I spotted this vintage valet for $20 not long after my husband mentioned he'd like to have one for our bedroom. This serendipitously thrifted piece of furniture, which rarely is so cleared off, is good-looking but has turned out to be a bit of an organizational crutch.
A crutch can take various forms, depending on the organizational issue — and we've all got 'em. The crutch might be your parents' basement that becomes a secondary storage facility or a basket that's intended for one thing but accumulates much more.
In the case of the valet, it's a place to leave clothes rather than putting them away in the closet or the dresser. For now it stays, because it's very hard to change someone else's habits. What I have removed is a chair that had become my own place to put clothes when I changed. I also have ditched a basket near my front door that was intended for leashes but was so big that it became a place to dump random things — magazines, old photocopies, notebooks — that I didn't really need. (I'll be replacing the basket with a smaller one.)
Here's how to get organized without a crutch:
Purge. This month has been a great reminder that I don't need so much stuff, and that it's so much easier to keep organized with less of it.
Commit to doing it now. For bigger projects, another great part of the January Cure is having the push to finally get going on projects. For day-to-day organization, it's also a great reminder to stay on top of things by putting clothes/dishes/toys away once you're done with them.
(Image: Kim Rinehimer)
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I just want to say I wish I could find a valet just like that.
I'm also guilty of having things evolve (devolve?) into collection points for unintended items. I'm working on it. Using my kitched island as a "landing strip" resulted in more of an international airport with multiple terminals. And I wish I could say it only happened once...
One thing I have noticed over the years is how incredible I feel when the decluttering is done in an area. And I think part of my solution is to reduce or eliminate places for it to happen. I decided many months ago the kitched island is going for multiple reasons and the clutter accumulation is one of them.
It's somewhat analogous to advice I was given in my youth about hiking in the mountains. The advice was to carry the essentials, and to choose a pack sized accordingly. Buying a huge backpack would encourage hauling too much around. I tend to think for me it was good advice.
Too much space, whether a backpack, an enormous SUV, my kitchen island landing strip, or in this case the valet, just seems risk gathering more than it needs. I'm glad I'm not alone in the discipline it takes to stick to a purpose. I was telling someone about the "January Cure" and how nice it felt to realize I'm not alone in the challenges of staying organized at home.
Great find!
Whoops!
That should say "kitchen" not "kitched". And before I get flagged for appalling grammar there is a missing "to" in the middle of "seems risk".
Ahh I didn't quite know what you were referring to until I read the entire article. Does our dining room table count as a crutch? I would like to see it always clear, but my dad uses it as his drop-zone (briefcase, coat, headphones, etc.). It is such an engrained habit now, I wonder that it will be hard to break him of always unloading his things there...
When I worked for a woman that had her letterpress studio in a detached garage, she said that if a workspace wasn't in some sort of disarray, it meant the printer wasn't really working. We all have these catch all areas because we LIVE in our homes, they are our living "workspaces". So, a lot of times if company is coming, I grab everything from that chair I dump my stuff on and put the stuff away or in a pinch, throw it in a drawer. HA! Screw it.
That is one great chair. Congrats on the find!
Aha, a name to my problem! My Malm headboard unit is one of my many current crutches, and the one I'm fixing this weekend. When I bought it, I thought it would be great - hidden storage! Except that I never figured out what to store in it, besides magazines that made the shelves too heavy to slide in and out, DVDs I couldn't get out very easily, and every small piece of junk and paper I could shove in them. The top of the headboard has also ended up being a magnet for every water glass from the kitchen, forgetfully transported to the bed by my boyfriend. Because it's black-brown, it also acts as a black hole - I can't find anything in the shelves or under the bed. So I'm getting rid of the whole thing and have identified a new bed, sans headboard unit, to replace it, along with a couple nightstands that will function the way I need them to. Man, I'll be so excited when I can immediately see where the clutter is and take care of it.
What's wrong with using a valet for it's intended purpose? It's a good place to keep clothes that you're worn and are going to wear again before tossing in the wash. I hate putting clothes in that category back in my dresser/closet.
My granddad had a valet in his bedroom when I was a little kid and I was obsessed with the dichotomy. Not a chair. Not a hanger. Wha...?
He actually used it to lay out his clothes the night before, making the morning less stressful presumably. I think its a great idea and if it's a crutch, its a really cool one.
I love that.
Crutch or not, it's better than things all over the floor.
My crutch is the bed in my home office/guest room/art room. It's the landing place for clean clothes I don't have time to put away. I end up having to go there when I can't find what I'm looking for in my master closet or dresser.
Here's one! http://www.etsy.com/listing/121375705/mid-century-clothes-valet?ref=sr_gallery_5&ga_search_query=clothes+valet&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=US&ga_search_type=all
Better on a valet than a treadmill, right? At least a valet is meant to hold clothes.
I'm with toastercat.
In my family that thing is called a "clothes chair" (though it's rarely actually a chair). No one in my lineage has ever had anything purpose-built like that valet, but it's kind of a family trait to have a pile of re-wearable clothes on some surface or other. If we had something as elegant as this piece, our rooms and re-worn clothes would both probably look a lot better. ; )
I'm with toastercat...the valet is being used as intended. Now if it starts to become the resting place of clothes that you no longer want or books or mail...then it's a problem. I do have little piles that build up here and there, but in random places. More so in the winter with all the cold weather gear getting stripped off and dumped on the way to the kitchen for hot drinks. I really need to find a good place that I will use for that stuff to live. My coat closet just doesn't work for me.
I get this - and have gotten over it. Clutter happens for two reasons: too much stuff and laziness. It took 33 years (minus the 17 that I lived at home with my parents) to learn that cleaning the kitchen before you go to bed makes a WORLD of difference in the morning. Waking up in a clean bedroom without piles of clothes lying about feels fresh and energizing.
Crutches are one issue, and the "I don't have time" excuse is the other. Go to bed a little earlier, turn off the TV an hour sooner than usual, set your alarm clock for 15 minutes earlier than normal, and it's amazing how much easier it is to do the things you "should" do. And yes...hanging up your coat when you go home? Makes you feel like your work day is over.