31 Days of Organizing - Day 3 Make it work for you

Make It Work for You
Today I am talking about accessibility.  No matter how much organizing I do, if I make it difficult to access, I have defeated one of my main goals of organizing.  This is goal is to make me more efficient.  It is the primary reason I started organizing the way I did many years ago.  

I thought I had a great system when I first got started.  I had boxes from my grandmother who sold Avon.  Her stock came in cardboard boxes and I had previously used them to move.  These are great moving boxes or even for storage of larger items, but for frequent access to miniature supplies, they were too big.  

It was time-consuming for me to pull out the boxes and get out the supplies.  I had built up enough items to store that this was no longer working.  That's when I believe it is time for a change and accessibility needs to be an important factor in selecting what to use.  For me this meant using smaller boxes so I could contain smaller categories.  So that is my tip today, use what you have but consider how easy it will be to access what you have when you organize.

I know about not having much space to make make solutions accessible.  So in this instance I encourage you do the best you can to make it accessible.  One way I do that even with as much space as I currently have ( a whole bedroom) is to have a small toolbox with all my frequently used tools and have extra and less used tools in another location.  

It doesn't matter what solutions you choose, boxes, bags, dividers, cabinets or shelves or a combination of all these and more.  Whatever you choose needs to be accessible, easy to find things and always keeping it simple as much as possible.  Making miniatures should be fun and time spent on the making not getting to things.

Before I go, I also want to share with you something about NAME.  I am on the Free Projects Committee and this month we are sharing a bunch of tips on organizing from NAME members.  This info is found on our Special Projects website.  You don't have to be a member of NAME to view them.  Since I was editor and on the committee you will see many tips from me and see them here on my blog as well.  I hope it isn't too much organizing for you.  I think it is worth a read as the other members gave some really great tips that I hadn't thought of.  That is what being a part of NAME is all about for me - sharing.  This also emphasizes the idea I am sharing today - make it work for you - which is exactly what these other members are doing. 

See you tomorrow with another idea for my 31 Days of Organizing.

Happy miniature organizing!
Preble