A Bee Goes Organizing

This is an old picture!!
If you've been reading my blog lately, then you know that I recently took an organizing quiz over at Clutterbug. I thought I was a butterfly, but the quiz tells me that I am a bee. I've taken it twice now, so I guess I really am a bee.

Now, when I read through the description of bees, according to Cas, it fits. I am a perfectionist. I do have tons of projects going all the time, and I do prefer to see my stuff rather than put it out of sight. We bees tend to have hoarder tendencies as well. I think my mom is a bee also.

One of the things that Cas from Clutterbug recommends for bees is open shelving and clear boxes. Now, I don't have lots of money to purchase beautiful, clear, acrylic drawers for all of my stuff, but I do have enough money to go to the Dollar Tree to get some gray, fabric boxes for my instruments. So, that's what I did.

Yesterday, I went to the local Dollar Tree and spend about 13 dollars on boxes for my instrument room. I bought more expensive boxes last month, and I was able to staple labels onto the front of the boxes without difficulty - nice labels are something that we bees like as well. I am planning on continuing to fill boxes with my instruments to make things look a bit more cohesive and organized in that room. I may go get more later this weekend for other parts of my home. The craft side of this room could certainly use more organization.

For me, the important part of this process is the labeling. I try my best to know where everything is located so I can get to it as fast as possible. I often put things in new places and then forget where I put them. With the labels, I have a better than usual chance of finding those items again. So, I label.

My mother and my sister gave me a slew of Star Wars labels last Christmas. I have been using them in my system refinement process. It is nice to have something that works for me.

While I am not convinced that this organizing philosophy is exactly what I am needing, It is reinforcing things that I already do. I am also getting some ideas of what steps I can take when things get frustrating. I may never have a showplace of a home, but I can get to functionality with some more work.

Right now, my home is as clear as it has ever been. That's because I had company last month. Mom is coming again this month, so I am conscious of the need to keep things looking better than they are right now. The kitchen needs lots of work still, but the office and craft room is pretty clear, as are the bedrooms downstairs. The upstairs bedrooms are not clear at all.

One of my struggles that is consistent across all of my environments (this home and others) has been a difficulty with using closets. I don't know why this is part of my life, but it is. I do not use closets well. I don't want to put things away in the closet. Now, I don't think I have any sort of trauma in my past that involves a closet - other than one tornado warning that happened when I was about 5 years old where we spent the night in my parent's closet - but I just don't use them for anything other than keeping boxes of stuff there. My sister thinks I should do some custom closets, but I am not sure that spending that money would mean that I would actually use the closets any more than I do now. I just don't use closets.

For now, though, I am going to focus on getting my instrument room more organized and then move to the crafting area on the other side of the room where I am working right now. I have two more weeks before my Mom comes back, so I can keep on organizing. 

She wants clear access to the glue gun and the glue so she can work on the things that she is currently enjoying - making Barbie furniture for my Barbie dolls. She made me a room for my birthday!! My sister brought my favorite Barbie doll from CA where it has lived with her in her toy box for the past 30 years. So, I now have my Barbie (brown hair and brown eyes - I think she is BEAUTIFUL and always have!), a living room area, and some pictures and plants to decorate everything. 

My mother is loving the process of making things, but she does not always do a great job of moving those things out into the world. The fact that she made these things for me makes them special. I am happy to have them, but now I need to find a place to set things up so I cam see them and play with them. Yep, you heard that right - play with them. Yep. I am an official senior citizen (as of May 21st), and I play with toys! In fact, I love my toys!

Time to get cracking. This bee needs to get busy on her Saturday projects.

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