Create and Keep a Repair Box

Kim Wolinski, MSW
“Dr. DeClutter” www.drdeclutter.com

Create and Keep a Repair Box

You may not have to “sweat the small stuff” but you do have to repair it if you want to keep it.

My mom has a couple of coffee mugs on top of her microwave that hold refrigerator magnets and small figurines that need hot-gluing whenever I’m home. She’s got the idea!

Missing button. Broken knick-knack. Unglued frame corner. The little repair needs can mount up. But when they are scattered all over the house they just create more clutter and no repairs completed.

A STITCH IN TIME SAVES NINE, and a REPAIR BOX will help so many other little annoyances from repeatedly bothering you!

Create and keep a “repair box.” It can be a cardboard box or plastic container, just something clean and sturdy. Keep it in a closet or place easy enough to put other items in that you find in need of some repair and easy to get to when you’re ready to repair.

Take it out once a month or so allotting an hour or so to go through as many items in the box as you can and get them completed, repaired and returned to their rightful place.

Keep a basic sewing kit and supplies with this box or in your closet/bedroom area where you get dressed. So, whether you pop a button or find a loose seam while getting dressed, you can take care of it immediately, as opposed to the long vacation it would otherwise take on your mending or “I don’t know where to put it,” pile.

Make sure everyone in your house knows about this handy little box so that when they have items that need repairs they can put them in the box too.

P.S. Don’t keep using broken, un-repairable items. Enjoy your belongings as long as you can, but when they are worn out, broken, chipped, etc. it’s okay to let them go even though, I know, “They’re still good enough.”

You will be amazed at how refreshed you will feel when you recycle/trash them and find out that you really don’t need them, buy new and replace, or get out replacements from the attic or china cupboard that have gone unused for 28 years to date!! USE YOUR STUFF!

©2005 Kim Wolinski – Dr. DeClutter 303-485-5280
Need help getting your space (house, office, barn, backyard – thoughts, mind, time, schedule, priorities, or life) decluttered and re- organized? My new video “BURN YOUR HOUSE DOWN, AND OTHER ORGANIZING TIPS AND TOOLS FROM DR. DECLUTTER” is a great help. You can find out more or order BURN YOUR HOUSE DOWN at http://www.redecisionsinstitute.com/kims_store.html

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