{"id":1693,"date":"2014-01-16T20:03:29","date_gmt":"2014-01-17T02:03:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/?p=1693"},"modified":"2014-01-16T19:28:15","modified_gmt":"2014-01-17T01:28:15","slug":"organizing-from-another-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/2014\/01\/organizing-from-another-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"Organizing from Another Culture"},"content":{"rendered":"

As I read January\u2019s Real Simple, it was interesting to see what different \u201cjournalists, pundits, and thought leaders\u201d had to say regarding the idea and possibility of work-life balance.\u00a0 The part that caught my attention most was what Jennifer Senior said \u2013 which was essentially to consider the question from a bigger perspective, to consider that some people are struggling so much they can\u2019t even think about work-life balance as well as some cultures, like ours, where we feel entitled to be happy.\u00a0 Most of us know that our values and goals are a reflection of our life experiences and personality, which means that someone living across the world likely has different values and goals.\u00a0 It also means they approach things differently \u2013 whether just slightly or more dramatically.\u00a0 And I\u2019ve just returned from a month in Japan \u2013 partly drooling over organizing supplies (partly<\/i> since I didn\u2019t spend the month perusing supplies!) \u2013 and found the differences in the stores between the U.S. and Japan fascinating.<\/p>\n

Walking through stores, in general, I was overwhelmed with the choices displayed for me to touch, to test out, to buy \u2013 and we think we<\/i> have tons of choices available to us.\u00a0 Depending on the area I was walking through, I could quickly feel so overloaded with the selection that all I wanted to do was leave!\u00a0 I also noticed that I became more selective about which stores I would even enter \u2013 I shared one store that elicited a contradictory response from my last visit in Temptations of Purchasing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s more challenging for me to resist stores offering office supplies.\u00a0 I desperately miss the days when we had independent stores around offering alternative colors in writing pens and pads of paper.\u00a0 And if we were lucky, the store had several pens for you to test out \u2013 experimenting with how this and that one wrote \u2013 before buying anything.\u00a0 In Japan, almost every individual pen being sold could be tested, in one store \u2013 all three rows of them \u2013 with paper stretched on each row from one end to the other on a ledge.\u00a0 Oh the colors, the selection of point sizes, the brands (some quite familiar), and even erasable pens \u2013 and each of these did not limit the others, so the colors were offered in each of the point sizes and the erasable pens had many colors to choose from.<\/p>\n

\"Pens<\/a>

The pens that came home with me!<\/p><\/div>\n

I wish I\u2019d had more time to explore the supplies they offered for paper.\u00a0 The color choices, the sizes, and binding options were just the obvious variations.\u00a0\u00a0 Not surprisingly there is a focus on functionality \u2013 so there were many options for small and portable staplers, hole punches, scissors, cases for writing utensils, and more and I picked up some of these to add to my workbag.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t see any Container Stores \u2013 either in brand or exclusively dedicated to \u2013 yet almost every store offered some containers.\u00a0 One store obviously carried many options that I explored \u2013 amazed at the both the options and the lack of options.\u00a0 Huh, you might thinking, isn\u2019t that contradiction?\u00a0 At least in the store I spent the most time in, it\u2019s focus on home overall, with furniture, kitchen and bath accessories, storage and container options \u2013 there was limited color or material options.\u00a0 The color choices were neutral \u2013 clear, black, white, and neutral (tan, wood, wicker) and the materials were natural (wood, wicker), plastic, or metal.\u00a0 Yet, within that \u201climited\u201d selection the choices offered amazing personalization.\u00a0 Each section of containers revealed that the sizes \u2013 however variable \u2013 were designed to all work together, if you wanted (or needed) it to.\u00a0 The color selection also meant that it\u2019s versatile \u2013 it will go with any d\u00e9cor, any colors \u2013 and choosing the container for your situation isn\u2019t going to be limited by a clashing color.<\/p>\n

The wood containers offered the option of purchasing a lid \u2013 where this lid was functional as a tray as well.\u00a0 You could stack these containers both with and without the lid \u2013 and the edges all nested just a bit so any stack of containers was stable as well as perfectly (unavoidably) aligned.\u00a0 I loved the thought that went into the design \u2013 as well as the options, however \u201climited,\u201d that offered ways to save money i.e. avoid buying or even just having unnecessary lids, as well as maintaining the stacking option even if you wanted or needed lids.<\/p>\n

In this same store I discovered this section filled with clear plastic containers \u2013 smaller, filled with various things.\u00a0 It took me a little while to realize that there were only a certain number of the larger sizes \u2013 which you purchased independently of \u201ccontents.\u201d\u00a0 Yes, these containers had contents in the traditional sense where the store was illustrating some ideas for using these containers.\u00a0 The \u201ccontents\u201d I\u2019m referencing are the options for how to configure the space inside the larger sizes \u2013 as you could turn one into a jewelry box, or a box of sunglasses with sections if you wanted, a display case for a collection, or any number of options.\u00a0 These pieces mostly clear, with the exception of some jewelry holders covered in fabric, and offered complete visibility for your things \u2013 no way to forget what you put in that<\/i> container \u2013 you can see it.\u00a0 Essentially you\u2019re designing the storage \u2013 within limits \u2013 for your things simply.<\/p>\n

I found myself admiring \u2013 deeply appreciating the thought-out details \u2013 and wishing I needed containers, so I could use these!\u00a0 I also ranted a bit \u2013 amazed we don\u2019t have containers with the level of design that was offered \u2013 and thinking of various clients with their various storage needs, if only they could touch and test these out.<\/p>\n

It turns out that I didn\u2019t capture many of these \u2013 at least the ones that stand out most in my memory, though I have some other pictures to share illustrating the options and versatility offered, as well as how they display it within furniture.<\/p>\n

\"Display<\/a>

The display shows some of the furniture and containers they sell<\/p><\/div>\n

Finding a display of almost exclusively ShotNote<\/a> paper options surprised me \u2013 I wrote a review not long ago and had looked into the paper options they offered.\u00a0 This is the rack displaying them:<\/p>\n

\"display<\/a>

The Ampad ShotNote display rack<\/p><\/div>\n

This is part of the wall I glimpsed as we walked outside the store \u2013 tempting me to come in and investigate more \u2013 and where I found all the containers I talk about here:<\/p>\n

\"Wall<\/a>

Part of the wall tempting me in – with glimpses of more on both sides<\/p><\/div>\n

Over-the- door display with various options \u2013 which reminded me of the organizing idea I\u2019d read not long before of cutting part of a (closet rod) hanging shoe bag and using it for other items and in other locations around the house.\u00a0 They offered that as well, though I didn\u2019t manage to get a picture.\u00a0 Yet the focus continues to be on how to maximize functionality for the person \u2013 ways to customize the tools for your situation and needs.<\/p>\n

\"Over<\/a>

One set-up possibility for over-the-door hanging options<\/p><\/div>\n

The sign illustrating some options for the over-the-door storage and similar wall storage offerings:<\/p>\n

\"details<\/a>

Options for the over-the-door and wall hanging system<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A month overseas gave me a glimpse into differences between the offerings \u2013 often an overwhelming number of choices while other times quite limited and the level of thoughtful detail and functionality. How exciting to see other approaches!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[10,5,22,15,17],"class_list":["post-1693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-organizing","tag-behavior","tag-household","tag-productivity","tag-resources","tag-spaces"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7p82c-rj","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1693"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1693\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1700,"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1693\/revisions\/1700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}