The Organized Home and Other Lies I Tell Myself

Today it is cold in my part of the world. The moist, angry cold that settles in your bones. I fight back with three pairs of socks, a constant cup of steaming tea in my hand and the warmest sweater I own, which happens to the the ugliest one I own. This helps with the cold but repulses my husband and creates the need to pee every 10 minutes. Tomorrow promises to be twenty degrees warmer so I wait, and organize my home in anticipation of the warm spring and the lambs that will be here any day.

The word "Containerize" makes my hear leap for joy! I am the kind of person that labels her linen closet. At night I dream of coordinating boxes labeled in calligraphy. Roll out drawers under the sink with all cleaning supplies in matching bottles. Binders documenting family trips, yearly garden planting charts, vaccinations for the family pets...Oh the list goes on! 

But alas, I am not rich and containerizing has to come in a more creative form.

Bellow you will see an average tool box. Cleaned and scrubbed it is perfect for my millions of colorful threads bequeathed to me after my friend moved from a roomy house to a teeny-tiny condo. And yes, I color coordinate them. Is there any other way? 

Next is a solution to an old hoarding habbit. For several years I have either subscribed or been gifted magazine subscriptions. At the end of every year I take a pile with me, usually as we drive to Portland to see family during the holidays, and I clip and strip these little puppies of art, food and gardening ideas. This keeps them in check but until reaping day I hold them in a hodge podge of magazine boxes I have simply recovered with craft paper. The labels are printed on a cream paper with the "Pottery Barn" font which you can find for free on dafont.com, then glued to a piece of black linen cardstock before being placed on the box.

Though I no longer subscribe to all of these magazines I still keep the labels on just in case they find their way to my mailbox again.

*Disclaimer* Not all magazines were purged in the reaping mentioned above. I find it impossible to harm any of my Fine Gardening or Countryside's.

Please believe me, I do not have the most organized home and it is far, far from clean. But as I wade through the laundry and scrape gunk from the floor I hope to share what I learn and what makes life a little bit easier and sometimes prettier with you.

-Elizabeth