Organization? Really? Ok, let's try it out

I am taking a free get organized class over at scrapbook.com.  So far - we are on week two.  Am I more organized now - no way :P

However, I have assessed what I have and kind of figured what does work and what doesn't.  Some things work well for me.  Others not so much.  No photos just yet - I am not that brave.  Hopefully, but summer, I will post before and after photos.

Milestone for this week - I completed the first two lessons (and assessment chart), am about 1/2 way through sorting my ribbons into some bags, and am trying hard to put away little piles each day (about 15 minutes worth).

Notice, ribbons are not organized, just sorted from various locations.  I have a drawer to use when doing my 15 minute clean up and when time, ribbons will go into one of 14 categories.  Just pick what works.  For me it was

1. laces
2. grossgrain
3. satins
4. sheers
5. fibers/string
6. twills
7. beaded 
8. felts
9. pre-adhesive
10. fabric and velvet
11. misc (clear plastics, rubber, tinsels, fishing tie materials, and others)
12. pearls
13.  ric-rac
14. paper

I also have two paper ribbons - one is 3' long, the other about 8" long.  Eventually I plan to put them with raffia (I think I have some) and other paper ribbons.  If I don't have these items, they will either go into a layout kit, be donated or end up with miscellaneous ribbons.  One thing - before I chose miscellaneous, I made sure the container I had for these was small and clear - it only measures 2" high x 8" long x 6" wide.  If it was going to take more than this amount of space I figured I wanted it to have its own category.  

In case you are thinking I have this wonderful scrappy room/studio - nope.  I have a corner of the family room and a little bit of our strangely shaped and rather large laundry room.  The only items I have that were designed for scrappers, other than my crop bags, some 12x12 boxes (3 or 4 of these), some of the stearlite drawers that hold 12x12 papers, and a wire paper rack that I found at a thrift shop.

While organization is key, spending tons of money is not.  I love the idea of sorting using bags on hand before buying anything.  It is giving me an idea of how much there is to store.  Some storage solutions may be purchased, but not until I see how much there is to store and if I even want to store it.

So, the journey continues.  Hoping I have time to do some more today, but chores, school, work all have to come first.

update - after finding three more shoeboxes (two of which were very large) full of ribbons - I really was beginning to hate ribbon.  LOL  I know myself well enough to know just sorting into groups is what to do first.  Don't start with the getting rid of until after sorting or I will end up tossing it all - kind of defeating the purpose of organizing so I can enjoy using what I have.  I now have nearly 4 gallons of gross-grain ribbon and changed most of the smaller categories into a single container.  The only thing (other than cardboard shoe boxes) that was added to my container/think I may want to get rid of pile was a cute little ribbon box - designed with 6 holes.  I thought I wanted those.  Bought one, realized it didn't work for me and after emptying it (I managed to put 14 ribbon spools inside) it will go to someone else who may enjoy :)