My Dirty Little Secret…

I have a confession to make.  I have dirty closets.  And drawers.  And cupboards.  And a messy office.  There’s barely room for me to type here on my desk.

I used to think there were two organizational types.  A filer and a piler.  And while I am a piler (goodness knows I like to pile), the truth is, when it comes to cleaning, I’m a hider, a stasher, a put-it-all-behind-that-door-and-no-one-will-be-the-wiser organizer. This type of “organizer” is a descendant of the hoarder.  (No Mom, I’m not calling you a hoarder, but you know we have at least one in the family).  I do get rid of things.  And I do have places to put things.  But not places for everything.  Maybe it because I have a small house?  Probably not though.  I think I’d still clean this way even in a McMansion with double walk-in closets the size of my living room.

So, this I’ve known about myself for a long time, and my husband puts up with it, mostly because the house looks neat when people come over.  But last week I came across this site, thanks to former Thrifty Thursday buddy, Tracy.  52 weeks of organizing.  Hmm… cool concept.  And that particular post, “Purge Until It Fits,” hit some high notes for me.  That’s what I usually do with the boys’ toys.  And I like it.  Rick calls me the toy Nazi, but I like it anyway.  So I decided to join in, with my own little twist.  20 weeks.

Twenty weeks of organizing.  I chose 20 weeks simply because I am half way through my pregnancy, which means I have roughly 20 weeks to go before the newbie arrives.  And I know that when I’m pregnant, I’m highly motivated to clean.  I nest with the best!  And also because I have to get the office out of the office and set up somewhere (where???) else in the house because we need this room for the baby.

To the challenge!

Step one: identify and list 20 areas that need organizing/reorganizing.  Keep the projects small – don’t list “organize office,” that’s too broad.  Go with “organize junk drawer,” and “clean off printer table,” etc.

Step two: organize those areas – one per week, don’t get overwhelmed.

Step three: Document your progress and share it!  I’m going to strive for before and after photos of each of my 20 items. I’d really love it if someone else wanted to join me in this challenge.  But your moral support and the blog accountability will do too.

Bonus points: organizing your stuff using or re-purposing what you already have as opposed to buying new things to organize with.

So my list for the next 20 weeks… in no particular order:

1. Bathroom cabinet
2. Boys closet shelf
3. Boys toys & bedding storage
4. Desktop
5. Office corners
6. Office closet upper shelf
7. Junk drawers
8. Buffet
9. Our bedroom closet
10. Kitchen desk area
11. Boys clothes
12. Move desk out of office/new baby room
13. Make a place for table linens
14. Canned goods/canning and food storage supplies
15. Find a place for Rick’s work clothes and my business supplies
16. Kitchen glasses cupboard
17. Bathroom linens
18. Scrapbooking table
19. My sewing items
20. Lower kitchen appliance cabinet

Stay tuned later this week for the after photos of the bathroom cabinet, which I completed this weekend.  What about you?  What kind of organizer are you?  Do you have any cluttered areas you keep behind closed doors?