How Our Wreckroom became a Recroom again
I was fortunate enough to win the services of a team of Professional Organizers for a day to help reorganize my badly neglected basement. This was the result of a newspaper contest and I guess that I did a good job of pleading my case to turn my "wreckroom" into a space that my wife and I can use for leisure pursuits such as hobbies, TV watching and just relaxing. This room had become a dumping ground for just about everything and the cupboards were jammed with things that were hard to access and very disorganized.
Was I happy with the outcome? You bet! Would I have paid for the services? Probably not, given my previous view of priorities but I learned that what Professional Organizers have to offer is worth its weight in gold. Friends asked me "Are they going to provide shelving and lots of other goodies?" The answer was no. I had to invest in those myself but what they provided was worth far more than the cost of a few shelves. In my case, this was an investment of under $400.
Give a man some shelves and he will probably fill them up with more junk and not be able to find a thing. Tell a man how to get and stay organized and he probably will be able to create and maintain some very usable and functional space that he can enjoy and value. That is what I received as my prize; the knowledge and understanding that only professionals can give you and a "can do attitude". In less than 5 hours I went from a mess to a wonderful space that we will enjoy for years to come.
What did I learn that day?
- Usable space has much more value than even the best of collectables and memorabilia
- Stuff has little value if you can't see it or find it in a ton of other stuff
- It is hard work to face a mountain of stuff and to go through it all but P O s can make it fun or at least not an overwhelming task
- You need to be able to make decisions on what stays and what goes but P O s can help you to understand the process and how to make those decisions
- It is better to have fewer things that are well organized and to be able to enjoy them, display them and share them than to have many things that are buried
- There is gold in them there piles of stuff. By selling off a few of those buried treasures you can pay for shelving and the services of a P O and still come out ahead
- Once you learn the system, how to categorize things and store and label them, life will be much simpler and enjoyable
- P O s will label anything that does not move. Make sure that your cat does not fall asleep!
I knew that I had a lot of bad habits when it came to picking up things at yard sales and flee markets and bringing home lots of bargains. That has caused a lot of discord in our household. Now I know that I can control that part of my character by asking myself the questions of where it will go, if it is more valuable than my useable space, and if it is to come home, what will leave to make room for it. Hopefully the lessons I have learned from my team of Professional Organizers will help us to better enjoy our retirement in a more organized and usable environment.
Merle Cole
Oshawa
Before & After
