Storing Stuff

When you have as much stuff as I've accumulated over the past 25 years, you have no choice but to organize it. About six months ago, it finally got to me and I had to de-clutter. Click on these photos to enlarge and see the "after" and be glad I've spared you the "before." You may be thinking that it's still pretty cluttered, but believe me when I say it could be much worse.

The wire shelves on the left are deep so they hold lots of books and organizers. These came from Office Depot and were not expensive.

The picture on the right shows my ribbon racks. Those are rain gutters from Home Depot, sprayed black and screwed to the wall. It keeps my ribbon in view but neat and tidy.

The little drawers on the left of the ribbon racks are from Ikea (you see them everywhere), again sprayed black and labeled with a chalk marker. I like knowing what's in every little drawer without having to search. I have about 50 of those little drawers and they hide all the little things. The cabinet below is an old file cabinet that belonged at one time to a retired insurance man and and it held legal-size insurance files. It's very deep and holds a ton of stuff.

Once when St. Wayne and I were having a serious discussion about our finances, he was explaining where I needed to go to find insurance information, investments, and all those important things one would need if ever faced with the sudden demise of one's spouse. After all his instructions, all I could offer was, "Should I die first and you need them, the extensive collection of hole punches is in the insurance cabinet, far right side, third drawer down."

It's definitely the down side of being a one-woman show in business for yourself...that pesky subject of lack of benefits. Sometimes, at my age, I wonder if I should have gotten a real job years ago so that I could now enjoy a great big fat retirement package. But, then, I sit real still till that thought passes. And then I get up and open a drawer with adorable little hang tags or pull open the box that houses my vast assortment of watercolors, and I begin to piddle...