The best way to organize junk is to not have it in the first place. Humans have become very clever inventing devices and contraptions to store and organize things, but these are often the symptoms of a greater problem, namely that we have so much to be stored and organized in the first place.
Back in my apartment, I had a large walk-in closet, and I was pretty excited to find that most of my stuff fit in there. But over the course of the two years I lived there, I found myself picking over things frequently, since they were in my face every day. I would go through a box and, for the first time ever, ask myself why I really had this or that, only to realize there was no good reason for keeping it. I went through quite a few nit-picky little boxes there, the combined effect of which has been pretty dramatic.
Here I have access to a large basement, which is really nice when you need it (I have my old washer and dryer down there), but it can be dangerous. As I’ve written before, I kept a lot of my apartment stuff down there in boxes, stuffed in the corner, and it was extremely easy to forget that most of what I stored down there really wasn’t necessary or useful. I’m happy to say that I’ve cleared out quite a bit, and my basement “footprint” has been significantly reduced. The basement isn’t lacking in space, I suspect I am just lacking in sanity, and not having much down there makes me happy.
The garage is the trickiest place. My previous roommate left two large tool boxes, and I use about 1.5 of them. By I also have spare parts and a few power tools here and there. The risk is getting too comfortable with the space and accumulating too much. I like having tools because they help me take care of my car and save money, but not all tools are created equal, and moreover it’s far too easy to let spare parts, boxes, and utensils get out of hand: the actual tools aren’t necessarily the problem. My previous roommate also left us the gift 20-30 aerosol cans and fluids that he got from work that are either duplicates or completely useless. I believe the city cleanup days are next month and I absolutely cannot wait to get rid of those.
When my roommate mentioned possibly using one of the tool boxes in the future, I kind of had to pick one that would be my main. I actually picked the one with the fewer drawers. For one, the top opens up and is much more convenient for common use items like flashlights, gloves, eye protection, and paper towels. It also has a large space underneath where the aforementioned aerosol cans are hanging out. I realized that the larger items I keep in the second toolbox could actually be placed here, and they would be more exposed. See, when things are out in the open, they are harder to forget about. And I think that’s a desirable thing, because it means you are confronted regularly by the question of whether they are really necessary.
“Out of sight, out of a mind” is a very old saying, but it’s extremely true. Think of all the storage units people pay for every month but never visit! [However, I have actually heard these are cheaper than paying the additional approximate $70k for a house with an additional room in Denver if you simply need the space for things. Interesting!]
I’ve even seen this with my Legos. A lot of my old sets I used to keep in a box in my closet that was kind of difficult to remove, and this prevented me from ever looking at the contents. I recently went through a bunch of these sets and decided to trade them in. And because I bought a bedframe that allows me to store more under by bed, I find that I don’t actually need to keep the Legos in the closet! I find myself wanting to simplify these even more.
If you’re trying to trim down your possessions, it helps to be mindful of what you are storing out of sight. If you are trying forget about those things, you may want to ask yourself why – it might be because there is no good reason for keeping them.
[Random: even “maximalism” is highly curated, it just seems to find expression through movement and an overwhelming of the senses, more than an actual preference for junk and non-deliberate disorder, which is that state of most homes. So although maximalism is this weird sort of reaction against minimalism, I don’t believe it’s the polar opposite, and in fact it appears very focused on placing things visibly. If having a larger number of things visible is part of your aesthetic, then more power to you. The things that you never see, on the contrary, have no aesthetic.]