship with someone who lived through The Depression (for me it’s my grandparents), this can make you feel ungrateful when you decide to let go of anything. You’ll need to work to get over this hurdle. Remind yourself that 2015 is a different time, with different challenges. Call upon others’ lessons who have also learned to let go, or embrace a life with less stuff. YouTube is full of tips. Here’s a video playlist of some of my minimalism favorites. On a few videos (may or may not be on the playlist) it was pointed out that just because you have it, doesn’t mean you’re using it. So many people in this world don’t have what they need. You hanging on to excess is preventing others from benefitting. This really spoke to me. I used this to motivate me. It really worked. Especially with the hats and winter approaching.

Step 4—Inventory

Step 5—Put all the keepers back. Woah. Lookin’ good!

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What did I Get rid of today?

  1. Eight hats (3 baseball, 3 winter, 2 summer/sun). Not great, considering 29 was the start. Still good. No shame in baby steps.
  2. Three, and a half, mitten/glove pairs (trashed the poor loner “half”, donated the mittens that still looked good, trashed another . . . placed the remaining one with my crafting supplies for the wool (shrug). Ok, ok. That one doesn’t count as a purge (focus on the other ones).
  3. Desk clock (not shown). Super cute, but loud as a knife stabbing your eardrum (at consistent intervals). Horribly unpleasant.
  4. Bathing suits (not shown). Some trashed for being old, others donated for looking new.
  5. Tights/stockings (not shown). “Hosiery” as my nana may have said. Basically, they were old, never used, duplicates or just no good.

Enjoy your weekend! Will these leaves ever finish falling?

Until tomorrow . . .

Two weeks of daily minimizing

Posted on by lisaflorence

I’m halfway through with my November pact to purge! Yipeeee!!! It’s been tough. Mostly, it’s tough in the moment of the purge, rewarding upon reflection and blissful in the now.

I feel

  • Lighter (thank you Coco)
  • Cleaner
  • Less stressed
  • More responsible (I’m able to manage my possessions. My laundry piles are waaay smaller. I’m perceiving my things as my responsibility to care for. Having too much goes hand in hand with disposable-culture/lifestyle. I’m just seeing this)
  • More aware of what is an essential item for me

Why do I keep going (even if I sound annoyed at times?) 

  • I made a personal commitment.
  • I have a clear and positive reference point (my garage). I want more areas of my life to feel as deliberate as this space turned out to be.
  • Because I committed to one lifestyle change (removing 5 items/day), I feel my goal is obtainable. The rest of my life and my habits are the same. Except for daily blogging. This just kind of happened naturally. Interesting.

Concerns

  • Whether I shop or purge, I feel like the focus of my life is still on “stuff”.
  • Can I come up with a successful December plan to shift this focus towards things I truly love doing (more painting, more reading, more guitar practicing)?

The experiment continues …

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It can be challenging to decide which items to get rid of. It can also be challenging to stop at five! Last night I went for it. Not only did I choose my normal five things, I also kept going and added four more and bagged up 40+ additional articles of clothing. I’m gonna shove that bag in the back of my closet for a while. Sometimes it’s tough to get perspective on what is needed and what is in the way. Restricting (temporarily) my clothing options, might help me to see better.

Five of the things I got rid of today (Nov 14)

  1. Belt (hadn’t worn in forever. somewhat cheap, looks a little damaged in spots)
  2. Scarf (bought for all the wrong reasons, bad splurge habits I’m trying to break free from)
  3. T shirts (I have too many. These were all either very worn, unflattering or just not being used)
  4. Corduroys (Suddenly I feel frumpy in corduroys. Maybe they just don’t fit right)
  5. Towel (for a household of two people—with an average of two overnight guests at a time—how many towels do I need? The number six just came to mind. Six bath towels! Plus hand towels, plus washcloths. Does that sound good? It sure sounds good when I think about how small my laundry piles will be!)

Thanks for joining me on this journey! See you tomorrow.

5 Things Gone—Nov 11

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I’m excited about this one. Blankets.

November 11 — Five things I got rid of today (and why)

  1. Blanket
  2. Blanket
  3. Blanket
  4. Blanket—It’s the right time of year. All these blankets were washed, neatly folded and stored. It’s been at least one year. I never touched any of them. They’ll do someone else far more good, than our linen closet.
  5. Tote bag—Came free with an online order. I have so many,

What’s this all about? Check out my November pact to purge

5 Things Gone—Nov 10

Posted on by lisaflorence

Time to purge some clothing.

