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The Junk Drawer Epidemic

09/20/2012 By Nancy Borg With no comments yet

junk-drawer_optYou are not alone.  Don’t beat yourself up for having a junk drawer,  everybody has one.  But fess up, how many do you actually have?  You know that drawer.  It’s the infamous miscellaneous drawer filled with random stuff.  It’s the drawer you throw everything into that doesn’t have a home.  It might be where you keep your collection of pens, batteries, flashlights, spare keys, matches, instruction manuals, bills, receipts, and much more.

No doubt, there are endless categories but the problem is, there is not endless space.

It happens so organically, doesn’t it? An overlycluttered drawer that barely closes  leads you to shove new things into other drawers.  And before you know it, like  creeping crud, the junk is spreading like wildfire into multiple drawers!

Your intentions were good initially, I’m sure.  You probably started out monitoring the junk drawer, but eventually it was invaded with random loose change, crumpled post-it notes with scribbled phone #’s on them, newspaper clippings, coupons, phone chargers,  Tylenol, and all sorts of new junk. With no free time, and little regard for designated landing places for these things, you were doomed.

I know life is hectic and it’s much easier to just tuck the clutter away inside a drawer. Everything “appears” neat on the outside.

But unfortunately,  this only results in time wasting consequences.  You’ll likely be spending valuable time opening too many drawers, digging through all the clutter and not finding what you need, when you need it. This would be the wake-up call time to organize and get some control back.

Sort through the junk and consolidate items into “like” categories.  Create designated spaces and consistent homes for items.  No need to tangle your rubber bands with band-aids, paper clips, or old pieces of chewing gum.

When you sort like with like items, you will be able to retrieve and return them with greater ease, efficiently evaluate your inventory, thereby minimizing duplicate purchases. Separate office supplies, clip receipts together, and store medications in a safe and exclusice space. Create a grab and go area for sunglasses and keys.

Stay on top of that drawer and weed often.  Don’t let the junk takeover.  If you let it, it can potentially live in every drawer.  Uh-oh, T-R-O-U-B-L-E.

You can reclaim order in your home by starting small,  one drawer at a time. 🙂

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Does Your Car Fit in the Garage?

03/24/2011 By Nancy Borg With 9 comments

Most would confess, no. Chances are whether you have one car or multiple cars, there’s usually never enough room in there anyway. It’s not about the cars, it’s about the stuff. If your garage is looking more than a storage facility than a “proper” home for your car, this would be a telltale sign that it is time to start your spring cleaning.

The garage is an ideal zone for your car to live, accommodate bicycle storage, sports equipment, shovels, and assorted hardware. But once you violate the parameters of this zone, you are inviting everything else that doesn’t fit in you house.  Typically, we just store our random homeless stuff and forget that it’s even there.

Ask yourself this;  do you even know what’s living in your garage that you’re holding on to?  Is it just stuff that’s collecting dust and buried in boxes because you thought you’d need it someday?

Well, make today that day to check it out!  Trash or treasure.  If you dig and find some old amazing stuff that you love and still love and need, congrats on the dig…you’ve found gold!  More importantly, if you find items that belong inside your home, then preserve it, respect it,and store it back inside your home in a temperature controlled environment.  But if you peer into the old dusty boxes and find nothing but your old life or useless memorabilia, trash it.

Pick a nice day, take all of your stuff out of the garage and bring it outside and rummage through the junk.  Make it a fun exercise. Have your own private yard sale before deciding you may need a public one.   Call in a Professional Organizer to help sort and facilitate the decision-making process.  Someone who is not emotionally attached to your sentimental cutter can be more objective and motivate you to toss neglected clutter.

My favorite junk removal company is Junkluggers. They will respectably remove and hand carry out your unwanted clutter, and re-purpose it. As an eco-friendly company, you can feel good about bidding farewell to the old bicycles, roller blades, the rusty paint cans,  moldy coolers, broken chairs, and rusty tools.  Hey, there are lots of cool new stuff out there and I bet you would opt to buy a new anything before you’d use your old stuff.

