Tackling the impossible. Clutter rules my life.

Since I started the year opting for a purge of my mental state and a move towards positive thinking (a feat for me, as I generally am the total opposite of optimistic) and having surprised myself on how enlightening the simplicity of accepting the happiness in life is and how successful the mentality is, I have opted to move forward to another step in the process of finding my bliss. I’d like to start organizing my life.

Let me say, I have no ambition in succeeding in totally adjusting everything around me so that it is in some sort of perfect arrangement. Nor do I even think I will be able to get to a place where everything is labeled and “there’s a place for everything and everything in its place.” I don’t have that kind of dedication nor do I want it. I have a 1 year old and a 3 year old on top of that. Life needs a bit of organized chaos to be sane. It’s a sign of love. The most cherished of items are generally beaten up, knocked around and abused and it is because of that that they are loved so dearly. But on occasion, I’d like to know where things like the scissors are, and I’d like to get what I want within 5 minutes rather then spending hours (and going on tangents) in an effort to find something that should have been at my fingertips.

Who coined the term ‘clutter begets clutter?’ That’s where I started the year. Things piled atop of other things that were never arranged, moved or purged. I can thank the new dining room set we have (Greatest score ever on Craigslist) for my new ambition to semi-organize our living space. The dining room forced me necessitated the organization of the breezeway to make space for the buffet which came with the dining set and which we does not fit in our small kitchen. Now, having organized the breezeway to the point where it is a workable space - even if it has no heat and no insulation and is generally worthless in the winter months I am moving onto the next space - the kitchen.

So I plan on making a jaunt to Ikea to see what we can find to add some storage solutions for the kitchen. I have perused for inspiration ohdeedoh and apartmenttherapy for inspiration and feel suitably inspired to look for low cost and beneficial projects. Low cost being the operative word. Rob won’t let me fully redecorate the white on white kitchen so I will find stuff to make it look less cluttered, organize it a bit more and overall, make the space such that I can move onto whatever the next space may be. My goal in this room is to make the cabinet/storage space more accessible and maximized for use. I want to get my pans out of their current storage space (the oven) and I want to get rid of the JUNK in my junk drawers. Beyond that I want to add storage for the kids things (Ari’s leapfrog computer, crayons/coloring books, etc.) and to TRY to make my center island not be the catch all for anything and everything.

I have to move one room at a time right? Small steps will get me to my ultimate destination.