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November 10 — Five things I got rid of today (and why)

  1. Plaid shirt—already I’m having doubts. I keep picturing myself on a 60 degree beautiful fall day, raking leaves while wearing this quintessential midweight-autumn-day fabric (cue the record-scratch) whauuuh!!! Sounds like a nice photo opp. I’m not doing this. I always grab the same crappy sweatshirt/t-shirt combo for this.
  2. White long sleeve T—I have three others. Here’s the first to set sail.
  3. Sparkly black shrug—I feel matronly in this. Everytime! Every single time.
  4. Fabric belt—high maintenance. Always cinching it shut. Always, always, always.
  5. Suspenders—These are from Sears. They don’t even get me close to feeling I live a life parallel to Janelle Monáe.

What’s this all about? Check out my November pact to purge

5 (small piles of) Things Gone—Nov 8

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Truly, 27 things gone! Basically a “thing” is a decision. That pile of pouches, each pouch was a bit of a decision. I collect these things. Not sure why, most the time they just sit in a drawer. I’ve never needed this many at once.

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November 8 — Five (piles of things) things I got rid of today (and why)

  1. Toiletry bag and pouches—I have so many of these things! This is the pile of where I drew the line.
  2. Beauty supplies (brushes, headbands, sharpener)—all duplicates
  3. A glass—nothing wrong with it, other than the memories it triggers. Not bad memories, just odd. This is another Crate&Barrel thing I shouldn’t have bought. I used to work near the outlet, as I result I always did deal-focused retail therapy here. As a result I unintentionally conditioned myself to dislike Crate&Barrel as well as deals.
  4. Ear buds & cord holder—Is three sets of ‘buds enough? Hope so, that’s what I kept. The cord holder I was briefly excited about, but it didn’t work well (bulky and cord often popped loose)
  5. Trinkets and doodads (a silly cardboard sign, mini picture frame, magnets, lighter—the lighter was by far the most challenging choice to purge. I don’t remember why I have it. But, it has been with me a long time. It has a working traffic light design. Click it and all the lights blink! That was the why I was keeping it. But, I knew I needed to get rid of it because, as cute as it is, it kept hogging my attention in a way I did not value. As soon as I removed it from it’s home on my desk (placing it in the discard pile), it lost all it’s magic. This happens a lot. It might be the most powerful technique I’ve discovered yet.

What’s this all about? Check out my November pact to purge

5 Things Gone—Random Assortment of Containers

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Plus,  few more insights and actions behind the mindset of letting go.DSCF0024

Not only is it Friday, it is one full week since I’ve been doing this daily. It feels amazing! This is the first time I’ve documented my purges. I was afraid to do this. I had thought it would get in the way of my momentum. I also thought that seeing what I removed (forever living in a photo) would make me yearn for what was no longer mine. Exactly the opposite. I look at all these photos and think “What is wrong with me? This is junk! What took me so long to let these things go?”. Combined with this purge, I’m actively addressing why did I have X item to begin with. Why did I acquire this bowl? Most of the time my answer is emotional justification. Emotionally, I just had to have it. In order to feel like I was being responsible I’d justify that need/reaction with “oh, I can use it to cover up ugly plant pots. This will look so much nicer!”. Really, really eye opening to confront myself this way.

Combined with this purging of physical things I’ve also been purging of email subscriptions. I documented those too. I unsubscribed from over 50 retail-based emails. Shocking! My perception was that it would be something like ten and that 10-15 was a lot! I had more than 50 (Crate&Barrel, CB2, Banana Republic, Artifact Uprising, Walgreens, Joss & Main, Everlane, it goes on and on and on). I’m a visual designer in the digital space. There is a ton of value in seeing what other big corporations (and smaller ones) are doing to influence their audiences. And many of them are really good at this! Most of these emails would have me considering buying something that I otherwise would have never thought of. It is shocking how the power of suggestion, combined with a deal, can get some of us to change our thoughts. Therefore, I deleted. I had more than 35,000 unread emails. The majority were advertisements.

