Simplify Your Life

Too Much Stuff

Amalgamated Crap

Life requires a lot of stuff. And each stuff needs its own home. When stuff becomes free-range, your home becomes cluttered.

Today's home has many uses including:

• workshop
• movie theater
• laundromat
• restaurant
• office

Each of these facets of living requires stuff and storage. Look to Too Much Paper for help in the office.

Storage for CDs and DVDs comes in many attractive sizes, styles and materials. You might choose CD wallets, a storage tower or even CD size filing cabinets. Look for storage solutions in office supply stores, novelty catalogs, discount stores and music/video stores.

Closets, cabinets and furniture are meant to house most of our other stuff. But some stuff needs to be at the ready. Some stuff doesn't seem worthy of precious closet space. Other stuff is too big for bureau drawers. Turn to the basket for many of these items.

Baskets

Used efficiently baskets can be decorative as well as functional. Baskets can be expensive, but do not have to be. Warehouse clubs, crafts stores, discount stores and closeout stores offer great looking baskets at reasonable prices.

Kitchen	Baskets placed atop cabinets can hold gift bows, sewing notions, backup diskettes, supplies from warehouse clubs (six rolls of tape, a dozen boxes of pens, whatever). Be sure to place loose items in plastic bags to keep the dust out. And do not store food this way unless it is in sealed metal containers (squeak, squeak). Leave a few empty baskets up there for serving chips or bread. Most baskets can be sprayed with the kitchen sink sprayer.
Bedroom	Old-fashioned bureaus with their spindly legs are just calling for baskets to be stowed below them. Baskets can keep your bulky sweaters from taking up precious drawer space. And don't forget the underbed. Let an attactive basket holding your linens peek out from the bedskirt.
Bathroom	In the bathroom, vanity top baskets hold hair accessories, rolls of toilet paper, fresh towels and more.
Entryway	My downstairs hallway sports a three-tiered basket holding hats, mittens and gloves. A hanging closed lid basket on the coat closet door doorknob holds empty plastic bags (to be taken along on the dog's walk).

As you shop for baskets, think of the odd-shaped empty spots where you can use them to keep frequently used items at hand and seldom used items stowed prettily away.