Screaming inside:Day 1 and Day 2

{Updated with interview questions added below}

People, I will not lie. I am seriously hyperventilating over what I am about to do. It really makes no sense. It's pretty crazy, really. And ironic.

Ironic? You may ask. I'll tell you why. The reason why the closet you are about to see (and it is not too late to save yourself and click elsewhere by the way) looks the way it does?

Because last week I was shoving stuff in there, like there was no tomorrow. In order to hide it. In the event of the recent visit of the in laws. It is not usually this bad. No really. It's not.

Although in all honesty, it hasn't been good in quite some time. But it hasn't been, "call Clean House stat, failing which, the Health Department" for more then a week. A week too long though, I am sure you will agree. And wow, it's BAD. No really. Brace yourself. I am not exaggerating. For once. Sadly.

So there I was, last week, shoving stuff haphazardly into an innocent cupboard, in order to hide it from two family members , and now I am throwing it open to all the world. To judge in disgust and horror. ....

Here is a key of the contents that you see:

1. Hair curlers, that never worked and have thus never been used.

2. Contact lenses and accompanying paraphenalia, not yet removed from box.
3. Barbie who decided to drown herself rather then live this slovenly life.
4. Jergens body lotion. Which I will never use. But I like to sniff it occasionally, because it reminds me of my late mother in law (bless her heart) and the happy days spent in her home when Aaron and I were engaged.
5. Big Ziplock bag full of expired medications. This big ziplock bag actually caused the havoc you see above. when trying to pull it from the back of the closet it caused a major avalanche.
6. Fish oil capsules to make my children smarter. They were so gross though that we decided it was ok for them to be dumb.
7. Several bottles of Ibuprofen (let me tell you about the last two weeks sometime).
8. A tiny "scentport" and accompanying small bottle of "scent" in packaging large enough to house 12 scentports and 12 bottles of scent. The diabolical marketing dept at Bath and Body Works at work again...

My mother just died I think, looking at this photo. I will miss her so. I'm so sorry Marmie. My sister is in critical condition, it's touch and go for her. Forgive me Shona. I have shamed the family name. I know, I know. But I've got to be real, man. Not because I want to. I would prefer not to be real actually. But I HAD to take the challenge didn't I? Why don't I THINK before I embark upon these things? Stupid! Stupid.

Anyway it is not all bad because now it looks like this. Have I mentioned that each of those shelves is deep enough for a child to sleep in (we have considered assigning one to each of our kids in fact-voila-everyone has their own room!). They are now woefully under-utilized but clutter free. So that's good.



For day 2 (today )I tackled the other cabinet and several drawers. Actually I cleaned out every nook and cranny in the bathroom- the worst of which I give you now. The jewelry drawer.

(If you are pregnant or have a heart condition please skip this photo)

I blame my in-laws once again. It was only slightly horrifying before I removed all the jewelry from the room they were sleeping in (mine) and dumped it upon the nice little disaster that was existing in that drawer, slammed it shut and prayed they weren't nosy. It has been moderately well organized in the past, but there were always too many little boxes to search every time I wanted to be fancy, and I have been meaning to find creative solutions for a long while now.
So I guess I should thank the in-laws for putting me over the top in slobdom.

Here it is now. I am very proud of the solution I created for the plethora of bangles/bracelets. VERY PROUD. It is complicated and even Martha might find it challenging so pay attention.

OK. Ready?

I took a paper towel inside cardboard thingie, covered it with a scrap of white satin to make it look classy, and jewelry store-ish, (I did this by rolling the satin around the roll and stuffing the ends in the holes-it was a very delicate process, requiring much patience and skill)



And this is what I did with the plethora of necklaces and dangly earrings. That there is an under-utilized fabric bulletin board with some pin hooks shoved in it (again, don't even attempt this if you aren't REALLY CRAFTY). I did not even know pin hooks existed until today. I'm glad I picked them up with the vague notion that I might be able to use them somehow. Because I did. Oh how I did! BEHOLD the magnificence! (It looks more organized in person trust me. Photos do make things look cluttery don't they? It's the clutter equivalent of the camera adding 5lbs)


It sits nicely inside the cupboard formerly known as horrifying. Everything is out of the way yet easy to reach. A delight.

So now you all know my secret shame. Once the screaming stops perhaps I will find it liberating.

My bathroom is glorious now so it was probably worth it. Maybe.

To The Organizing Junkie: I count this as one small space entitled "bathroom cabinets" because half of the jewelry from the drawer ended up on the newly cleaned out shelf. I did not know how to differentiate the one from the other.

And now for the interview part: (added a few weeks later)

1. What was the hardest part of the challenge for you and were you able to overcome it?

Getting started is always the toughest part for me, and honestly it was physically hard to get into the back of those super deep shelves and to stand amidst all the debris while I was sorting through it. There was just not a lot of space with 5000000 towels on the floor.

2. Tell us what kind of changes/habits you have put into place in order for your area/room to maintain its new order?

OH my word this has genuinely changed my life. It has saved me sooo much time in the morning not to have to wade through stuff, to untangle jewelry or find my supplies. The jewelry board has made such a difference, I can see everything at a glance and it is so easy to put back that I always do. I think one good thing begets another. I don't let the jewelry rest anywhere but where it lives anymore. It's great.

3. What did you do with the “stuff” you were able to purge out of your newly organized space?

Tossed and donated everything.

4. What creative storage solutions were you able to introduce in order to create additional space as well as establish some limits and boundaries?

See the board and the fancy roll ;) They have worked marvelously.

5. Why do you think you should win this challenge?

Because I finally implemented something I have been meaning to do forever and it has been even better then I hoped it would be in terms of saving me time and irritation. AND I inspired a friend to do the same. She took a photo of her awesome board that she made the next day! :) Win or not, I am thrilled, thank you so sincerely for the inspiration.

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