There are clean, organized people in this world. People who keep every charger cord in the same location, throw away their excess car trash daily and even those who match their socks. I am not one of these people. If you can relate, here are some tips for tackling messy hotspots that I’ve found helpful on my attempted journey to cleanliness. Oh boy, the things I do for this publication.
The Junk Drawer
We’ve all got those random drawers in your house where you shove candy wrappers, paper clips, last week’s math homework. At least I hope we all do, or I’ll really feel awful about my cleaning habits.
Step One: Invest
After some research on the best junk drawer organization system, I decided I needed to purchase bins to separate my items. My bins of choice came from Ace Hardware for $17. And consisted of multiple small sections of different shapes so that they could all fit together.
Step Two: Pick and Choose
Not every Number 2 pencil or chapstick can – or should – stick with you forever. If you’re unsure about what should be considered “unnecessary,” ask yourself if you’ve used it in the past three months. If the answer is no, it’s time to say a final goodbye.
Step Three: Organize!
Finally, I arranged all of my items into their correlating box. Mechanical pencils with gel pens, nail polishes with nail clippers and so on. Now, when searching for chapstick in the middle of the night, I actually know where to look and am not hopelessly rummaging through items. Cleanliness feels good.
Too Many T-Shirts
It seems that my bottomless pit of T-shirts only increases every year. Whether they’re thrown at me during a pep assembly, purchased at a recent concert or left at my house after a sleepover, my supply of T-shirts is quite possibly endless. In the past I’ve always thrown them into one of my metal baskets with no particular method of organization, but things are about to change.
Step One: GET RID OF THE DUMB ONES
Huh. . .this seems to be a reoccurring step. I once read that if you look at an object and it doesn’t bring you immediate happiness, it doesn’t belong in your life. So you tell me if your “Float Trip 2013” or “Freshman WPA” T-shirts really bring you immense joy. Mine were definitely pitched.
Step Two: Find Appropriate Storage
I’ve always had vintage wire baskets that I didn’t know what to do with, so this was the perfect opportunity to put them to use. My T-shirts fit in two of these containers and are small enough that they take up minimal space on my vanity.
Step Three: Fold and Roll
Finally, I folded each shirt to standard T-shirt style and rolled them into little hotdog-esque shapes so that they all stacked up and fit together. I also placed my favorite tees near the front of the basket, so I won’t have to think twice about which I’m grabbing. Peace out clutter.
The Trunk
Ever find yourself chucking your stray trash into the trunk of your car before the innocent eyes of your passengers see? This happens to me all too often. My trunk is the bane of my auto-existence and the most common chore on my weekly list. Every Sunday I attempt to tackle the chaos, but by the time the next Sunday comes, last Tuesday’s clothes and a week’s worth of lunch boxes still linger. This will be a tricky one.
Step One: Investing in a Yet Another Organizer
I purchased my trunk containers from, get this, The Container Store. Located at 119th and Roe, The Container Store has hundreds of options for how to organize your trunk — plus anything else you could imagine. I decided on a foldable trunk organizer that consists of two different compartments and netted pockets. The organizer is big enough to fit all of my items and small enough that I still have room floor space. Plus, my total only came out to $14.
Step Two: Pitch and Sort
Bet you can guess my last tip by now: throw away the unnecessaries and organize the rest. I decided to trash all of last semester’s English homework but kept my dance bag and hammock stored away. Big thanks to The Container Store for helping me get my life together in two easy steps and sparking a newfound interest in the amount of containers one freakin’ store can contain.
