apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

That's easy, my armoire which originally stored two Ikea metal containers (containing important documents incase of fire.) It's in my foyer since someone had suggested I store important documents close to your door just incase. I have candles, flashlights (we lose power a lot) and batteries. Also, a brand new fax machine I've never used!
Throughout the years it's become one of those places, if company arrives, you throw stuff in pronto! Funny thing is things always got thrown in but never taken out.

A person's home is that person's castle or hovel or whatever. No apologies ever for anything. It is your home, do what you like.

I have a built-in china hutch that has more storage space than I have items to store in it, so it becomes my catch-all like your closet, E.I.F. It's true, too, about things getting thrown in there but never taken out...

Also the nightstand drawers. ;)

My clothes closet is a nightmare place-- packed way beyond capacity, shoes and boots precariously stacked, collapsing onto the floor each time the door's opened.

I cringe when guests make a move toward it to hang their coats.

The rest of my apartment, oddly enough, is tidy and hyper- organized.

My bedroom is what you walk into when you open the front door (thats what I get for moving into a really old hotel converted into a house), and my clothes are covering every inch of the floor. I have to clean it for hours before anyone is allowed in.

Also, my cat has her own room to do her "business". It usually smells slightly rank because she refuses to use scented litter and the room is completely unventilated. That door gets closed when people come over.

All of my junk goes under my bed, 10 year old style. It's old and tall and just begs to be stuffed with stuff I never use.

Despite all of this untidiness, my house is generally well-kept.

It's just plain rude to open things in other people's homes without permission (even good friends): doors, drawers, cupboards, medicine cabinets, closets, etc. I don't intrude in other people's houses, and I would prefer they not do so in mine. If you need something, just ask! I'll tell you where to find it or I'll get it for you. But snooping is rude.

Oddly it's my kitchen cabinets. I am totally not a cook, any entertaining is limited to a cup of coffee or a drink and maybe some chips and cookies. Therefore I just don't use the pots or serving trays or blenders, etc. collected over the years.
Once in a while someone will want to cook, or I'll get talked into having a family get together. Never fails, someone will want something I didn't count on, and pull it out of the cabinet covered in dust. I've learned to shrug and laugh.

God help the person who looks under my bathroom sink.

my source of embarrassment is also a source of pride- my old desk chair, have had it for years - it's my favorite chair and holds a lot of sentimental value - it is also undoubtedly the ugliest piece of furniture I own, but it sits "proudly" right in my living room office space for the world to see. I love it too much to hide it in a dark corner (even if it deserves to be.)

There's a reason the laundry room door is always closed at my place - the laundry room is impossible to keep clean! It vents directly outside at ground level, so it lets in all kinds of automotive dust from the neighbors' cars in addition to regular outside dirt. I hate it.

Also, I don't encourage guests to use the powder room, aka the cat bathroom. Some people are weirded out by the idea of cats using the toilet, plus the room has no ventilation...

Apart from that, having given away piles and piles of old stuff in the past year, the rest of my place is really shaping up nicely.

My dresser & closet and nightstand drawers are off-limits. I don't really care if people peek into the hall closets or kitchen cupboards. I would add the medicine cabinet as well, but I know people look anyway, and I try not to keep anything embarrassing in there.

The bedroom is basically off limits, but that's just because I can never seem to contain the mess in there. If it was actually clean, I wouldn't mind.

My guest room (also a craft room, painting room, and soon-to-be nursery) is kept closed from the worst lurkers of all. My cats! They sit and stare at that door all day long.

For the first time (ever, I think) I have no scary closets or cabinets, drawers, etc. that I would be afraid for people to see, because we're putting our house on the market (first house). It took many mind-numbing weeks of preparation but it's really amazing experiencing this. I consider myself fairly organized but there were always those places that contained things that I would get back to "later".

it's like "Fibber McGee & Molly" around here. Only my medicine cabinet is tidy. i really wish people wouldn't use my kitchen trash can. i never do and it's a stainless steplid so i can't see/smell inside. recently discovered a mass of discarded craft paper and a petrified pb&j from last summer. wtf?! someone once left shrimp in there - with no bag!

