The Orginizational Gene

Photo by jazzmasterson.

I'm convinced this is genetic.

Somewhere between the anality of Martha Stewart's labeled shoe boxes, jars of ribbon, and wallpapered cannisters, and the chaos of Oscar the Grouch's trash can lies my study.

I say this is genetic because this is very reminiscent of my mother's workspace, as well as my grandmother's workspace. (My dad's study, on the other hand, is pristine in comparison - why couldn't I get THAT gene?).

In attempts to organize, I've turned my closet into storage space, removing the hanging rod & replacing it with six foot long bracketed shelves and still I have clutter spilling out into the room. I have a work desk whose surface I've not seen in months, and art supplies that haven't seen the light of day since we moved last. At this juncture I have a handy half-moon path around my desk - leading from the door to my desk chair. All the rest of the floor space is filled with four foot high boxes of stacked clutter.

I look at magazine spreads that show artist's studios & am in awe. They always seem to have the perfect storage solutions: the old card catalogues from libraries gone by, the flat storage found at some flea market for a steal, book shelves built of old dresser drawers.... Yet whenever I go to the flea markets & thrift stores, all I find are rotted out partical board shelves and cheap plastic crates that wouldn't even hold a milk carton.

In my frustration, I draw out plans for the perfect storage solutions. My sketchbook is full of schematics for computer desks, mobile art desks, paper & tool storage, even hidden shelving units. It's my own little (organized) world & I disappear into it on occassion.

What would your organized world look like? Where do you disappear to when daydreaming or imagining your room | house | garden | office | etc?