Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Do you recommend a plastic storage bin or one of those lidded straw
baskets for proper storage of The Fly Lady?
  

    
plastic. with NO HOLES. EMAIL: get up! Dress to your shoes! Exercise.
Then another email at night. Go to bed. she said.
  

    
I was in Container Store the other day. They had copies of Real Simple
and a couple of books there. I want to put copies of your book at the
checkouts!
  

    
lidded straw baskets are always preferred.
  

    
One of the most aha-lightbulby things in your book for me was the
simple idea to survey your home and see how you're using existing
storage space and where you might find more. I realized that we have
one closet so chock full of junk we never use that it's completely
wasted space. 

Anyway, just wanted to say that every time I go through your book, I
get inspired and want to start *right now* to do this or that. (Except
I sorta get distracted.)
  

    
ooh, storage question:

i do not have a storage solution for my newspaper columns. hard copies. (i 
know i should scan them so i have them on the computer and then i could 
probably even lay them out differently so they fit on 8x11 sheets of 
paper rather than sprawling everywhere in that undisciplined NEWSPAPERY 
multicolumn stretchy way, but i digress.) they are all different shapes, 
thesecolumns, sometimes long and skinny and sometimes fat and wide. i have 
been cutting them out and writing the date in the corner and tucking them 
into a Winnie the Pooh scrapbook thing someone gave me when josie was 
born--it has pockets that you're supposed to put hair and birth 
certificates and letters and crap in. i've now filled three pockets. this 
is not a good storage solution. i don't think there would be ANY way to 
store them so i could read the columns--i'd still have to take them out, 
but is there an attractive and organized way to keep them that does not 
involve a.a. milne?
  

    
obi, I love the products from Archival Methods
(www.archivalmethods.com)--check out the "RingFolio" Binder Box
  

    
oops--sorry I messed up the clickability of that URL
  

    
I need to know how to get the courage to tackle a big closet 
reorganization project. I have this closet off the kitchen that may have 
once been a pantry, but now it's the "utility closet" and it stores tons 
of stuff, besides being the place for vacuum cleaner and brooms and 
swiffers and toolbox and so on.

There are several large, wide shelves. Each has about 4 million things on 
it. One shelf has stuff I plan (or "plan") to sell on ebay, one has 
miscellaneous stuff, another has...um, miscellaneous stuff. And so on. 

I can visualize how the closet should be. But the problem is that once I 
start cleaning it out, about half the kitchen will be socked in with boxes 
of crap for at least a day or two while I work on it. (I didn't mention 
the many boxes stored in the closet, or the two defunct computers.) And 
I'm especially worried that I'll get halfway through the project and then  
lose all enthusiasm for it and abandon it and end up just cramming all the 
stuff back into the closet.

But, we need this space to be functional. NEED. 
  

    


how does one hang curtains?
  

    
fom, altho I'm usually an advocate of the Swiss cheese method of
attacking a large and dreaded task (make a 10-minute hole in it here, a
15-minute hole in it there, until it's all holes and no cheese)I think
this is a case for an all-out attack: empty, purge and re-fill.
I think I'd shop for any aides-du-storage ahead of time: wall clips to
hold brooms and mops, appropriate-size baskets, tubs, etc--but then
I'd just block off a day and dive in. 
being a tad food-fixated, I'd reward myself with a nice lunch and/or
dinner (well, for me, both).
  

    
and to answer plum's question: with a drill, a pencil, and a tape
measure. or, leave it in the capable hands of a rather cute handyman or
curtain installer.

back to fom's question; I agree with casey ATTACK and REWARD! <lmc>
has proved that this was/is the best method with her closet purge. 

I just found out that one of the carpenters on a job-site (not Richard
or Karen) has some free time over the next week. I'm having him build
more shelves in my dressing room and in an other closet, too. Also, I
have a narrow storage closet downstairs which I'm converting into my
back-up pantry - with large pots, extra plates, and tray stored there.
Found storage! I love it.

 
  

    
i have a collection of v. old quilts that are lovely and i am always 
trying to figure out what to do with them.  i store them in a cedar chest 
(execept, they don't all fit).  i have one hanging and one folded on top 
of the chest.  i wonder how people with limited space store blankets and 
quilts and all of that?  my daughter lives in a dining room and has no 
closets (just a couple of drawers) and an extra quilt for the trundle bed.  
it moves from the end of the bed to the chair and back to the bed every 
day.  any organizing tips for stuff like blankets/quilts for people with 
limited storage space?
  

    
How does someone decide which problem areas can benefit from the
services of a professional organizer, and which really need to be
tackled personally?
  

    
<lmc> I like using the rungs of primitive, rustic, or asian style
(bamboo) ladders as places to hang and display quilts and textiles. You
lean the ladder up against a sliver of wall space and the ladder and
the folded/displayed quilts become functional art objects. If you have
several quilts and feel they qualify as a collection, then by all means
leave them out - folded - on a bench or under a side table. Are
talking about a simple quilt/comforter for a bed or true thin cotton
quilts?

<wellelp> any problem area that you haven't tackled for a year or two
needs help. And if you haven't been able to do any of it yourself, get
help. 
  

    
they are all the thin cotton quilts, mostly dating back to the
mid-1800's to early 1900's.  i think the ladder idea is perfect! 
thanks!
  

    
Living Green in San Francisco has wonderful bamboo ladders painted
bright red! They're only $95.00 each!
  

    
overstock.com will ship you a quilt ladder for $90 including shipping, but
it's plain white cedar and not painted red, and it only has four rungs.
  

    
hmmmmmm..both sound great
  

    
will have to look into both of those - thanks for the great ideas!
  

    
There's a guy selling handmade 7.5- to 8-foot quilt ladders on eBay right
now, too.
  

    
(lmc) where did you score those?  family heirlooms?  Remember to
refold them every so often, so they won't develop fade lines.
  

    
I saw quilts like those displayed on the walls of a large bedroom once
as art, encased in acrylic boxes.  Good idea, though the boxes struck
me as a bit sterile for antique quilts.  

I'm thinking you could dress up the acrylic boxes with some kind of
frame, though . . .
  

    
i got them from m y partner when he died.  i think they were in his family
before that (and i'll give all/most of them to my daughter, since it was her
dad's family).  they're really quite interesting.
  

    
altho the conference hosts have yet to escort us offstage, our two
weeks ended on friday. sure was fun--and is marjorie  ingall the
world's best interviewer or WHAT?!
I love that this topic will stick around for eons--randall and I will
check by regularly--and we'd both love to see any/all of you over in
the decor conference