Are you a piler too?

Do you ever have one of those moments…when you walk through the same spot in your house for probably the 50th time in a day and all the sudden it hits.

IT is the STUFF.

The I’ve been too lazy to put you away for the past week and yet I’m still surprised to see you JUNK.

I swear it’s like I’m wearing glasses and someone finally cleaned them off. All the sudden I can see it all. And all if it drives me MAD:

I always joke that STUFF multiplies. But it does! It starts with that very first piece of whatever, and festers from that point on.

My thought process is “There’s already one thing to put away there, I’ll just put this one here too, and put them away together. Later.”

Snort.

That makes me laugh.

:)

And over the years I’ve determined I’m a piler. I will take the same group of stuff and stack it in a spot over and over and OVER in the same spot, thinking it looks better:

It doesn’t.

I’m a Master Piler though. One of the best. ;)

I can pile a TON of stuff in one spot, balancing it oh so delicately.

I’ve gotten pretty high. Pretty proud of myself.

The island is my nemesis. I don’t think it’s physically possible for me to keep it completely clean for more than 24 hours:

Oh my…that is so awesome.

There’s a little spot in the kitchen where my deep secret lies…

When I take pictures of our kitchen for the blog, I pile all of the crap to the left of the fridge.

It’s why most of our kitchen pics look like this:

Cause you can’t see the PILE-O-JUNK:

I’m a sneaky one. ;)

OH, but wait…I forgot about the very very worst spot.

THE STAIRS…

Dun dun dunnnnnnnn.

Namely the basement stairs.

I’ve tried baskets. I’ve tried…well. I haven’t tried anything else. Especially the one thing that would work – just putting the stuff away when I’m done with it. ;)

On those days when the fog clears and I finally see the piles around me, the hives start and it must be cleaned up immediately.

Rightthisverysecond.

I’ve developed a very complex method of fixing the situation fast. I grab a big basket or bin and pile everything in the room inside:

Sometimes there’s a few things that are put away during the process, sometimes not. This time about half got put away, half went into the bin.

I’m also a bagger:

I’m not even going to tell you how long that stuff has been in the bag. Let’s just say a long time.

It’s the weird odds and ends stuff that hurts my brain – I have to really think of where to put it away.

I don’t like my brain to hurt, so I do what any normal person would do – I ignore the bag for as long as possible. ;)

Really, I could probably throw the whole bag away and never miss it.

But what if I stuck $20 in there? I didn’t. But what if I did??

That’s how my mind works.

The occasional grocery bag is easy to ignore, so that’s why I usually use the bin. It’s too big to avoid, too bulky for me to keep walking around.

After I fill it up, I carry it around with me from room to room, putting the stuff away where it belongs.

It works for me because it cleans off the surfaces fast, and that instant gratification is saaahweet!

In about 45 minutes, (with the Bub’s help), we had the whole family room and kitchen spotless:

Ignore the overflowing basket of toys…at least they’re off the floor!!

I can now get to my cereal, and that’s important:

My hiding spot is CLEAN! :)

And the island is free of clutter for one shining moment:

The coffee table is cleared:

And I’m starting to remember why we’ve always had a smaller table in the family room – less surface to clutter up!

I found a smaller beauty at Goodwill a few weeks ago, and I can’t wait to show you! And it will be soon, because the new sectional is IN people!!

It’s done about four weeks earlier than we thought!

(Store photo. Not our configuration or color.)

WHOO HOO!! I am so excited! We have to wait a week for the delivery, and then the TV is getting moved a few days later…so I’m hoping to show you everything in a couple weeks. :)

I’m determined to keep the room picked up at all times when we get it all completed.

Stop laughing. I can DO. THIS.  :)

It will probably last a week, but at least I have aspirations.

So…tell me, are you a piler too? A bagger? A take your time and put it all away-er? Or do you just keep the stuff off your surfaces? If so, I want to be you.

**Oh yeah…and the stairs? They still look like that. I’ll get to that tomorrow. Or something.