January is GO Month! Getting organized does not have to cost
a lot of money. It’s not only possible to get organized on a budget, but it can
be environmentally sound as well. Use “reduce, reuse and recycle” as your
guiding phrase.
Reduce what you own to items that really make a difference
in your life. Keep items that are actually
being used and are things that you truly love. Everyone has at least a few
things in his home that aren’t as useful as he had hoped they would be. You
know - the things that were purchased with the idea that they might come in
handy someday, the items that seemed like they were a good idea at the time, the
disliked gifts, and the impulsive purchases.
Unfortunately, holding on to these things will not bring
back your money. Nor will holding
on to a disliked gift help your relationship with the person who gave you the
gift. These items are “squatters” – they sit in your home without being useful
and they require your time and attention to store and maintain them. Even
worse, they hit you with a wave of guilt every time you see them. You can do
with a little less guilt and clutter in your life. Send those “squatters” to
the thrift shop – it’s an easy way to recycle them. Send broken and outdated
electronics to an electronic recycler (a quick internet or phone book search
will locate them). Reducing your inventory to things that make your life
productive and pleasurable will reduce the time and money you spend on keeping
things organized.
Reuse items by giving them a new purpose. A little out-of-the-box thinking and
that old dresser becomes a gift-wrapping center or a place to store linens, a
small cabinet becomes a nightstand, and checkbook and gift boxes become drawer
organizers. I’ve seen old serving trays turned into mail in boxes, cereal boxes
turned into magazine organizers, ice cube trays turned into jewelry organizers,
and small jars used to organize the necessary small stuff of life – from paper
clips to cotton swabs. A little paint, fabric remnants or decorative paper help
repurposed items conform to a color scheme. By the way, a uniform color scheme
reduces the amount of visual clutter. It’s an amazing trick – try it!
Recycle things. Look for sturdy shelves and file cabinets at
thrift and second-hand stores. You want file cabinets with fully extending
drawers – drawers that only open to the ¾ point are irritating every time you need
to pull something from the rear of the drawer. Add a hanging file frame to each
drawer if there isn’t already one. Hanging file frames are about $20 from any
office supply store. Hanging files are so much easier to use than folders for
keeping your paperwork organized and easily accessible. A little paint and
these used finds look new.
Bookcases are useful for so much more than books. To maximize
your space, think “vertical.” With labeled baskets in a bookcase you can to
corral small stuff. Put a tall
bookcase in a kitchen to store small appliances, serving dishes and trays,
pantry items, and even cookbooks! Use inexpensive pegboard to store pots, pans
and cooking utensils on the wall. Julia Child did.
When it comes to reusing items, be careful of “someday”
thinking. Acquiring or holding on
to things for which you don’t have a designated purpose, adds to the clutter
collection. Also, if the new purpose
will not be beneficial to your life, the transformation is not worth your time
or resources. Have a plan for when and how things will be transformed into the
useful times you envision. The last thing anyone needs is a collection of
projects to do that is languishing in storage.
Focus on keeping things useful and relevant to your life.
Then reduce, reuse and recycle. You’ll save some green by being green this GO
month.
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