Organizing Tip: Have a Monica Closet

"Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful,
or believe to be beautiful."

William Morris

The Power of Moms has recorded a great podcast with professional organizer Julie Morgenstern. She was one of Oprah's favorites and is usually featured on public television during fund drives. The podcast is 25 minutes long--short enough to listen to while you eat lunch at your desk, prepare dinner, or fold some laundry. And there's a giveaway (but it ends today). 

Morgenstern says that organizing is all about being ready, and that the more we automate, the freer we are to live lives we truly enjoy. During the podcast she shares a lot of tips about how to organize both our spaces and our schedules so we can become our best selves. 

From what I have learned over the years, organizing usually comes down to making a decision. Ideally, we are answering the question in the quote above. Is this thing useful? Is this thing beautiful? There are a few more questions we might end up asking ourselves, especially if we share our homes with others. Questions like: Is this item precious to someone who is precious to me? or Could this be useful or beautiful later/with a new paint job/in another spot?

But often when I'm cleaning up, I'm in no mood for making decisions. I just want the mess gone. Thus, my tip for today is to designate a spot where you can dump things out of sight for the short-term.

The only place I have ever seen this tip in action was Monica's closet on Friends. Which proves that even in the smallest space (a NYC apartment), you can still have a place for those things that you don't really need today, but you might end up wanting or using later.

Monica's junky closet on Friends

Monica's otherwise pretty & well-designed apartment on Friends

My dumping ground is in our basement. Actually it's pretty much the WHOLE basement right now, thus 40 bags in 40 days. 

Do you have a Monica closet? How often do you cull through it?