Buying things on sale (Metro)
Do you buy things on Sale? We all do, right?
Yet, sometimes buying on sale isn’t what you bargained for at all. For example my client Carly makes it her mission to only buy on sale. It doesn’t matter to her if she needs it, will use it or has the room for it. The main thing is, that she thinks she got a deal. Then she gets buyers remorse when she comes to the realization that she has no where to put this new purchase and she must toss it in the basement with all the other bags.
Carly, hubby and two kids live in a cute two-bedroom bungalow, a snug fit for any family. But for this family and the excessive buying pattern, they were bursting through the foundation of the house.
Carly knew she needed a mess intervention. So she called the dream team in and we came to the rescue once again. I think we need capes.
First we identified the physical problems, and then we created a sane solution.
These were the two major problem areas.
1. Both bedrooms completely dysfunctional.
Problem: The master bedroom had 2 extra dressers to accommodate the children’s clothes and the closet was not accessible because of mountains of stuff on the floor in front of it. The kids’ room had no dressers for clothes, and a ton of toys and books on every surface.
Solution: Master bedroom- Sort through and remove all kids clothing transfer to kids room. Relocate extra furniture pieces from MB into children’s room for their clothes. Rezone master bedroom to adult only zone. Kids bedroom: Brought in two dressers, one for each child. Labeled everything. Removed and relocated most toys and books and placed in the basement playroom. End result -WOW
2. Basement is a fire hazard, completely unusable space.
Problem: Every item ever past down or purchased on sale was stored in the basement. Also Carly is a teacher and a crafter and every item she believes she will need or use one day. No accessibility to anything. No room to work.
Solution: Make use of the large backyard and take everything out side. Started by sorting into categories costumes, office, crafts, games, toys, sports, keepsakes etc. Every category was sifted through, pared down and edited. Then we zoned the empty space, for a seating area with media centre, office, craft, toys and games. We purchased a freestanding 5-shelf unit to hold the bins of sorted toys. Only items that fit in the zone were allowed back into the space. All the excess items were sold, given away or boxed labeled and stored in the garage. End result- AMAZING
In two days after a lot of hard work, they got their home back. Carley has an acute awareness of excess stuff. And after being faced with making 1,000’s of decisions on items she never even knew she had. We are hopefully she will be keeping her shopping addiction under control now.
Shana Tovah and Happy Thanksgiving!
Please come out and meet me at the International Home Show October 6 – 9 @ 6900 Airport Road. Join me for one of my free organizing seminars and bring your questions.
Brenda Borenstein is your Professional Organizing Guru. Read her column every second Thursday in the Metro. For more tips and ideas please visit her Website www.organizedzone.com. Contact her @416-665-2165 or .
She has organized over a thousand homes, and says, “There is nothing I haven’t seen and nothing that can’t be overcome.”