A Place For Everything and Everything In Its Place

Over the years lots of things have kept me awake. Getting up with the kids when they were little, waiting on teenagers to get home, worrying about personal problems, and lately the aches and pains that go with being 63 years old and with minor, yet annoying, injuries I mostly do to myself working on my projects.

There are plenty of problems in the world to keep us all awake and as all of you with kids know, you always worry about them being safe and happy. However, none of these things or pains woke me up last night. No, I came out of a sound sleep to worry about where I was going to store our suitcases in the little cabin.

I thought I had accounted for everything we own and had made a place for everything. It's been a few years since we used a suitcase and I guess I forgot we had any!

We really only have a couple of options. Under the bed or the beds in the bunkhouse or in the storage building. I just cleaned the storage building out and unless I want to toss out the holiday decorations I kept, there is no room there.

If I had a car with a trunk I could keep them there. But we both drive a truck and I already use my back seat to store things to be donated and things to be recycled that don't fit in the toolbox. So that's out.

Under the bunkhouse beds I have extra blankets, air mattresses, bulky winter clothes, the sewing machine and fabric, some holiday pillows, tablecloths for the picnic tables, tote bags and purses, and a box of toys for Bixby. I like to leave some room for guests to put their bags so I can't put anything else there unless I toss something out.

That leaves our bed. It has our shoes in boxes and some canvas storage bags where we keep some work clothes. It has a dust ruffle to hide everything. I've left a little room to put some family mementos I wanted to keep but even that is not enough room for suitcases.

Living small requires being ruthless sometimes with what you keep. We have already donated truckloads of stuff and have sold some furniture, some of which we really liked. But, you know, you can't take it with you and it's a comforting feeling to have only what you really need or love.

So, I'll rethink a few of the things I have under the beds, maybe store my work clothes in my suitcase, and make it work. Or use the suitcases as the storage containers for the blankets, etc. Or maybe reevaluate some of the things I kept in the storage shed. Do I really need a plastic container of large margarita pitchers with lids? Maybe I could fill those with water and put in the freezer for when we need ice. Hmmmmm, I think I'll do that anyway. Then I can use that plastic container to store our new garden frost covers instead of buying one.

Living in a small space requires you to think a little more creatively about what you have and what you use it for. It requires "nesting" things that will hold stuff, turning the item itself into the container.

Now, I've got all these new storage ideas running around in my head. I'll probably be awake all night making plans! Let's see - if I put my shoes in the canvas storage bag, then I have room where the shoe boxes are for mementos, then put the purses in the tote bags, and put the tote bags in the suitcase, then etc, etc, etc................

(Photo - Spring cleaning; rugs on the clothesline!)