Drawer A Day 2016

Having returned from a trip on August 31, I wasn't ready to jump into Drawer-A-Day on September 1. I had to recover from traveling, go through a mountain of mail, process piles of laundry, get my circadian rhythm back, and deal with the reality that there would be no one waiting in my kitchen each morning who wanted to know exactly what I wanted in my omelet.

So that took until Monday, the 5^th, at which time I realized that the first “drawer” that needed attention was the bed in the guestroom where we had dropped our suitcases the night we got home. Officially, I don't really think unpacking suitcases counts as drawer-a-day fodder - it's sort of like getting credit for hanging up your coat after you've come home from the store. But clearly, progress in every other area would not be made until the suitcases were dealt with. Besides, having sat untouched for 5 days, the suitcases were becoming an institutional mess that made that room of the house look like the home of a hotshot hoarder. (See photo.) So, I spent the afternoon putting all the travel goods back in place – places that unfortunately revealed even more dysfunctional storage areas...but that's material for later in the month.

To atone for my late start, I decided that on Tuesday, the 6th I would confront the laundry room closet. To call my laundry room a “room” is a gross misnomer. It's really a small closet. A cruel builder decided it would be a good idea to put a closet within that closet. A narrow, deep and tall closet that ensures that only the last items you placed in there are ever accessible.

Maybe that explains why I had 3 half gallon containers of cleaning vinegar and 2 half gallon containers of amonia. I had a gallon jug of Windex, as well as 4 separate spray bottles of window cleaner. There were two party favors from my daughters bridal shower. (2012!) I found 2 spray bottles of Febreze. I remember buying one because my son was playing in bars and clubs where people smoked (how long ago was that???) and I wanted to get rid of the smell on my coat. But I realized that I hated the smell of Febreze even worse that the smell of stale cigarette smoke. So when and why did I get a 2^nd bottle?

I have cleaning supplies for all occasions and surfaces...marble cleaner, granite polish, leather soap, wood floor cleaners, jewelry solution, Spic N Span, vinyl siding spray. Having found and used all that stuff at one time, I could have created the world's cleanest house and, simultaneously, an ecological disaster.

There was an 18 gallon storage tub that was filled with supplies for washing cars – car wash liquid, wheel cleaning stuff, armour-all for the dashboard, car wax, compounding cleaner, special sponges and cloths, headlight lens cleaner, leather cleaner (our car seats are vinyl and microfiber) and so much more. If you've been in any of my cars anytime since about 2001, you know that I obviously am not washing my car on a regular basis so how did we (a) manage to accumulate the inventory of a Pep Boys franchise and (b) allow that behemoth of a storage tub take up such valuable real estate in that tiny closet?

It took all afternoon to sort it out. I combined duplicate containers (I only have one bottle of vinegar and one of amonia now!) and threw out stuff we'll never use, distributed the bottles of windex among our kitchen and bathrooms. I got the car cleaning stuff into one small plastic file box. I considered taking a trip to Target to buy baskets or boxes to organize everything but I stopped my self. The idea is to pare down and the collection of shoeboxes and cartons I have saved in the basement would work nicely to organize it all.

So... closet conquered! I think that's a pretty good start.