Editor’s Note:
Nanette is a home organizer who works with me as an associate of LET’S MAKE ROOM. We haven’t worked or seen each other in more than two months. She and her husband, two adult children and their dog are sheltering-in-place during the Covid-19 health emergency.
Yesterday she shared a personal story with me of using this time to attend to her own home organizing projects. She is looking ahead to a time after her kids have moved on, when she may be ready to sell her home. Having worked with me for years, Nanette knows how the task of downsizing for a move can be daunting so she recently decided to take on a couple of her own projects.
Nanette’s story illustrates just how personally satisfying it can be to embark on a home organizing project, any time, but especially now, when families have the benefit of being home together more than usual. Here is her story:
The “shelter-in-place” order was the perfect opportunity to organize our cluttered storage closet. My 24-year-old daughter and 20-year old-son have been here with us and my husband is working from home.
The closet held toys, keepsakes, books, table linens, photos and homeless items.
With everyone home I could get their input on what they wanted to keep and what could I could donate.
I began by emptying the closet and sorting items by owner – me, my husband, daughter and son. I asked each to sort their items into two piles; “keep” or “donate.” Each accomplished the task in their own unique way.
Our daughter sorted through her items alone and needed no help in her decision making. She donated all her collectible dolls, which she never liked, even though I had saved them for her. She kept the toys and keepsakes she felt connected to and that were usable or could be displayed.
At first, our 20-year old son said, “Mom you decide because I don’t know what I should keep.”
I got him started by sorting his bins and asked him first to decide on the big items. I am glad I did as I didn’t expect him to keep the miniature baseball bats. I then took the smaller items and sorted ‘like with like’ and asked him to keep what he wanted.
He grabbed toys he said he remembered playing with and he combed through looking for all the extra parts.
When done, my son told me sorting items into smaller categories helped him make decisions.
After dinner that evening, while we all still were at the table, our son picked up a box of his medals and sorted them. He selected the medals he wanted to keep and shared the rationale for keeping each medal.
After completing the task our daughter said she had kept all her medals and she later sorted hers as well.
The stack of beautiful table linens that I have never used, got donated. While beautiful and given to me by family members, they are not something I ever used. The matching napkins I kept as I do use linen napkins.
The silver items, all blackened from sitting in storage, unused, got sorted. My husband’s silver baby cup got cleaned and moved into the cabinet. The tarnished candelabra went into the Halloween bin. The utensils got polished and moved into the kitchen. Everything we kept now had a home.Everything else we donated. (Actually stored until the donation sites can open).
My husband did not want to make decisions right away so I put the items he had not made decisions about on his desk. He will make a decision at some point but I decided not to store the items until he committed.
My husband painted the closet and installed movable-shelves, replacing our fixed wood shelves.
I reused the smaller bins and stored the frequently-used items on the upper shelves.
I rolled my table runners and put them into a basket on the floor which opened up shelving.
I ordered a wrapping station to mount on a side wall.
I have more space to use for new items that come into our home and I love being able to find what I need.
Now I have a great functioning storage closet.