i guess some of my blessings from organizing are "really small"..

generally my favorite blessing is the cleaned organized areas themselves..and the extra room that i find..

my favorite blessing of organizing is moving out things that i don't want to keep and taking them to a charity.

sometimes i do find things that i haven't used for a while..like today when i cleaned the china cabinet i moved 2 small glass vegetable bowls out of the cabinet into my most used cabinet..so i'll quickly grab them for vegetables..at meals..as i tend to get lazy..these days and use ugly things to serve out of..

maybe i'll get a little more creative with my serving ..

Our 'home' is in disarray right now because we're living in a 'too small' apartment while we build. I had a great moment earlier this summer when a stager walked through my house we just sold to give us ideas on what to do to make it sell. The stager asked to open my closets and cabinets to see what was inside. I'm happy to report that I had bought bins and had organized the closets before we had even thought of selling so my shelves looked great. I actually got complimented on my organization. That's a first for me.

Awww...man! That's not a SMALL blessing! (Around here that would be a miracle! LOL)

Good job - both of you.

For me, the small blessing is the amount of time I save when looking for something. For example, we have a shed that houses the lawn mower, yard tractor, all the garden tools, and supplies. Last year I organized it, gathered all the tools that had made their way to the garage and returned them to their home. When I prepared for the annual trip to the family plot, it took me less than ten minutes to have everthing in the van. It used to take 30 minutes and I had to look all over the place for stuff.

Barbara

Being reminded again, for the umpteenth time, how little I need to live with, & how MUCH I can live without! I gave away a whole house (no exaggeration) full of stuff when I moved 4.5 yrs. ago, but still need to purge again already! It's an exercise I do every few months I guess, as I Still fall into the trap of consumerism & buy things I don't really need. Wash, rinse, repeat!

When I sort thru areas of clutter, I often find items I'd lost months before. I pulled a box out of a closet, started sorting, and found the opal and diamond ring my parents gave me when I gradsuated from high school. I thought it had been stolen by a babysitter years ago. Last week I found my lost cell-phone charger in a suitcase. I had gone to Verizon to buy one, they told me my phone is so old they no longer sell the charger. Small blessings indeed!

Actually for me the blessing is odd: it focusses my shopping. Usually that means it limits it, because I know I already have too much, but other times it allows me to buy with certainty because I know what I need. If you're not organized, you can't be sure what you have or lack, so you just buy a bunch of everything. This can refer to necessities like groceries, or to frivolities like used books or collectibles.

Not that I'm all THAT organized yet. But I'm starting to get a home for most things, and most things in their place.

KarinL

I've also found that the less "stuff" i have - the more projects I can complete. Seems like with all the visual clutter around, my brain goes into overload!

I took the legs off a coffee table today. (Had had it for years, tried to sell it in my flea market booth and it hasn't sold, etc.) Took the legs off it and put them on a table that I like much better and is a better size for the height of my sofa. Donated the old table today and drove off with a smile on my face! LOL

Last week I decided to sort the broom closet which was way overdue. I moved some things that dont get used often to a top cupboard which you need a ladder to reach and it created so much space below!

now I dont have to wrestle the vacuum cleaner in and out of the cupboard each time or worry that cleaning products are going to come toppling down on me when I open the doors or when Im searching for something in there. One less frustration in my day to deal with is definitely a blessing.

Coming home from anywhere at all and walking in the door of home and getting that little thrill because I'd forgotten I'd left things neat and tidy and nice. I love being able to look forward to walking in the door.
Later I start to obsess again about toast crumbs in the corner of the drawers and dust on the fan, but I love looking forward to coming home and just feeling glad for the overall effect of uncluttered peaceful "home".

I'm working on a long term project to declutter all the stuff that's collected in the last 11 years since we bought this house. It's slow because I'm working on selling some of the stuff on either ebay or craigslist if I feel it's sellable. So I only do a little bit at a time.

But the positive result, aside from the obvious, is that I've made a little bit of money! Probably around $200 so far. Nothing earth shattering but not bad either.

I try to do a little bit every weekend, whether it's targeting a particular spot in the house or doing the actual photographing and listing on the computer. I figure as long as I don't let it dominate my days and weekends I'll continue doing it so if it takes me a year to get the whole house done, so be it!

Karen, I don't think your blessing is odd at all. To me, it is one of greatest payoffs of decluttering and being organized. One of my favorite personal examples is when I gathered all the office supplies from around the house, after we finished the office area, I found 13 rolls of transparent tape. I had so many rolls because I couldn't easily find tape when I needed it, so I'd buy more.

I haven't had time to visit the Home Org forum for several weeks, but I had a little time tonight, and I'm enjoying reading everyone's messages in all the active threads. I hope to have a little more time after the new year.

I think that is a good word ... "blessings," in connection with looking through the clutter and finding things you thought you had lost, or forgot you ever had.

The more I pare down, the more I can enjoy what I have left.

I feel doubly blessed, because my husband "gets it," too. He's willing to pare down on his own stuff. He's just down the hall from me. While I was typing, he found out that we have about eight pairs of the headphones that the airlines give you to listen to music. He said, "Let's keep two for ourselves, and bring the rest to church and see if anyone else can use them." (Big grin!) At church, we have these special devices that help people to hear the service, and maybe these extra headphones will come in handy for those who need help hearing.

So my life is filled with all these small miracles that occur whenever I am brave enough to look at the clutter instead of trying to ignore it.

Good posts from all of you! Anybody else want to share?

Okay, I will again! LOL Cleaned out an end table with storage in it last night. Got out 11 books to take to my flea market booth to sell. The blessing? Found two or three of my old favorites that I plan on reading and enjoying again. Cheaper than going to the bookstore! LOL