Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Husband Organizing

Maybe I'm the only one who has this problem.

But I think not.

The problem I speak of occurs when Mr. 31 gets ready to leave the house: "Where are my keys?"

Two minutes later: "Have you seen my glasses?"

30 seconds later: Mr. 31 still wandering around the house opening drawers and sticking his hand between couch cushions. Me: "What are you looking for?" Mr. 31: "My wallet."

For example, earlier in the week I walked around the house and looked for the things he would need to leave the house, snapping pictures with my iPhone as I went (so sorry for the quality of the pictures):

That would be (clockwise from top left): his glasses, wedding ring, and earbuds for his phone in the office; his watch in the living room; his wallet in the dining room; and his keys in the kitchen. At least they're all on the first floor.

We've tried various tactics to keep his things in one place. Obviously unsuccessfully.

So, I've decided to tackle the problem head on AGAIN. This time I'm attacking the problem with the tactic of "if the place where the things are to go is RIGHT BY the door, then it will be really easy for Mr. 31 to just dump the stuff right there." Seems logical.

There are two drawers in the kitchen right by the main door that we go in and out of that I decided to appropriate. They were holding tablecloths, cloth napkins, and a box holding fancy serveware. So all of those things needed a place to go.



For that, I decided to empty a drawer in a hutch in my dining room, which was the last spot that I tried getting my husband to corral all his stuff. It has since become a true junk drawer, holding all sorts of goodies and, to be honest, trash. It was really kind of frightening.

After emptying and cleaning the drawers, I decided to line them. I didn't have contact paper or equivalent, so I decided to go with leftover wallpaper from my dining room. It works, right?


I attempted to pull the old lining out of the kitchen drawers, but evidently the liner is integral to the structural integrity of the drawers. Not wanting to rebuild drawers, I left it underneath the wallpaper.

Then I loaded the dining room drawer up with all my tablecloths, runners, and napkins.


In the kitchen, I kept the serveware and an apron in one drawer and used the other for Mr. 31's stuff.


Look how neat it is!

I also want to show you the proximity of the drawer to the door, so you can see that he literally has to take one step into the door, open the drawer, and dump his stuff in.


Here's hoping we've got the solution!!

I'll be linking up to the usual suspects!

11 comments:

  1. This is a fabulous idea... hope it works out for you both!! ; )

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  2. This is so funny! And so true. I have been coming up with creative organizational solutions tailored to his routines to make it easy and obviously foolproof but that little stinker refuses to be tamed! He will change up his routine! Grrr...

    Good luck! I hope this works for you!

    Thanks for stopping by my blog earlier and saying hi! :)

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  3. You are such a great wife! I will have to do something like this when I get my own house. I love that you got some much organized in the process!

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  4. Great idea! I'd have to label the drawer, the containers, and maybe hang a big sign for this to work in my house. ;o) Thanks for sharing. Happy Friday! :o)

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  5. Great job...this post made me laugh as I just recently posted something about my husband's "Man Basket" that I use to keep his things organized!

    I've attached that post to this comment!

    Keep up the great work.

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  6. I had to laugh when I first came upon the name of your post "Husband Organizing"... thought you might have had to organize a few..lol
    No, mine is so organized it's rather sickening.. but I like your ideas!
    new follower here..
    Sandy
    thewondersofdoing@blogspot.com

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  7. Thanks everyone for their comments!

    And Sandy - I thought of that after I had posted that - lol. However, one is far more than enough for me! Thanks for following!

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  8. Argh! Welcome to my life. We spent this week organizing in a similar manner. I know such DIY projects are less "flashy" and popular. But in my mind they make the most difference! Thanks for the honest post.

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  9. What a great idea. I hope it works. I bought my husband a valet for Christmas hoping he would put his clothes on that rather than the chair in our bedroom. Now he puts he's clothes on both, hahaha!

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  10. I hope your idea works. I have a "landing strip" in my house for just those types of items. They are always there and I never search around for keys and such. I like the drawer - out of sight.

    I’m having a new link party “Cheap Thrills Thursday” starting the 29th. It’s for creative ideas that cost under $20. If you have a project you’d like to share, I’d love for you to stop by and join in!
    Kat
    www.BlackKatsDesign.blogspot.com

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  11. My husband has the same problem. I've tried everything!
    We appreciate you joining us this week at Anything Related!
    {Rebekah}

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