No, this isn’t going to be another post about my underwear, thank goodness.
Anybody who’s spent any time living in the same house as me (family, my long-suffering housemates at Blenheim Road, a couple of husbands…) will be all too aware that I’m a very messy person, and I have Too Much Stuff. I have always maintained that given the right amount and combination of storage, I could become a Tidy Person. This assertion is usually met with rolled eyes and gales of laughter. But, the further we get into the process of packing up the house to move, the more I think I might actually be right!
So far, I haven’t bought any new storage solutions specifically for the move. We don’t know precisely how everything’s going to fit into the space at the new house (assuming we actually get it), and we don’t want to move any more belongings than we have to. Everything here was in the house or the Shed already, I’m just cramming stuff inside and trying to label everything as I go. Rather than just throwing all my things into large boxes marked “jewellery stuff” or “craft supplies” or “haberdashery”, it seemed to make sense to be a lot more specific. That way I don’t have to spend years unpacking at the other end, wondering where on earth in the giant box marked “jewellery stuff” my favourite pair of pliers has got to.
(What do you mean, you haven’t got a favourite pair of pliers? You’ll be telling me you haven’t got a favourite pair of scissors next. Or a favourite child.)
These cardboard storage drawers had been pressed into use already, during my previous bout of frenzied Shed-tidying. It turns out that knowing exactly where all your stuff is, and not having to hunt for it every single time, can make you more efficient! Who knew?! The drawers are from Muji, shoebox sized, and they’re squished into one of those wardrobe-hanging shoe storage things. I have twenty altogether (although I can currently only find nineteen, typical), and they were bought years and years ago to house my ever-increasing shoe collection.
The small cardboard drawers with the little fabric pull tabs are also from Muji, and they’re long and thin. I have two sets of these, one of which I moved, still flat in its original packaging, from my previous house to this one. (And Paul tried to tell me I should throw it away, because I hadn’t used it yet and obviously didn’t need it. The man has no idea!) I can’t remember what I was planning to keep in them when I bought them, but now one holds some of my craft supplies, and the other holds jewellery-making tools such as hammers, ring mandrels and a hand drill. That should tell you something about how sturdy these cardboard pieces are too – I’ve had the bottoms fall out of cheap Argos drawers with fewer heavy things inside them.
I miss Muji. I had a look online, and they don’t seem to make this kind of cardboard furniture any more. Which is a shame, because I could do with a couple more sets of these, for things that are too long to fit into the shoe boxes.
The green wooden drawers in the top photo are from Ikea. I have (brace yourselves) never actually been to an Ikea, but we do own a small amount of their bits and pieces. (Yes, including a massive bag of tealights that we never burn.) I also have a slightly larger set which currently houses shoe polish, and Paul has a few of these plywood magazine files. When we move, I want to buy enough of these to house my complete collection of The Knitter, and paint them to match the decor of the new place. When his CD collection outgrew the three sets of Ikea plywood CD storage drawers they were living in, Paul donated those to me, and now they’re housing more craft supplies and stationery.
I still need to wrestle a few things in the Shed out of their “miscellanous” boxes and into the appropriate drawer. And then do the same with the two boxes of craft supplies that have been living unopened under the bed for several years. But I remain absolutely firm in my conviction that I am only messy because I simply don’t have enough storage. I really, really hope that turns out to be true!
