The need to see it all

Regular readers of this blog-ette (it can't be a full blown blog; it's too strange and irregular) will know that I have an ongoing quest to marshal and organise my possessions into something approaching efficiency.

1. I tried chucking everything out. That failed. I regularly dispose of things I later want to find and wear - I still obviously needed them.  
2. I tried packing everything away neatly.  In a wardrobe and cupboards (shock!) That too, strangely, failed. The cupboards and rails groaned under the weight of the full volume of my possessions. I went out and bought things I already had because if I can't SEE them I don't know I have them. I have the memory of a goldfish too, clearly.  (It's not just clothing that causes a problem here. I once tried to file my work - a strange alien concept that had never occurred to me before, but I saw someone else do it and thought I'd give it a shot. MAJOR disaster.) No - I am a very visual person. I need to see stuff in order to make it work for me. Weird huh?
3. I tried leaving things casually strewn around. Obviously that failed. It all just ended up in a terrible heap. And although I am often chaotic in my thought processes, I don't like tangible clutter, and I like to look after things properly, firstly because  a lot of them are 'investment' items which I will keep for a long time; and secondly, we (I) derive more pleasure from things which are presented in a pleasing / attractive way. There's a whole separate topic there - the science of marketing and window dressing....!
4. Finally, I tried hanging things 'artily' around the bedroom as once depicted in Vogue - a la 'my home is really my showcase of perfectly crafted items'. That not only failed , it looked plain weird. 

I'm still searching for the perfect solution and don't expect to find a miracle cure anytime soon.

A few pearls from my experience (frustrations) to date however:

• Folding stuff is a nightmare. It all collapses unless you have ultra shallow shelves. Ultra shallow shelves are also a nightmare. Someone design me some shelves at the optimum height PLEASE!
• Shoes are an ongoing problem. Pack them away in their boxes and you forget they exist - see '2' above. Leave them out - see '3' above. (And really - does anyone honestly believe that stuff about sticking a picture of the shoe on the box?  Or buy clear plastic Muji containers? Any anyway - if I've got a posh shoe box I want to keep it united with the shoe.  I know that's the OCD / anal part of me showing through.)

How do you store your things, fellow bloggers?