• The Scary Room
• The Room of Requirement (A Harry Potter reference)
• The (s)Crap Room – A scrapbookers creative place.

Then there’s one of my favourite terms for disorder: khazeray.  I’ve been told this word has German/Yiddish origins.  The Yiddishdictionary Online tells me it means: filth, mess; dirty trick

What about you and your space – have you a name for the best or worst space at your place? I’d love to hear!

Lucy

Hi Lucy

Great question! My answer has several parts.

Changing my thinking was mostly due to having to move house a number of times and physically lugging stuff about… Man, that is hard work. I think I also started thinking more about what “need” really was in my world, and that had an impact.

(this process was a good ten year period – from late teens to late 20′s)

Finally, I decided to travel, and I bought a one-way ticket to London and sold pretty much everything: car, furniture, loved bits and bobs. I really edited down to the PRECIOUS items, and I made good decisions as I still have those items today!!

Hope this helps… and btw, it doesn’t have to take ten years!

The old tearsheets (cutting stuff out from mags) is a tough habit to break, but it can be done.

For you Lucy, I would start thinking about the behaviours you currently have: our time needs to be spent on what MATTERS so if tearing, scanning, saving etc really matters, keep it up. I still have a small selection of tearsheets for creative projects, home renovation etc but I can tell you honestly, hand on heart, it’s still too much. I don’t refer to them as much as I think I will, all this kind of ‘hoarding’ (and I use that term loosely] in my life takes up precious space in our small apartment, and seriously wastes my time. It’s hard to think we might ‘miss out’ by not saving that nice picture, article or recipe, but let’s remember we use just 3% of the paper/information we keep. Part of the solution is also to make sure you REVIEW what you’re keeping periodically, once or twice a year (min) is ideal. You will realise how little these things matter when you REVIEW.

Also, don’t be misled by those ‘minimalist’ houses, particularly when a home is ‘staged’ for sage: there is often a lot that’s been scoop and dumped behind closed doors!

The seat cover off the lounge is yet to be put back after being washed.

Luggage from my recent trip still strewn about the office

Shredding mess, scrapbooking stuff and an in-progress photographic project sits awaiting my attention.

The kitchen, luckily, isn’t too bad although mostly because we ate early last night.

But, I confess, I *am* still wearing yesterday’s make up (bad, I know).

There are piles of clothes – washed, mending and defluffing (thank you to sweetest cat ever, Roxy), plus the bags of winter clothes just taken out of storage and yet to be decided upon and stashed.

At at time like this, I wonder where to start.  Make a list?  (No, it would be too long).  Pick a room?  (Yes, which is the easiest one?) Have another cuppa tea and write a blog post instead?  Right on!

What’s your process when there’s a lot to do?  Or do you have a good tip on getting started?

Interesting that The Age reporter doesn’t use the word hoarder or hoarding in this article. What do you think? Is it bric-a-brac or hoarding? Does it make a difference if the bric-a-brac compromises the safety of the homeowner or emergency services? Discuss.

I am very fortunate to have finally renovated my 1980′s kitchen and now have more storage and the delightful quandry of splashback or…. tiles?

But during the past five years, the space was squeezy, and I nutted out how to get 30% more storage for under $30.

I simply purchased some white cardboard boxes, placed them atop the cupboards and used a white post it note to label the contents.  I buy many items in bulk, so this allowed me to store all that lesser used stuff while retaining a streamlined look.

The added bonus is that repetition is a powerful design tool and will help streamline the look of any space.

(this content originally from my free, monthly newsletter. You can sign up here.)

One mum did and it led her to invent a new Australian product, No Odd Socks. Featuring 5 zippered compartments, you can wash, dry and store without separating your socks. I think this might be perfect for the kids undies too!

If washing isn’t your bag (hilarious, aren’t I?) this nifty storage critter features a hook and could be used for cosmetics, toys or travelling or camping.

image courtesy of www.nooddsocks.com

Valued at $15 each, I have two to giveaway thanks to No Odd Socks.

Simply post below letting me know your favourite tip from the
1. SORTED! blog (hint: use the tag cloud on the right to search Organising Tips and Techniques”), or from the
2. SORTED! book (hint: grab your copy of SORTED!), and you’ll be in the running.

Entries are accepted from any part of the world, entries close noon AEST Friday 23rd March. Two winners will be selected at random. Good luck!

Lots of decisions to be made about the ‘content’ (that’s what I call all the physical stuff) and plenty of sorting and finding better homes for things. How beautiful is that existing space underneath all the clutter? Much more welcoming for guests, and of course, a better place to concentrate now. These are results you can expect when working with SORTED!

 

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