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talley_sue_nyc

Would you remember you stored them here?

talley_sue_nyc
9 years ago

I packed up the huge DR wall unit bcs we have to move it to allow construction inside the walls (pipe issues from the apt bldg). And am discovering all sorts of things.

One thing I found in the bottom drawer where I keep hats, mittens, and gloves is the hood to my DD's outgrown winter coat.

I have the coat in the closet still bcs I was trying to find that hood, so that when I donated it, it was all together. I *knew* the hood was somewhere, I knew I'd set it aside when DD decided she didn't want it on the coat anymore (she and I both hate fur trim with a fiery passion). But I couldn't find it.

The experience reminded me that I need to be really careful where I store stuff, so that I'm putting it somewhere that would actually occur to me when I was looking for it.

I've had that strategy -work- before; I couldn't find the charger to the electr. screwdriver and said, "If I were smart, I'd have labeled it this way and put it in this drawer, in this spot right here--oh wait, there it is, labeled and everything!"

But this time it didn't work.

I've also sometimes said, "Maybe you shouldn't bother to keep this. Because when the time comes that you might want it, will you even remember where you stored it?

Has either of these things happened to you? Got any advice or wisdom to share?

Or stories?

Comments (4)

  • mercy_leigh
    9 years ago

    It sounds like you planned for this event, storing the coat hood where you store other cool weather accessories, then simply overlooked how organized you actually were about it. Sometimes we take it for granted that not everything has a designated home or gets put back into its proper home and we lose something because it is right where it should be, and so the last place we think to look. Or maybe that is just me.

    I misplaced my favorite pair of arm warmers last year because I put them away with the winter accessories. Those particular arm warmers get used about ten months out of the year but I just had to put away all the cold weather gear on a particularly warm, spring day and forgot that autumn chills arrive before I am ready to open the winter wear drawers.

    We also have had a similar problem with coat liners. They are rarely used here in Florida but nice to have once in a while. I used to have a place I stored our coat liners that was different from where we stored winter gear off season and still different from where coats are stored in season (which is all of about five weeks spread over three months). Now we store liners on their respective coat's off season hanger in the off season home while coats vacation on their more accessible in season hooks. At the end of winter, all coats are matched back up with their liners.

    Winter storage is a funny thing in the Sunshine State and sometimes gets completely ignored during particularly mild years. It eventually made me realize that I cannot have any hidden storage spaces for long term storage Drawers are the bane of organization for me as it is easy to overlook a drawer one does not have cause to open often. Now I have made it a habit of peeking into every drawer, cupboard, compartment throughout at various times of the year just so I don't lose track of what is stored where. If we do not entertain for the holidays, I still look through my holiday dish cupboard a couple times a year because I may have stored something for the grill in there thinking I'd remember that every day around the grill is a holiday. Any storage space I realize has been neglected for over a year gets completely cleared out and reconsidered to make sure we are not holding onto something useless to us or wasting space.

    When all else fails, try to store items near where you will use them, not where you think you should use them or would like to use them in the future if everything aligns just so.. Not really apropos for the hood situation but the best piece of organizing advice I have ever come across.

  • talley_sue_nyc
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Nice thoughts!

    I think you're right--that I just forgot that I'd been organized.

    For one thing, when I stored the hood, I defined it as "winter gear." But when I wanted to find it, I defined is as "extra unused coat stuff," and only thought about "where would I put stuff from a coat," and looked in the closet area.

    But it's making me realize I need to think, when I store something like that, about where I would -look- for it later.

    I know what you mean about coat liners--I have a coat with one, and I can't keep it on the hanger, because it falls off. And I cold-weather coats get stored in a box (I don't have that much hanging closet space).

    I like these:

    Now I have made it a habit of peeking into every drawer, cupboard, compartment throughout at various times of the year just so I don't lose track of what is stored where. If we do not entertain for the holidays, I still look through my holiday dish cupboard a couple times a year because I may have stored something for the grill in there thinking I'd remember that every day around the grill is a holiday.

    I think this is a good idea! I'm going to try to remember it.


    Any storage space I realize has been neglected for over a year gets completely cleared out and reconsidered to make sure we are not holding onto something useless to us or wasting space.

    And this is what I'm doing right at the moment.

  • springroz
    9 years ago

    I inherited this horrible trait from my DM!! She would hide Christmas presents, etc., and find them a year later. She could, however, always manage to keep track of all the different table decorations for every occasion, a trait which has eluded me. I always pull out the Easter decorations about 5 minutes before Easter....

    I took my vacuum in for service, and now I cannot find the attachments to save my life. I even checked with the repair man to see if he had them. They are still missing....

    Nancy

  • jannie
    9 years ago

    I try hard to store things near their "original" place. For example, I bought a convertible rocker that swung open to become a recliner chair. The mechanism was "guaranteed forever' but you needed to keep the original bill/receipt. So I stuffed the receipt into the padding under the chair. When it (inevitably) broke I remembered where the receipt was. Hurray for me! I could also have put it in my files under "warrantees/guarantees". Yes sometimes I'm organized and I remember where I put things. One thing I do is jot down a note in January when I'm putting Christmas decorations away. On this note I write where I put anything unusual, such as special extension cord for the tree, etc. I then tape the note to my calendar for the next December. This has helped me greatly.