The "Disorganized Organizer" Gets Organized!

I won a roll of shelf paper from a vendor at the recent National Association of Professional Organizers-San Francisco Bay Area Chapter’s conference in Berkeley. When I excitedly showed my prize to my children, my 12 year old asked while rolling his eyes: “What the heck is shelf paper?”

Since I am more motivated to get things organized if they are visually appealing, I asked a friend the next day to help me. Organizing is always more enjoyable with a friend! I set the Time Timer to 30 minutes and started:

Step 1: Empty closet and sort like with like; put unwanted sheets, blankets and pillowcases into black donate bag;

Step 2: Instructions were to clean off shelves (so I dusted); measure and cut to size; (since measuring and precision are not my strong suit, I cut the paper to the width of the shelf then used a scissors to do a bit of free form trimming; getting it done was the goal so I made the choice to leave perfection for another time.) It was helpful to have my friend hold the paper while I removed the protective backing to expose the adhesive. Luckily, it is only mildly tacky so I could reposition the shelf paper as need. The product included the smallest squeegee I have ever seen but I chose to use my hand to smooth out air bubbles. (Hmm, can I put a ribbon on the teeny squeegee to tie it on the Christmas tree?)

Step 3: Put the “Keep” items back into linen closet and place donate bag in car for next trip to my favorite charity.

Step 4: Celebrate with a cup of tea and the latest issue of House Beautiful.

I checked out the website for Chic Shelf Paper where it states there are over 300 patterns, solids, and stripes available. They offer four different materials: laminated vinyl, canvas, fine weave fabric and heavy matte paper. My mind began to spin on the variety of projects one could use the product! There are different roll sizes available which is a great idea. The prices are not inexpensive but I was impressed with the quality. Now, how many more closets are there left to organize? Another day and perhaps another pattern of shelf paper...