Seriously, time to get that car back into the garage.  Why store and protect the junk inside that you’ll never use, and leave your nice car outside on the street?

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The Junk Drawer Epidemic

09/22/2010 By Nancy Borg With 2 comments

You are not alone.  Don’t beat yourself up for having a  junk drawer….everybody has one.  But fess up, how many do you actually have?  You know that drawer.  It’s the infamous miscellaneous drawer filled with random stuff.  It’s the drawer you throw everything into that doesn’t have its own exclusive landing place in your home.  It might be where you keep your collection of pens, batteries, flashlights, spare keys, matches, instruction manuals, bills, receipts, etc..

No doubt, there are endless categories but the problem is…there is not endless space. 

It happens so innocently, doesn’t it? When a drawer gets overly cluttered and barely closes, you just start shoving new things into other drawers.  And before you know it, like creeping crud, the junk is spreading like wildfire into multiple drawers!  Your intentions were good  initially, I’m sure.  You probably started out monitoring the junk drawer, but eventually it is mysteriously invaded by random loose change, crumpled post-it notes with scribbled phone #’s on them, newspaper clippings, coupons, phone chargers,  tylenol, and all sorts of new junk. You can’t help yourself, it seems unavoidable.

I know life is hectic and it’s much easier to just tuck the clutter away inside a drawer so that everything “appears” neat on the outside.

Bottom line is that you’re often opening too many drawers, digging through all the clutter,  and can’t find anything you need, when you need it. The perfect storm…this would be the time to organize, sort the junk and consolidate items into like categories and get some control back.  Create designated spaces for items that need to be accessible. No need to tangle your rubber bands with band-aids, paper clips, or old pieces of chewing gum. If you sort like with like items, you will be able to organize accordingly.  Separate office supplies, store receipts together, keep all sunglasses together with their cases, and create a segregated space for medications.

Stay on top of that drawer and weed often.  Don’t let the junk takeover.  If you let it, it can potentially live in every drawer.  Uh-oh, T-R-O-U-B-L-E.

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Junk Junk Go Away

06/17/2010 By Nancy Borg With no comments yet

Day 23: (June 14) There are all kinds of junk.  After 33 years of accumulating so much , there comes a time to assess what’s dated and no longer cool to hang on to, and the things you’ve outgrown.  We grow, we age, we change. Through the years and if we have the room , we tend to keep a historical trail of our taste in artwork, decor, and so much more.  But hey, I’m moving and now I HAVE to choose.  My entire home has been re-modeled in the past eight years, with the exception of an upstairs sitting room.  The sleeper sofa in that room looks ugly to me now, and the hanging artwork is much too contemporary for my new decor. My children’s rooms have TVs that work, but they are as old as dinosaurs. Think it’s time purge and let it go.  So, although they really shouldn’t be classified as junk, they might as well be to me. So what do you do with all this stuff?

You call JUNKLUGGERS! They are an amazing and reliable junk removal company based out of Port Chester, N.Y. (www.junkluggers.com) which picks up your junk, recycles and donates your undesirables. To be honest, I was very concerned about how they were going to negotiate this huge sofa out of that small room, and make a very challenging turn down a mahogany banister, and skirting by a large crystal chandelier hanging in my foyer!! I was quite impressed with their professionalism and their genuine respect for my home.  They took great care in protecting my hanging wall-art, my ceilings, and padding of my banister.  Most importantly, I was pleased with the organization of it all.  They had to have a plan, and talk about it prior to the actually moving and lifting.  There were pauses along the way so they could stop, rest, and re grip the couch.  It was a successful team effort, and while they had each other’s back, I had my eyes closed!!!

When it was safely out my front door, I sighed with relief, and enjoyed the continuous exiting of multiple old TVs, area rug, old beach chairs, and other random items from my garage.  They hauled my junk away, and knowing it was going to good places, I was a happy camper. In these regard, letting go wasn’t so hard.  High recommendations for these guys, for sure.  Thank you Asher and Kevin.

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