Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Organizing: Martha Stewart Special Edition

Have you seen?! Martha Stewart has a new Organizing Special Collector's Edition on newsstands now! I was slightly giddy when I bought it at Hudson News in the Seattle airport on the way back to Switzerland last month. (Hint: You can also buy it from Amazon if you don't live near a newsstand. ;) It was like serendipity. There I was, wiling away the time on our layover, thinking about all the stuff I had brought back with me in our suitcases and wondering where on earth I'd put in once I got home. It's true. I'm embarrassed to admit that I haven't even fully unpacked yet! But how can I? The majority of what we brought back was baby stuff for Coco and I had to go through her armoire and dresser and sort out the clothes that no longer fit to put away (sniff!) and clear out space for the new stuff before anything would even fit in there. It's a big job. And with a baby, it's a job you're doing every twelve weeks or so. My goodness!

We've only been living in this apartment for eight months and it's not a finely tuned machine as of yet! I always find it a challenge, and it typically takes time to find organizational systems that work in a new space, but this time has been even harder. I'll tell you why. Our miniature, 150-year-old European apartment has a total of zero closets. ZERO! Unless you consider the itty-bitty medicine cabinet a closet. It's kind of an organizational nightmare. We have sideboards, wardrobes and dressers, but we need more. Or do we? 

Martha's first line of attack in the Organizing Special is to cut the clutter. Good point, Martha! Then she offers tips for every room in the house, including kids' rooms and entryways, two areas that I really want to focus on intently. This is going to be the most exciting spring cleaning ever. Not least because this is the first time that J and I have actually stayed in the same apartment for more than one year. Isn't that just nuts?! It wasn't always because we wanted to move, in fact, it was usually circumstances, like moving to a new state or country, or getting a job as managers of an apartment building meant we had to move across town, but it's beyond nice to finally feel settled at last! I find it rather fitting that we are settled down now that we have a baby. Sigh!

So, that said, I'm positively aflutter about this getting organized business. What are your favorite strategies in home organization?


No comments: