Monica’s Cupboard | Gioia Ltd Monica’s Cupboard | Gioia Ltd

Monica’s Cupboard

I was pondering yesterday what to write about in this month’s newsletter and asked a couple of friends what areas they struggled with in their homes. I was intrigued when Sue mentioned that she has “Monica’s Cupboard” and asked her what she meant by that. Those of you who were avid watchers of the TV show ‘Friends’ may have caught the episode where Monica talked about her cupboard, which as I understand it was a catch-all for that stuff that needs to go somewhere but doesn’t have a specific place.

I asked Sue what sort of things she stores in this cupboard and she said ‘everything’, by which I gathered she meant items that didn’t have a home elsewhere. Now my friend Sue is a very organised person and her home is fabulous, and definitely not cluttered. Next time I visit I am going to check out Monica’s Cupboard though as I’m intrigued.

Sue also said she has a ‘useful drawer’ and my other friend said she calls hers ‘the third drawer’. I don’t have such a cupboard or drawer because I live in a small space so I really do need to be very organised and tidy.

However I totally understand both concepts, being the cupboard and the useful drawer. In our busy lives there’s sometimes not the time or the wherewithal to work out where to put something so it’s good to be able to tuck it out of place in a cupboard or drawer until another day. It may also be that you know exactly what is kept in that cupboard and that ‘third drawer’ and they may be the perfect home for whatever you’ve put there.

I have certainly found such cupboards and drawers in most homes I’ve worked in over the last 12 or so years. What I believe becomes challenging with these storage areas is that unless there is some sort of organisation in place everything becomes a shambles and it’s then a mission to find anything.

So there’s nothing wrong with having these places as storage areas and what I suggest is that you keep like-minded items together if possible, for example in the cupboard you could have boxes on the shelves which contain specific items. A few boxes or plastic cubes side by side could easily sort those miscellaneous objects in the cupboard and you can simply slide out a box when you want to retrieve something. This is time-saving at its best.

As for the third drawer, again I suggest containers within the drawer. Often this messy drawer is in the kitchen so will contain such items as miscellaneous kitchen tools, string, batteries, picture hooks, and the like. Because these items are usually smallish they just become a jumbled mess and you have to dig sometimes to find what you’re looking for. Several plastic containers, without lids, can sit side by side in the drawer with each sorted by type of item.

These ideas are simple and economical to put in place and I promise they will take some of the frustration away from searching through dozens of objects for that one thing you need immediately. I hope you give them a try and that you enjoy your newly organised “Monica’s Cupboard” and ‘useful/third drawer’.

I wish you joy and blessings for a wonderful month ahead.

In Joy!

Angella Gilbert

P: 09 410 4166
M: 027 224 8937
E: angella.gilbert@xtra.co.nz
W: www.gioia.net.nz

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