Organization. For many, this word strikes terror into their core. But for those of us who live with chronic illness, organization is a necessary, albeit elusive evil. Before I was diagnosed, I prided myself on my organization skills and keeping a tidy home despite working twelve hour shifts in a busy emergency department. My momma drilled the old adage "cluttered desk, cluttered mind" into my head throughout my childhood and when I ventured off to college, I carried this mantra with me. I can't stand clutter, it makes me nuttier than a fruitcake. With that in mind, buckle up because this post is a doozy.
But when I got sick, my ability to maintain my home to the standards I was used to went down the drain. I spent so much time trying to keep up with the clutter, no matter what I did, I felt like I could never catch up and my house never stayed clean. After months of frustration and trial-and-error, I'm finally making some progress. I will caution that getting to this point wasn't cheap (if you're here looking for cheap/frugal ways to organize, I'm sorry, but that's not where this is going). I tried various methods of using what I had and making minimal purchases, but I ended up having to buy stuff to get my house to where it finally looks like a grown-up lives here. It's still a work in progress, but it's progress.
I started with the master bedroom, when I moved in, I didn't have a whole lot of furniture. Looking back, that's probably why I encountered so much frustration with keeping everything tidy. Purchasing a small dresser, nightstands, and a set of plastic drawers for the closet was key to keeping my room organized. Despite this place being a two bedroom, I still seem to be as limited on space as I was in a one bedroom apartment that was literally half this size. About two weeks ago I decided to tackle the closet again. I went and bought some of those big plastic bins. I had a bunch of clothes in space bags from when I moved in here a little over a year ago, so I started with those. I separated them into keep and donate piles. Into the bins they went. I cleared an entire shelf of space bags into three bins-two of stuff I'm keeping, one to donate. The last bin is for seasonal clothes, here in Texas the weather never really makes up its mind. So I have some of my winter coats and sweaters hanging up and the rest are in the bin. Once it starts to get colder, I'll swap out my summer dresses for the rest of my winter clothes. Added bonus, all of those bins are ready to go when it's time to move out of here. I'm not sure if I'm going to try to pack everything into the plastic drawers when it's time to move or get another bin, but either way, most of that packing is done!
The next big project was the living room. Despite having a coffee table that doubles as storage, I had amassed a collection of stuff and nowhere to put it. I kept trying to find ways to store the stuff where I could still get to it easily but have it out of the way. When I got the nightstands, I also got some of those fabric bins to use as "drawers" but they were too tall for the nightstands so I repurposed them for living room storage. I started with two and realized they were the solution to my storage problem. So I grabbed two more to match the ones I already had and added a few smaller ones. I had originally planned to find a console table that would double as a place to store them, but ended up putting a chair in the spot the table would've gone. During one of my many trips to Target, I found a cube shelf that would fit the larger bins and had the option to split the cubes in half for the smaller bins. I ended up with more than I bargained for, the 9x9 unit was a lot larger than I anticipated, but it worked out better than I thought. The bottom row is reserved for shoes-boots on either end and a fabric bin in the middle for flats, sandals, and sneakers. The middle row is all bins full of stuff that was previously strewn throughout my living room. I split the top middle cube and it holds the smaller fabric bins with printer paper and remotes for the TV and game consoles. There's a cube for my purse and I have a spare cube for whatever else I may find I don't have a home for. The printer is finally off of the box it came in and now lives on top of the cubes. The difference in the living room is drastic but it's been so nice to have less clutter. (I wish I had thought to take a before picture!)
Moving to the kitchen. When I first moved in here, I couldn't believe how much space I had. Boy was I in for a surprise. I feel like I have no space for anything, even though this kitchen is easily four of my old kitchen. It's openness belies its lack of storage space. I have a set of drawers-one is the standard junk drawer, the next is a collection of random snacks, sugar packets, and Jello boxes. The bottom drawer is dedicated to medication and the drawer above it is home to my parchment paper, plastic wrap, foil, and a handful of other food storage, cooking and cleaning accessories. The cabinets under the sink house the standard cleaning supplies and trash bags, along with alcohol that hasn't been touched in over a year. I've replaced many of the "regular" dishes with their paper counterparts because my illness makes it difficult to do dishes, even with a dishwasher. The remaining cabinets are pretty standard; I don't have a separate pantry, so I've had to make do with using the cabinets for storing my dry goods and other non-perishables.
This brings us to the fridge...it's been such a pain in the behind that it gets its own paragraph(s). The fridge has been the bane of my organizational existence. To make up for the lack of pantry, I use the top of the fridge to store a variety of non-perishables and until this past weekend, all of the Tupperware. This precarious situation often resulted in things falling whenever I would try to grab a bag of chips or a Tupperware to store left overs. I was frequently accosted by bread and chips whenever I opened the freezer. The straw that broke the camel's back was the onslaught of dry goods and magnets that I was greeted with while trying to put frozen food away from last week's grocery shopping. Enough was enough, back to Target I went, where I bought out their stock of fridge organization and food storage canisters. I also grabbed a set of wire baskets to replace the plastic one that was overflowing with carbs. The Tupperware is eventually going to be moved to the laundry closet, but I can finally open and close the freezer without threat of kamikaze dry goods! (Again, I wish I would've thought to take a before picture)
The inside of the freezer is going to be dealt with another time, I used quite a few spoons just getting the stuff I needed and actually organizing everything. I purchased six clear plastic fridge organizing bins and a pair of small plastic "baskets" for the top shelf of the door. The fridge is the standard size top/bottom configuration with few options for shelving inside. I have a refillable water filter that takes up one side of the middle shelf, where space is at a premium. This shelf is also home to my coffee, a selection of flavored creamer, juice, and milk. I took two of the bins-coffee, juice, and one of the flavored creamers in one, almond milk, regular milk, and the other flavored creamer in the other. I had an extra bin that wouldn't fit in the door, so I put it along the opposite side of the water filter and put the butter, chai tea, and some leftovers on top. The top shelf was a disaster-leftovers, small jars, cheese, and deli meat were constantly falling between the narrow wires or falling out whenever I tried to put something else in. I grabbed two of the low, wide bins, put the cheese and deli meat in one and the small jars in the other with the rest of the leftovers on top. The door only has two shelves and they have a pretty big space along the bottom (which never made sense to me)-the small baskets when in the top shelf to keep the sauces, salad dressings, and other small jars from falling out. The bottom shelf was overflowing with lone beer bottles, ketchup, and syrup. The narrow bin fit perfectly and held all of the condiments and syrup. The lone beer bottles went on top of the wine along the bottom shelf. Voila-my fridge has gone from a messy teenager's room to a less messy, teenager's room. (I DID take before and after pictures of this one!)
I already feel less stressed knowing that everything has a place and I'm not surrounded by clutter. Many of my symptoms are exacerbated by stress, so whenever I can reduce stress, I jump at the opportunity. I have enough stress that I can't really control, but I can control how organized my home is and the clutter I (choose not to) surround myself with. I still have some lingering projects to work on-mainly the upstairs bathroom and the "laundry room". But for now, I'm content with how far I've come.
Getting here took a lot of spoons, but it will be worth its weight in saved spoons as I go about my daily life without having to worry as much about keeping the house clean!
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