I don’t know how it happens, but a house seems to grow stuff. I’m not talking about potted plants, or possibly mold (hopefully not), but somehow the years pass by, and you wonder how in the heck all of this got out of control.

It’s too easy to shove our possessions into closets, attic, or garage. After all, we’ll get to it later, when we have more time. Yeah, right, there’s never enough time until there’s no time. Whoops, I veered into a sad topic, but when my mother passed away, it was tough to clean out her house. She was organized and abhorred shopping, so it shouldn’t have been that hard, but it was.

Okay, let’s get back to the job at hand. I’m terrible at getting rid of things, so an organization specialist or a minimalist friend who has no mercy would be more helpful to give you advice. If you’re like me, you have good intentions, let’s say, in cleaning out a bathroom drawer. You dump everything on the counter and discover you have a dozen bottles of hotel shampoo, little soaps, congealed nail polish, expired sunscreen, and five compacts of the same eye shadow. It should go right into the trash can, but no! Imagine all the possibilities! Waste not, want not, right, so here are some tips:

1. Shake up the congealed nail polish and use it to mark your garden tools, so they’re not lost in the grass or mulch. Why do manufacturers use green or brown as colors for their gardening implements? It makes no sense, other than it keeps you returning to the store to buy more, and we’re trying to avoid more wasteful purchases.
2. Empty the shampoo bottles into one big bottle to use on days when you don’t care, and you’ve already scheduled a visit to the hairdresser.
3. Squish wet bars of soap together and they will meld into one big one, though gloppy, but it will get the job done.
4. Leftover sunscreen and makeup. It’s unhealthy and unsanitary to keep, so I’m afraid you’ll have to toss. I keep a Sharpie pen in my bathroom to write the dates when they’re opened. It’s expensive to waste those items, but you don’t want to ruin your skin. A trip to the dermatologist is more costly.

You’ve done enough for one day. The key to organization is to do a little bit at a time so you’re not overwhelmed. Time to pat yourself on the back that you accomplished something today.

Now, I need to explain to my husband why nail polish is stored with the garden accessories and Sharpie pens are next to the toothpaste.