A Place For Everything

My mantra has always been, "A place for everything, and everything in it's place." For me, this is a wonderful guideline, but unfortunately it has not been a recipe of success to rid my home of clutter. The formula for that one is, "Learn to let go." Recently, I had a chance to talk with a security consultant in my home about ways to protect our property from theft, and she quickly brought to my attention the flaw in my mantra. Let me explain.

In my bedroom, to give my jewelry its "place", I have my gems and baubles in a velvet lined box on my dresser. I've always found that it's the most logical thing to do. Everything is in its place to ‘accessorize' the clothes in my dresser. Simple. Pretty simple for a thief to remove too apparently. One straight line to the bedroom and the robber has hit the jackpot. Because we all keep our trinkets stored there, the bedroom is always the first target in a home break-in.

So what do you do? Where should those valuables go? If a safe deposit box at a bank is out of the question, you could turn an old, thick hardcover book into a secret hiding place by hollowing out an inside section. Then the book can sit beautifully on your night table. Wait a minute, you got rid of all those old books you never read? Good for you! Ok. You could stash your goodies in a box of feminine products. Who's going to steal that? Your husband is refusing? He doesn't want his gold and diamond pinky ring kept in a box that advertises, "Now with larger wings!" I understand. How about a home safe, or a securely locked cabinet? They would have to be in decorator colors of course. There are many alternatives. It's a personal choice of what will work best for you. The trick is figuring out how to find, "a SAFE place for everything, and everything in a SAFE place."

Just remember, anywhere that eludes the burglar of the obvious, or locks up to avoid easy access, will keep those family heirlooms in the family where they belong. Of course, keeping the thief out of your home in the first place is the best and safest solution. That's why we now have a monitored security system installed in our house. That peace of mind leaves me free to control the clutter.

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