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I’m Michelle

I provide a holistic approach to productivity and organization challenges women face in trying to balance work and household.
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THE PROPER PLACE BLOG

Getting Transient Items Out of the House

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I feel like I always have a store return looming over my head. Or a pile of clothes to drop off at the thrift store and a book I borrowed to give back to a friend.  And they all tend to sit by the door or shoved in a corner, and no matter how many times I move them out of my way, I still don’t deal with them.

The most discouraging moments are when I finally deal with them and discover the consignment store is no longer accepting Fall clothes and my receipt is past the return period. Can anyone else relate? Ugh.

Unfortunately there isn’t a service that can come to your door and whisk all your items away and bring them to the designated places (though that would be amazing!). But, there is a simple way to help minimize the piles and keep the items moving out of the house.

Can you guess? Create a place to put the items in transition! (does it sound like my posts are repetitive!?)

These are items that you plan to take out of the house so you don’t have a traditional place to put them. But, if you have returns, donations, hand-me-downs for your sister’s kids, or whatever it may be, designate a box for these items that require action. I promise it will minimize the clutter and you moving piles around. And it will remind you that when the box is full it’s time to make a trip to the store. And when your sister is over, you can pull out all the clothes you wanted to give her son. As for returns, it’s a place to keep the receipt with the item until you are making the haul to that side of town.

Plus, it keeps the concept of consistently editing your belongings — always being aware of what you have and the ease of getting rid of things when you no longer need them. Don’t wait until “spring cleaning” to go through your closet. If you put a shirt on that you don’t like, DON’T hang it back up. Put it in the appropriate box and get rid of it.

Seem easy? I know. It’s one more thing to make room for in your house. But it can be boxes on the top shelf of the closet, in a bench by the door, or in a basket in the garage. Maybe your returns are even in a box in your car so you take care of it right away. This photo below shows an easy DIY way to keep it simple.

I bet you could think of other non-traditional things in your house that create clutter but don’t have a place. What about items you need to repair? Or gifts you purchased ahead of time? Library items? Any other ideas?

PS: I confess I am a huge online shopper for anything and everything, and am partially accredited to keeping the postal service and UPS in business. For all of you who don’t have it, Amazon Prime is a must when you live in small town USA! Why go to the store when it can come to you for free?

Storage for Transient Items
Photo by theredchairblog.com

Posted September 24, 2014

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