I have always had a love affair with organization. I love putting things in drawers and bins and having them out of the way. In college, I would reorganize my closet around finals time. It was a way for me to feel like I had everything under control, so I could study unencumbered. This usually happened around 10pm and could last well into the morning. My entire sorority house had a mild addiction to Target, which we lovingly named "Targe" to make it seem cooler than the K Mart of our youth. Target offered a ridiculous amount of color coded multifaceted self storage options. You could also pick up snacks, socks, a book and some cheap exercise wear to round out your shopping experience. What more could a girl want, right? I had no idea that the self storage desires of the country would eventually create an entire retail arm of bin and box mania.
I am a parent now, so my self storage needs have become more complicated. Kids have lots of little tiny things that always end up under my feet or in our plumbing. To try to bring order to our lives, I try to give those little pieces places to live. You name it, and I have tried to store something in it.
When we moved to our new neighborhood, we now had different places for things. We now had a playroom with shelves. Of course, the playroom needed organizing. I noticed this big store called "Container Store" just down the street. Could it be? A two floor store full of stuff to contain your stuff?) (I can hear George Carlin now.) It is a sad commentary on our society when a whole retail chain flourishes because we have so much stuff that we need more things to put stuff in. I opened the door and it felt like I was in a nightmare staged in a giant closet. There was a self storage expert on hand, should I need to know how to measure my closet for wire brackets and brads. I thought I was prepared, what with all the years of hands on organization. I walked past trash cans that looked like frogs, collapsible laundry twirlers, acrylic boxes for paper clips. My palms were sweaty and I was getting light headed. TOO MANY CHOICES! Self storage representative, please take me away!
In the end, I walked out with 3 medium linen baskets for toys. I have not been back since. I do not need that many options. Target, once an innocent place to romp and play and get organized, was one of the big box store pioneers. We got our feet wet there, and now have moved on to the need to have an entire big box store for containers or wires or whatever. My self storage love affair has been cheapened by the big box store. Perhaps I will take up basket weaving to fill the time. See here also Portable storage - Storage - Self-storage - Pod storage - Portable storage -

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by: joe.moesier
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