Cleaning those catch all totes

The bane of my existence—-catch-all tubs, boxes, bags, totes and junk drawers.

Do you have a junk drawer? For years and years, I always ended up with a junk drawer in the kitchen. It would catch everything. Basically anything I didn’t want to set on the countertop, or actually throw or put away; screws, spare change, twisties, coupons, business cards. When we moved out to the barnhouse, I suggested….well, actually I told my husband, we aren’t going to have a junk drawer IN the kitchen, because there aren’t enough drawers for the stuff I actually use. That was all fine and good, and agreed upon.

But, do you know what? That same junk started to collect on top of the countertop in the corner. The odd bolt, malfunctioning garage door opener, dried up pen…collecting again, but now out in the open.

So, I made another move. We bought a nice, used black entertainment center. It’s more like a dresser, but the top 2 cubbies are open for a vcr or DVD player. Remember those days? They weren’t that long ago. I got 2 drawer type baskets to slide into those spaces and asked the hubs to use those for the junk drawer. All is fine and good, but it still fills up and leaves me with the task of sorting all the detritus.

Friends. It drives me crazy. Can I say that? It will finally push me to the edge, and I will devote whatever time is necessary to empty, sort, put away. Last week was one of those times. I started with the the assortment of Amazon boxes that had been repurposed into catch-all, “I will put this away later” containers. Because those weren’t enough, there were also a few shopping bags; not full, just keeping a few things together.

I put on some music, and started sorting, in the worst of all places, on top of the dining room table. I called my best friend, to share my woe and at the point where everything was sorted into categories, I lost interest in finishing. I told my friend, I wanted to wad up the contents in the tablecloth and just toss it all. But, I didn’t. And, the last bits are still on the table, taunting me.

I could have finished that task completely, but instead, I went out into the studio. There wasn’t just a drawer of stuff, there were piles and totes and tubs. The studio is where I have my longarm quilting machine, and where I will move my sewing room and coaching office, and have everything in one place. It is a big room. One of the things I’m most excited about is that it has painted plywood walls. It’s rustic. But, that means I don't have to use special picture hangers. I can nail stuff to the wall as I please.

I was worn out by bedtime last night. I need to figure out how to not have catch-all spots. It should be simple. Just put it where it belongs the first time. I sorted, tossed, arranged, and labeled. I even sorted through 3 small tubs of writing utensils. And the sad thing is, I have more tubs of pens, markers, and pencils upstairs. We'll cover that topic another time!

If you made it this far, or skipped ahead, do you have suggestions? How do you keep from having multiple spots where junk lands and stays?

Thanks!
Your frustrated, but “it’s a new day!” Friend,
Anne Dovel