November 7 — Five things I got rid of today (and why)

  1. Canning jar—too many.
  2. Big bowl—wasn’t using. Had for 10 years. Every time I see it I think “that’s the item I was too chicken to get rid of”. I kept “what if’ing” That’s no way to live! It’s gone.
  3. Assortment of baggies—I seem to mindlessly hoard these with other travel things. I don’t need so many. I don’t want to too many “what if” things hanging around.
  4. Memo-note holder—wasn’t using.
  5. Small jar—Way too many of these! I have a 1 gallon zip-loc full of toiletry containers. Maybe I’ll address that tomorrow…maybe.

What’s this all about? Check out my November pact to purge

Jewelry Organizer from The Davis Flea

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Shopping at The Davis Flea, I found this practical beauty from  the I Want A Pony booth.  Jen Kniff, a Flea founder, was kind enough to snap my pic. This piece, is not only homemade, it’s an upcycle by a local crafts woman! Pretty important Shiz, right?

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Nicely coordinates with my “vintage” paneling.20120901-112217.jpg

Added some string ties to the rails, just to have more places to hang. More I Want A Pony finds on Etsy.
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Organizing with Springs

Posted on by lisaflorence

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It’s Sunday! A gorgeous-blue-skied non-90-degree Sunday. I went to The Davis Flea again. Ed Quinn, Renewed Home has rapidly become one of my favorite dealers. He picked up all sorts of cool stuff at Brimfield this week. Among the batch, springs! I never knew I needed or wanted springs. Ed knew. These things are great. Hold pens, letters, notes . . . a kitchen utensil as you cook. Get a branch and some clothes pins, make a crazy message center. Or, just leave them sitting around. They’re pretty engaging.
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Next stop, brunch at M3.

Entryway shelf & mail caddy

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I did it! It’s July and I finally hung the shelf from the gorgeous piece of lumber I bought at Rockler back in October. Getting stuff done.

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Then, just yesterday, I found this handy caddy at the Davis Flea. Well sized for the shelf. Perfectly sized for holding the daily mail.20120708-171142.jpg

Salt’n’Peppa here . . . Yeah, I dunno. They were cute and on sale at Anthropologie. 20120708-171218.jpg

Desk Week Day 2-Pens

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Pens are fun! Especially felt tips in varying weights. I bought a multi pack with tip types: 01, 03, 05. It’s awesome! I doodle fat, I doodle fine. After that initial break-in period I recall another purchase and I doodle in color too! Now I run errands with 15 pens in my purse! Just in the name of being prepared for creative whims or something. It sucks, but it’s a nice problem to have.

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Hooks

Posted on by lisaflorence

Anyone ever see that early 80s movie Suburbia, directed by Penelope Spheeris? It was incredibly sad and extremely low budget but it had a really memorable plot line. To this day I still remember that punky boy ranting about putting nails up all over the wall to hang up stuff so it could be found, yet no one was using them. It was an organizer’s monologue as told by a teenage misfit! I never forgot it and I think of him every time I use my hooks. It is my favorite way to organize. Even better, I can justify going high end because the cost of a few nice hooks is still far cheaper than furniture. Also, I hate ironing. So clothes clutter is just fine as long as it doesn’t create wrinkles (aka more work).

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Black owl; from a thrift store. Metal hooks with ball tips; Anthropologie. Plastic hooks by 3M, Command. They really work! Truly wonderful piece of product development. I love them for hanging pictures.

Older-world charm. I opted for 3-cute hooks instead of a towel bar in my tiny upstairs bath. The above (and below) are also all from Anthropologie. They have great hooks (and no screws!). I use acrylic paints to match the finish then go over the shiny-silver screws so they blend right it. See below. I got lucky with this one. The brown flecks in the metal work happened to be an exact match to Burnt Sienna. Even if you do a mediocre job, the effort is still worth it since the point is almost all about camouflage, and not craftsmanship.

Pictures in Chocolate

Posted on by lisaflorence

This is the kind of thing you come up with when you stay up ’til 2am.

I was sitting in my work room, annoyed with my computer. Waiting…. waiting…. waiting. Became focused on all my clutter, so I started thinking about how I should motivate myself to organize. I picked up the empty chocolates box I saved, cuz I found it potentially useful. Then, I thought about those square Hipsta photos in the other room, also just lying around. Eureka and voila! My pictures find a home, while some of my clutter finds purpose.