I'm a big advocate of keeping things neat and tidy in an RV. Clutter can be visually distracting, difficult to keep clean and even dangerous in a moving vehicle. I've shared some ways that we use containers, items that fold down or nest for storage, and our "one in/one out" rule.
I try to include photos in my posts to demonstrate my point and perhaps give you a few ideas of your own.
Those photos are carefully staged, you know. I dust and polish and straighten and rearrange to make Odyssey look as neat and tidy as possible. When I was making the video tour I drove poor Sean nuts with all the cleaning. "Don't set anything on the counter! I'm filming!"
In reality, disorder lurks in the bus, and that's okay. Erin over at Unclutterer says,
...People can have the misconception that being organized means that every single minute aspect of one’s life is in pristine order. Order is a goal, yes — but so is sanity.She shows her sock drawer as an example:
We have a couple of unorganized, sloppy spaces of our own.
I'm very proud of the bins in the fridge. I've featured them several times here.
Ahhh, so clean and pretty! What I never show is the freezer portion:
No neatly arranged bins here. Spare batteries, old frozen veggies, blue ice packs for sore muscles: all crammed in willy-nilly. Often items fall out when I open the door. Shameful! But it's okay. We rarely use the freezer, so it hasn't been worth my time to whip it into shape. When I do, you'll be the first to know.
Here are the remote controls for our stereo and TV. A symphony of neatness! A place for each and each in its place!
And here's the awkward cabinet that holds winter scarves and gloves:
They are crammed in there so tight that in order to pull out a pair of gloves, all the hats fall on the floor. I can't see where my favorite pink scarf is, and when I finally find it, it's all wrinkled.
But hey, spring is here and I hope to not need fuzzy hats for a while. The cabinet is conveniently located near the front door, which is a great place for hats, so they'll stay there all summer in their wadded-up glory. Maybe next October I'll figure out how to fit it all in neatly.
In the meantime, the items we use daily and the visible surfaces are organized and tidy. I try not to let a bit of hidden disorder make me crazy or distract me from how much fun we're having living on the road.
I love this post, Louise. Professional organizers sometimes feel that their own spaces (and lives) should be perfectly organized - but we all have areas that could use some attention.
ReplyDeleteMy weakness? I need to do more to clean out my file cabinets, and I still want to get my in boxes (paper and electronic) totally empty.
Another thing to consider is that the main point of being organized is to help us function better in our lives. So what would Erin gain by organizing that sock drawer any better? It may be a waste of her time to do anything more.