I think anyone wandering around someone's bedroom is really rude, unless they were specifically invited in there (studio apartments are another story). In my house, my office is also off limits, and I don't like people cruising through my guest area either. Stay downstairs in the more "public" areas unless specifically invited to go up. If I found anyone going through my drawers/cabinets/closets, I'd ask them what they were doing. Lame answers like "I need an aspirin" are met with "Try asking". I hate snoops and sneaks, and I love my privacy.

I keep things pretty organize and I'm able to clean quickly. The only place I don't want anyone looking in is a drawer next to our bed...for you-can-guess stuff.

That being said, I always recommend people put their "personal" stuff in a box or something hidden when moving instead of just leaving in a drawer, even if takes up more room. I will never forget the men who dropped my lingerie drawer and howled about it for hours. It was hilarious, of course, but all I could see was my panties spread all over their feet at the time.

Oh dear... laundry/cat box/utility room, definitely... and the two clothes closets. We need to buy some dressers or purge some clothes... sigh. Oh, and we have a nightmarish basement storage unit (which I feel like shouldn't even count!).

I have a friend who frequently greets guests at the door with "You can come in but you can't use the bathroom--its biohazardous." Or her other greeting "Stay by the door. My house is biohazardous." It used to be funny but her apartment never seems to NOT be biohazardous lately.

I am actually happy to say that there aren't really that many horrible places... probably because I moved in just in August, so haven't had enough time to mess up ;-)
My bedroom is off limits for privacy reasons, and I let people in only in very unique situation.
my guest room/storage place is kind of yucky, as at the moment it's more of a general storage/craft room. I plan to take care of it around summer, when I (hopefully) will be done with the rest of more visible parts of my apt.

I am generally messy, but for whatever reason, my closets are perfect. all slacks and pants hanging nicely, same with shirts. blouses and t-shirts stored by style, evenly on shelves... I am very proud of it :) now if I only remember to always pick up from the floor, and not just throw clothes over the bedroom chair... ;-)

I wish I had a private master bathroom ;)

I call it my 'Monica Closet' - after a friend who mistook me for a meticulous neatfreak stumbled upon my crazy packed closet (the only closet in the entire apartment) and earnestly told me that I have Monica Geller's closet -
See the F.R.I.E.N.D.S episode in which she wouldn't let Chandler see the closet which was the one part of the place that wasn't orgainized to the inch!

Let's see - bedroom drawers, any closet besides the one the trash can is hiding in, under the beds (though I wouldn't think anyone would stoop that low), and the cabinets and drawers in the bathroom. Oh yeah, and under the couch - I have and do store extra cords (aka the charger cord for the Nintendo DS) under there. Besides that, we're all good and I figure the rest is public space anyways. My kitchen cabinets are not up to par, but hey I do cook and sometimes getting everything put back exactly isn't in my schedule.

LadyJ -- Um if you keep a trash can in your kitchen, you should expect people to use it. Would you rather they leave their trash sitting out in plain view? Are you just too lazy to put either get a new one or put a bag in it?

the basement, and as basements tend to be, it's clutter central. also, the litter boxes are down there.


when i was in high school and i'd unexpectedly have friends over, i'd usually make them stand outside my bedroom or bathroom while i went in, closed the door, and threw all the clothes and mess into my closet/bathtub.

let's also add my boyfriend's bathroom to that list. i would prefer guests just use mine, it's generally tidier.

We live in a converted coach house ( no entrance space) and the first thing a visitor sees is our dining/living/ kitchen. It has taken me years to get used to having unexpected callers come in when we are eating.

I think I am just now starting to come to grips with how anal-retentive I am. Literally, every inch of my apartment is organized. Even the things that are under the bed are in labeled snap-lid boxes. Even the under parts of my sink are very tidy and organized.

Unfortunately nothing is off limits to our guests, because our layout is such that you have to walk through the bedroom to get to the bath.

I think i need therapy...

julieleanne - I don't think you need therapy. If the layout is like that, you would have to be super organized to pull it off.