By Ann Weaver
Today I’m here to give you practical tips on how to organize your possessions. Though I am not a proficient at all, this month’s theme called for a practical article on how to organize things, and I have decided to try and explain my personal way of organizing a bookcase.
Before we get started, I want to remind you that everyone has a different style of organizing, and that there is no right way. Of course, I prefer mine over other systems, but I know that what works for one person does not always work for another. Don’t get discouraged if this method doesn’t work- simply find another! These days, with so many resources at our fingertips, there is always something out there that will work for us. We just have to find it!
Now let’s get into it.
The first thing I do before I take a single thing off my bookshelf is to decide how I’m going to organize it. Personally, I like to organize books by category, i.e. in series’, biographies, my personal schoolbooks, or books on a certain time period of history.
During this step, I always make some kind of chart, whether on paper or on the computer, of how I want the categories to be organized. Sometimes I have to combine groups, but I always try to keep certain things together, like science and nutrition. Some categories are large enough to warrant their own category, but too small to take up their own section of the shelf. This could also work for things like clothes, where you can separate shorts, skirts, pants, etc.
The next thing to do – and I know, it’s SO overwhelming! – is to take everything off/out of the shelf or drawer. Every. Single. Thing. That cannot be emphasized enough. Whatever you want to organize, the entire space must be clear, so that everything can be organized just the way you want it.
Okay, so I know what you’re probably thinking. “Ann! Don’t you know how overwhelming that is? Don’t you know how long that would take? That’s crazy!”
Yeah, it is. But it works!
And yes, this takes a good while. But it’s so worth it. Though I enjoy organizing, I don’t like it at all if I have to organize something several days in a row. I’d rather have a couple hours and do it all, or else I’ll probably lose my motivation.
Anyway, after everything is off the shelves, I begin to sort. Civil War history in this pile, poetry in this pile, binders in that pile, and so on. It takes a while, but this will save you from finding that huge atlas halfway into your organizing and realizing that there’s no room left for it.
Then I evaluate my piles after they’re all sorted out. What needs more room than I thought, what needs less, and how can I change my setup? If I need to change it, I do it now, so I don’t have to do it later.
Then I get to work, placing every single book on the shelves according to the sorted piles. Personally, I place them largest to smallest, but they can be sorted here according to what you may use the most, what the prettiest books are, or anything else.
When they’ve all (finally!) made it to the shelves, I go over everything and see if I need to redo anything. When it’s just right, I straighten things out, throw away things that need to be thrown away, and put the little trinkets I like to keep there back onto the shelf. As a side note, I don’t suggest too many trinkets on bookshelves, or else you’ll have to take them off the shelves when you put something away and then you’ll procrastinate putting things up. Trust me, I know this from experience! But a few are cute and fun, like a fake plant or a few seashells.
And we’re done! If my chart is on the computer, which it usually is, I print it out, and then stick it to the top of the shelves or in another convenient place. This makes it easy for everyone else to see how I’ve sorted things, which makes it easier for both of us when they go to put something away.
And that’s how I organize! It takes a while, yes, but it’s so very worth it!
How do you organize the spaces in your home? I’d love to hear different methods and maybe even try them out, so leave your thoughts in the comments below!
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