Over the years I have come to realize that if my belongings aren’t kept in order, I start to forget what I have and cannot find many items when I need them. Fortunately I have a penchant for organization (some would say it is the sign of a “neat freak”to some extent), so I have developed different ways of storing things so that I can keep track of them.

I have always kept the original boxes that my fancier shoes have come in, making them easier to stack on top of each other. By 2007 I had about 50 nice pairs of shoes and was having trouble finding shoes without having to peek inside the box. In an effort to solve this, I took photos of each pair of shoes I had, printed them out and taped them onto the ends of the boxes. This turned out to be a great way of identifying as well as organizing my shoes. I also try to group shoes by color and degree of dressiness to make it easier to zero in on a particular pair I might need for an occasion.

Last year I passed the 70 mark on the number of pairs of shoes I owned, and purchased two tall storage cabinets to house them. They have made life so much easier for me! I have also established a rule, which is that I cannot exceed the amount of storage in these two cabinets. This will ensure that I don’t accumulate too much stuff, and that I don’t make too many purchases.