Locator Notebook and Attic FINAL TIDY

This seems a little fussy and perfectionistic for me to be posting, but I'm totally excited about it. Enter...The Locator Notebook. Each and every room will have a little map showing what's in the room and where it is located within the room. {In a really sick way, this reminds me of the 5S program my husband used at a previous job, and I remember how much we joked about how they were expected to diagram and inventory their desk drawers}. This is precisely what I'm doing-funny! The notebook concept sends me over the moon and I have to pinch myself that I can actually DO this! Less stuff means I know what I have! I remember reading about a home organization idea using bankers boxes and having a card index system to tell what's in each box. I never could do that...until now! (Maybe I could index the cubbies when I get there...naw, better yet, get rid of what I don't use!)

Now that the office is tidied and several additional items are stowed in the attic, I'd like to NOT forget about what is in deep storage. Better yet, I'd like it to take under two minutes to retrieve the cat carrier or suitcase or...where did I put the box which holds last year's taxes?

I've never had an attic before, though growing up we did have a storage room with a door which was very attic-y. Back then, I didn't realize it was attic-y, but now that I have my very own real life attic, I can indeed verify the likeness.

I don't like the idea of an index file, so I thought a visual map would be good to put up in the attic, so anyone venturing up there might be able to actually come back down with what they were looking for in the first place (before they froze or cooked to death or slumped over in pain from trying to keep from standing up straight).

So I got things moved around the way I like them and made a map. The map is going in my "Locator" notebook AND a copy is hanging in the attic in a page protector from a post. The Locator notebook has three pages already...the attic map, the office map of the lower cabinets and drawers, and the office map of the upper cupboards and shelves. This is the second iteration of this map, the first map got lost!

What makes me giddy (besides the cool new notebook) is that it was EASY to find a pin and a page protector and hang the map in the attic! No searching or stumbling to find these needed items! I think it is super geeky to post a photo of my "attic map" IN the attic, but there's a sense of completion that makes me really happy. I'm enjoying this FINAL PHASE of tidying and this certainly does give me a great sense of order and freedom. "Knowing what I have and where it is" constitutes "tidiness" and freedom with my stuff.

This is just a huge big deal for me...to know what I own and to be able to find it. And have it stored in a way that makes it accessible. This has been my heart's desire for YEARS. I remember cleaning the garage in our first house (1100 sq feet) and wanting so badly to "know what I had and where it was". I think that would have been about 1998!

I would say the attic partially correlates with the garage at the old house. And since we don't have a garage at our new house, this final tidy really does count as the garage (astounding)!!! This weekend, we're planning on tidying the outside shed and micro barn, too. Those count toward the garage as well, but they are extremely simple to tidy. The patio is tidy, but we want that stuff in the shed or barn, which will empty the patio, making IT very tidy! Last weekend's POURING DOWN RAIN prevented us from completing that task.

I have completed the attic and the office. They are officially TIDY. I know what is in them and where everything is (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yay !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) Fffffffffffffrrrrreeeeeeeeeedom. Thank you, Lord!

FINAL TIDY COUNTDOWN:
TV Room
Laundry
Flop Room/Desk
Pantry
Master
Master Bath
Master Closet
Kitchen
Dining Room
Playroom
Main Bath
Fred
Dan's Room
Sarah's Room
Office
Attic/Shed/Barn