The Big Purge (and whether you're an Inny or an Outy)

We're home now--to rain. Thank goodness the drought has broken. And now we're in the year they're calling Sweet Sixteen, my thoughts are turning naturally to the Big Purge (that sentence seems all wrong somehow).  For an article on how to best start, I interviewed two of my go-tos. Organizing stylist, Angela Hoxsey, owner of House in Order says to start with the stuff on the floor and go clockwise.  No, no, don't go to the drawers just yet (full article here)

Angela Hoxsey, organizing stylist. Love this huge photo of M. behind her, don't you? Photo by Robb McDonough

You might remember that I've interviewed Angela before and I told her that my husband and I were opposites. I like all the surfaces clear, am a veritable Monica about that. To the extent that I actually give away all my books (I read about three a week) and when I do online video classes often I can't concentrate on what they are saying because I'm too focused on the shelves behind them! 

But my drawers are a mess.

"Oh yes!" Angela said. "You're an Inny." I'm tidy and seemingly organized on the outer, but a secret mess on the inner.

My husband is an Outy who doesn't mind a bit of stuff on the benches but has tidy drawers (oh er missus).

Here's the evidence.

My desk. Oh yes, it seems like I'm a tidy person

What lies beneath...Detritus includes: report from pest guy, three(!) empty sunglasses holders, three cameras, (one underwater one not developed from goodness knows when), five photos of Tallulah, business cards from restaurants where we ate an on the Camino which I'll likely never see again, old letter from my Auntie Doris who died many years ago (I just love just to see her wobbly handwriting every time I open the drawer) appt, reminder from vet from many months ago. And the rest.

Compare and contrast: The Hubstar's drawers:

The second person I interviewed was Chad Olcott who owns Mulberry's Home in Oakland--love how calls himself a "decorator" so old school --said his best clear-out came last year when his house was photographed for the SF Chron. He took out the little stuff--pictures on the walls, everything on the surfaces. Each of the littlies had to earn their way back in. So his advice is: imagine a newspaper or magazine is coming to your house.

Chad Olcott says take all the littlies out. Now they have to earn their way back in. 

The constant thing we have to purge is--you would not believe it--costumes! What's yours? Because we have so many themed fundraisers at the three schools the kids have gone to, we have accumulated what turned out to be a carload of costumes. We did this purge in late August.

My glamorous life all bagged up

Good! All cleared out. But since then we have actioned three more costumes...

Speakeasy party: Over-Donatella-ed it on the tan, not terribly Twenties

Tacos and Toga 50th birthday party. Anthony and Cleopatra, the greatest love of all time...or just two people in really bad wigs?

Space party: We were the two faces of Keith Moon (The Who drummer) Only two people got it. There was no prize for most obscure get-up, dang it.

Keith Moon as the Queen

Keith Moon as a rollerblading nun. Now do you geddit?

So it's back to commandeering the boy in the upstairs corner room to take them down to the garage to store.

There was actually a third box just for the wigs

What's your groundhog day of effluvia? (Wow, this blog post really took a strange and messy turn, just what you'd expect from an Inny, innit?)