Thursday, June 08, 2006

The organization woman

This move will be my third in nine years, and although I always hire movers, I do all my packing myself; it's one of the few parts of the process that I enjoy even slightly. It's time-consuming and I hate having half-full boxes all over the place for days, but I enjoy the knowledge that everything I own has to pass through my hands at least once and be reevaluated, however briefly. I find the process of weeding through my possessions to be extremely satisfying--even therapeutic--although that's not to say that I'm great at the business (that's why I still have a green flannel shirt that I haven't worn since college and a weird 1980s cocktail dress that I bought at a thrift store eight years ago, wore out once to a bar, and persist in believing that I'll wear again).

I don't move for weeks, so I'm not packing yet, but I've taken my impending move as a reason to go on a shopping and organizational binge. Over the past week, I have bought:
  • New bed linens for the queen-sized bed that the vacating tenants of my new apartment are generously gifting to me
  • Gorgeous new tea-towels that I found at the flea market
  • A real vacuum cleaner (until now I've made do with a Swiffer and a DustBuster)
  • Photo storage boxes in which to file all my old photos and negatives
  • Frames for some small pictures and prints I'd never gotten around to framing
  • Two huge Case Logic cases for my CDs, since I'm damned if I'm moving all those jewel cases and that media rack again (I know: Case Logic is SO 1996, but I don't have an iPod).
On tap for next week:
  • Weed out my wardrobe
  • Have frames made for my M.A. and Ph.D. diplomas, to match the one for my B.A.
  • Purchase some photo albums, since I haven't done anything with the photos I've taken over the last three or four years
  • Clean and Scotch-Guard my upholstered furniture
  • Launder the new linens I've purchased
  • Buy a third section for my over-door shoe rack, since I'm long since out of room.
I've also scouted out a variety of organizational fixes for my new place--the apartment's one major negative is that it has relatively little hanging closet space--so that after I move I can perform the appropriate emergency measures.

And I have to ask: is there anyone out there who doesn't love the Container Store and the way that it allows one to feel, ever so briefly, in control of all aspects of one's life?

(If so, I haven't met this person, and we probably wouldn't be friends anyway.)

8 comments:

Tiruncula said...

Ooh, I love the Container Store! Organizing compulsively right along with you out here, including the Shopping For Linens part :)

phd me said...

You're very inspiring. Although I'm having the moving company pack, I still need to go through lots of stuff before they come. On my list...

Flavia said...

You're ALL my BFF! Let's go look at under-bed storage systems together.

Terminal Degree said...

Getting my diplomas framed is on my TBD list, too, before I move! Funny how I've put this off for years...

I heart the Container Store.

negativecapability said...

I love the container store...yet my lover always leaves me feeling inadequate...:)

RageyOne said...

I heart The Container Store too! I can spend hous and hours in there. I just love browsing the store. Sometimes I go to the website just to peruse what they have since I don't have a store locally. There is one in metro city about 80 miles away.

I have yet to frame my diplomas from undegrad and master's. I'm waiting for the final one so I can get them all matching frames.

Anonymous said...

(Humbly)

I had never heard of the Container Store. Must check it out! I do love Bed, Bath, and Beyond.

I have two very impressive diplomas from BS and MS, but when I got my PhD diploma I actually laughed in outrage. It's and 8.5 x 11 piece of paper and looks like something generated by a computer stationery program. I won't be spending money to frame it any time soon.

M. said...

hello,

i came across it from other academic/grad school blogs (and read your previous one too) and find it really fun, enlightening and interesting, especially since i want to (hopefully? possibly?) become a professor myself, and am currently in the beginning stages of applying to grad school for this fall (second time around for a phd this time, since i am currently in japan on a research fellowship)

regarding the container store entry - that place is amazing. i only wish that there was a store like that in japan, since apartments here are VERY tiny (i think my apartment is about 300 SQ or even less) and i dont even have a closet myself!