organize my apartment

I have a furniture addiction. Craigslist does not help with my furniture addiction. And trying to be a more organized person: definitely an excuse for my addiction.

I like to subscribe to the “A place for everything, and everything in its place” philosophy. When it became obvious that there’s not enough space for everything to have its place in my craft nook, I had to go buy a new piece of furniture. Actually, a very old piece of furniture, new to me.

A map chest is a rarely seen piece nowadays, so I paid more than it’s probably worth. But, it’s oak, matches my desk perfectly, and has four large, shallow drawers. This is where I intend to keep all my large, pretty papers. From there, we’ll see. It also has 2 file drawers – but they’re not on bearings, and the don’t have sealed bottoms. I’ll probably get something to put inside them so I can keep other crafty things in there. The top has already been given over to a plant and my sabbath candles (and havdalah set) which needed a place out where I could light them without setting anything on fire. And because it’s under a window, Pekoe gets some space to sit and watch the birdies.

I was doing a lot of cleaning yesterday, and a few other good things were taken care of. I found a bunch of things belonging to an ex that I don’t want, so I’ll bring those by his apartment sometimes this week == no longer cluttering up MY apartment. Finally unpacked the last of the X-mas gifts, and realized that there’s some sweets that should go in to work and some soaps that can hide in the bathroom until company comes. The chest in my room is cleared off, so I can now get in to fresh linens (rather than just keep washing the same damn set).

Sometimes this whole thing seems like 2 steps forward and 1 step back. If I can just maintain this for a week, maybe I can avoid the one step back. I have to clear the desk this week – I start grad school on Monday and do need a place to work that doesn’t beckon me to fall asleep.

So. I took all the food out of my cupboards, washed the shelves, and put down a liner. This means that if anything else spills, at least I don’t have to scrub the damn shelves again. I hope. I tried to put the food back in some semblance of an organized fashion based upon what I use the most(pastas, grains, nuts, marinades/sauces/oils, canned foods, dried fruits, baking ingredients), and ended up with nothing on the top shelves. I think this means that I only have things in my kitchen that I eat or use all the time, or hope to eat and use all the time. But the bottom shelf is very full, and I don’t know how long this will last. I put the tupperware in the closet, where I can see it and don’t have to reach, but it does mean I have to leave the kitchen to get it. It’s all very experimental.

I’d like to attack that closet next, but trying to get Christmas presents done means I have to pull out all the canned foods and decide who is getting what. I think this kitchen clean-up is not going to get done before 2007. Maybe by Pesach.

And then onto the hobby corner…