What was I thinking? I had the perfect How it Started, How it’s Going set-up and I failed to get the before photo. A proxy photo will give you an idea, but this adjacent closet in our temporary abode in Tempe still bears my imprint from last year, when I stacked all the pool towels that had been stuffed all higgledy-piggledy into their assigned space, first folding them so they *could* be stacked.
How it started (proxy photo)
This is what the regular closetful of bath towels, hand towels, and facecloths looks like now, and for the duration of our stay.
How it’s going
Now, I know that this isn’t likely a burning issue for any of you: Heck, it’s only a minor irritant for me. The world won’t be an appreciably better place for the half hour I spent sorting, folding, and stacking towels so they fit better on the shelves and so I can find the right size of towel without digging through a pile: Heck, our stay here won’t be appreciably better.
But. It will be a smidgen better: It won’t be worse and that’s not nothing. In a world where there is so much wrong that cannot be fixed by sorting, folding, or stacking, maybe it’s enough that I start where I can and where I am. Today, that meant unmessing one messed-up linen closet. Who knows what tomorrow might bring?
And yet. There are always trade-offs. As a householder, however temporary, I prefer the ordered closet, but it’s boring. As a photographer, I much prefer the half-jumble of the shelf of pool towels: order without stuffiness, implied movement without chaos, and a delightful riot of colour. It’s alive in a way that the tidied shelves are not, and yet it’s still usable.
If complete chaos is not appealing, neither is strait-jacket orderliness. As I head out into what is bound to be a messy year–Aren’t they all?–it will be good to remember not to spend all my time in un-messing. A certain amount of mess is beautiful. Maybe even necessary.
Isabel – having spent 24 years in the military I have come to appreciate variations in color and pattern. A disordered mess or mob, whether it be towels or holiday shoppers still makes me grit my teeth however.
Also, with variations in color and pattern, its easy to tell what is clean and what has been used.
John – 🙂 I wouldn’t be surprised if there were psychological research on this; to wit, how much order is needed for visual “ease”; and how much variation for visual pleasure? I suspect that the balance may be different for everyone – and maybe different in different things for one person.
Aaaaah, that feels better! Now, let’s fold and ROLL those pool towels to minimize the noisy colours and sort for size. Hmmm?
Laurna – Roll, eh? Maybe I’ll give that a try. A friend has folded/rolled all her tea towels a al Marie Kondo, and they do fit very neatly into the drawer!
Do you think the two of you have enough towels?
Mary – 🙂 For the two of us, we have a veritable embarrassment of towels. The house could sleep 5, I think, and there’s a pool and a hot tub, so that might account for it. That or inertia on the part of the owner and former occupant.
Saw this hint on FB the other day. “Don’t put it down, put it away.”
My hint: once something finds a home, it is easier to keep order.
And, funnily enough I sorted out (refolded) our towels today, before I saw your post.
Still have some my mother gave me 30-40 years ago. We aren’t hard on towels,
or, don’t notice shabby.
Barbara – 🙂 Or maybe they made towels better back in the day? As for order, that’s one of the challenging things about living in another space for a few months. Nothing is in its proper home, and in some cases things can’t really be put out of sight.