How I’m Taking Back My Home in 2019
I’m taking back my home in 2019.
My home has been in bondage since April of 2018. It has been loaded with unorganized dishware for my new eBay store, The Little Dish Cottage. I enjoy finding lonely, vintage dishes, then selling them to good homes. I have well over 300 cups, plates, trays, shakers, and etc. for sale. When my item numbers start to dip, I hit the thrift stores and buy more, then stack and pack them wherever there’s a nook or cranny. I’ve got dishes in the morning, dishes in the evening, and dishes in the afternoon, as the old song says.
I stack and pack dishes in every nook and cranny.
Over the last 9 months, I have loaded every unused dresser, shelf and cabinet with dishes. Many of these surfaces are flat, and aren’t ideal for stacks of things. The result is big, flat surfaces covered with fragile dishes.
It is not ideal to stack dishes on big, flat surfaces.
I have 4 kids living at home, so a dish room is not an option right now. Also, I don’t want to wish away my time with them, ever. An organized dish room is worth nothing compared to having my beautiful children at home with me.
I don’t want to wish away my time with my family, ever. This photo was taken at Thanksgiving.
My goal, starting today, is to begin taking back my home in 2019. I’ve developed a plan and broken it up into small, achievable bites. It will be like eating an elephant, one bite at a time, right?
Hopefully getting organized in 2019 will be like eating an elephant, one bite at a time.
Goal #1- Buy More Shelves and Cubbies
I’ve noticed that shelves and cubby storage cubes work much better for storing tableware than flat surfaces. They are also narrower and taller as a rule, and take up less space. The two flat areas I hope to “shelve” are my gorgeous maple (now it’s horribly overcrowded) china cabinet, and an old computer desk. Both are stacked to the moon with dishes.
My gorgeous maple china cabinet is stacked to the moon with dishes.
Goal #2- Don’t Buy Dishes That Set, Rather Than Sell
Sometimes, especially if the dish is a piece of American-made Depression glass, a holiday item, an espresso set, or heaven forbid, a cute set of salt shakers, I can’t resist. As a result, I have dozens of unsold items gathering dust on over- populated surfaces. I would say this same rule applies to buying or keeping things you don’t really need or use.
I’m a sucker for espresso sets.
Goal #3- Create Designated Areas For Each Item Type
Currently, everything is everywhere. If I sell a set of coffee cups, for example, I have to look in each area to find them. In the future, I would love to walk to the drinkware shelf to find the purchased item. Right now, the cup section is my former shoe holder. Don’t even ask where my shoes are living right now.
The cup section is my former shoe holder.
Goal #4- Prepare to Ship the Night Before
I want to prepare items for shipping the night before, so my school mornings aren’t spent wrapping, packing, and mailing. Usually my children come to the dining room table with their books, reading aloud over the crumpling of dish paper. My hairdresser mentioned that she does her shipping prep at night for her small side business. That would work great for me, because I’m allowed one business day to ship things out. Luckily, I can simply print shipping labels and walk my items to the mail box.
Luckily, I can print my shipping labels at home and walk my packages out to the Little Cottage mailbox.
Goal #5- Work on EBay Listings and My Blog at Night
Since the Lord has called me to be a wife, the keeper of my home, and the mother of 5 amazing children, I want those things to be the priority. I want to keep the house clean, homeschool, cook great food, and hang out with the people I love. I can work on my own stuff once they go to their rooms at night. I am reminded of Matthew 6:33:
But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. NASB
In summation, I don’t have to worry about eBay, or my blog as long as I’m putting the Lord’s will for my life first. Anytime I’m running around like a chicken with my head cut off, I remind myself that the Lord always gives us enough time to finish the things we truly need to accomplish.
The Lord always gives us enough time to finish the things we truly need to accomplish.
In the meantime, I’ll be posting about organizational ideas, furniture refinishing projects, and New Year’s resolutions.
Coming Soon- a furniture refinishing project!
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If you have an organizational idea, I’d love to hear from you!
I’ll be doing an organizational giveaway soon-more about that later!
Read more about being a keeper of the home here
Linked to: Morning Cup of Joe, Thursday Favorite Things Blog Link Party, Feathered Nest Friday, Snickerdoodle Create, Bake, and Make, Inspire Me Monday, Creative Inspirations Linky Party, Sew It Cook It Craft It Link Party
Merry Christmas
Kristie
Great ideas for organizing your dishware. I am beginning to face the issue of space with my crafts as well. I am considering doing a refresh on our outdoor storage shed or renting a small rental unit. I love what I do but I need to get better at getting the pics up on my site and my Etsy store. Good luck with taking your house back. And you’re right…God will always work it out if we put Him first. I love co-hosting with you at #OMHGWW
I learned so much from co-hosting #omhgww!
Thanks for the encouragement about organizing my dishes. We’ve lived here for 23 years, and we surely need to purge!
Oh wow that is a lot of dishes but they are nice though. Good luck with organizing your dishes this year and happy to be co-hosting #OMHGWW with you.
Thanks for the encouragement, it’s been a great experience at OMHGWW! I’m trying to decide if I should reapply for February.
I love dishes too. It is a chore to store, but the cubbies sound like a grand idea. I hope that makes store a breeze. Happy Weekend, Kippi #kippiathome
Me too, Kippi. I refinished one Cubby Shelf then stopped right there. I need to get moving and find one more.