July 22

Carrying on.  I've nearly finished reading the book, and found the section on storage to be calming and reassuring.  Especially since I've already starting storing a bit, and so far seem to be doing it "right."  Key takeaway:  Store items of the same category together, in ONE location, in simple storage that is accessible and where all things can be seen.

Yesterday (a busy wonderful day that included time at the Art Museum, time working in my classroom and tutoring, a run at the beach, singing with WSC, and drinks with old friends) demanded a manageable category, so Ivy and I tackled my jewelry.  Marie advises that you do the work alone and I can see why.  My sweet girl wanted to take every single item back out of the discard pile.  She was placated with three pairs of earrings to save for when she gets her ears pierced. Not an approved method but it worked at the time.
Turns out I have a lot of broken beaded necklaces and single earrings. And it turns out I have a HARD time getting rid of jewelry.  In retrospect (and further reading) I ought to have saved this category for later as many of the items fell squarely into the "sentimental" subgroup, which Marie recommends saving for the very end.  Oh well.  This selection was purely pragmatic, as my old storage system consisted of one divided tray and then a large heap of tangled necklaces on my dresser top, thus rendering most of my jewelry unwearable.  Also, I discovered a shocking number of tiny boxes and other miscellany completely filling a dresser drawer, and a whole array of items carefully stored (and covered with dust) in the little shelving system I put in the back of my closet a few years ago.  Once again, too many spots.

Here's the accumulated pile:

 

After discarding: One large tupperware bin is off to be donated, and I parted out a bunch of necklaces into a bag of beads which are neatly stored in the craft cupboard. I do have to admit that 4 broken necklaces are still out on the coffee table with plans to fix them.  I am still learning.

And the improved situation.  You can't tell in the picture but there are only three pairs of earrings in each divider, which is a huge improvement.  And there is NOTHING in the drawer.  

Well, nothing except a whole batch of empty tiny boxes.  Because boxes are another category. And I hate throwing away perfectly good tiny boxes...!

I am still learning.