OCDiana

You can create a profile online, but have to download the app to sell something.

When life hands you lemons… Throw out the shoe rack instructions.

I recently had to rearrange all of my closet space because I finally got a washer dryer in my apartment and it takes up most of the space in the closet I’d been using for shoes and accessories.

After searching long and hard for a tall narrow shoe rack. I found this one. The measurements were different on every site I looked at. So I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. I wanted it to hold as many shoes as possible, but still fit in the small space I was working with.

Marie Kondo’s book, ‘The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up,’ which focuses on the purging of belongings, arrives at a perfect time and sparks joy for book publishers.

Get all those bottles OUT of the cabinet and add a little spice to the side of your refrigerator. 

Since I only have four cupboards for food and what often feels like one square inch of counter space, freeing up these two key pieces of kitchen real estate is crucial.

So, I bought three sets of these IKEA containers and voila! Now my spice rack is vertical and not taking up any space that I could be using for other things... like chocolate. 

Being that I’m still somewhat of a novice in the kitchen and can’t tell them ALL apart, I broke out my label maker (of course) and printed their names on the back of each canister to maintain the clean look.

Full disclosure: not everything fits here, I do have some bottles left in the cupboard, BUT there are a lot less, so that helps Also, if you have a choice - pick some of the clumpier/bigger/piecier (?) spices like bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, and sesame seeds. Some of the jars can be a little hard to open every now and then and it’s a lot easier to clean up bay leaves than it is to pick up paprika. Just be careful when you open them, twist, don’t just pry apart, believe me I learned the hard way.

So even the best organizers, the most OCD of us all, still need to reevaluate every now and then.

With that - I present to you - my accessories closet. There's supposed to be a washer & dryer in here, but I know better than that (and my building only allows Euro style units, which are pointless).

So today's entry will focus on just the necklaces. I initially had a few staggered 3M Command hooks holding a few chains on each. But I found myself constantly going for one necklace and having the other ones on the hook with it getting all tangled up and falling into the shoe abyss below.

So, I found what I hope will be a better solution at the Container Store. A re-purposed tie rack. This gives me more hooks in the same amount of space that I was previously occupying. I hope this means no more tangles and four feet falls to the ground. If it doesn't - I can chock it up to a lesson learned - it was only $9.99.

Here is the finished product:

In case reducing the clutter in your life isn’t a good enough reason to go clean out your (bathroom) cabinet - here’s a GREAT reason:

Amenity Aid provides personal care products to at-risk and in-need individuals

You know those scenes in movies where the clouds part, the sun shines down and the angels sing? Cue the moment where I found out the Container Store was opening its first Rhode Island store and follow that up with a smaller, but still just as joyous celebration, when members of the media were invited to a preview party two days prior to the Grand Opening. So. Exciting. I visited the new location in Cranston for the preview party and it was everything I hoped for and more. There were underbed storage boxes with wheels that can roll in either direction, Mighty Magnets, giftwrap storage containers galore, and the list goes on and on.

Sadly, I couldn't buy anything yet. Not so sadly, I couldn't buy anything yet because the registers had been replaced by an open bar. There were about six food stations throughout the store serving delicious hors d'oeuvres in adorable mini containers as far as the eyes could see - which actually wasn't that far because there were 1,300 people in there with me!

Don’t fight the purge

OK, I'll admit it: I am one of the most organized people on the planet. But, even I still need to regularly go through my stuff: reevaluate what I have, figure out what's working in its space and what's not, and determine what I actually use.

As much as I love to see people get rid of stuff they don't need/use - I'm actually not encouraging anyone to rent a dumpster for these sessions. I think to do it properly - you have to focus on one small area at a time. This was the result of just going through the drawers and cabinets in two pieces of furniture: my TV stand and buffet/bar.  I gave the Ketel One glasses to a friend with a last name that starts with K; donated the weird old booze I inherited from my parents' kitchen renovation to the wall outside the trash room in my apartment building where everyone puts stuff they want to get rid of, but don't want to trash (it was gone in a half hour - hopefully someone over 21 took it); recycled the glass picture frame inserts, and donated the two random containers to Goodwill.