Letter From Paris: What I Miss in Paris #3

Image via Wikipedia

Back in Paris, I am putting away all the gifts, items, and gadgets I was given and bought in the United States of America for myself and our new apartment.  The unpacking of clothes, mobile office, and miscellaneous toiletries, etc. usually takes me a couple of days.  Yes, I know I'm slow, but I want everything put back in exactly the right place.  Because you see I LOVE to be organized!

Yes, it's true.  It's a handy little obsession of mine, which I've had almost my entire life.  I was president of my student council/student body in high school.  I ran into one of my successors a few years after I'd left, and he told me how well he found all the documentation of my governance and the school's business that I'd handed down to the organization.  Well, I thought, not bad.  You see I want things to be perfectly in place before I start working or doing anything else, and after the pristine beginning, I can mess it all up or turn it around while I know where it is. 

So what do I miss in Paris?  THE CONTAINER STORE!

My substitute is the BHV, but besides the hardware department, it's not nearly as good.  For one thing, people don't have an iota as much space here, so they have fewer things to organize--plus there's not as much mass consumerism to buy, buy, buy more, more, more.  I have seen tiny apartments turned into beautiful and luxurious spaces.  My friends David and Martin's former abode being one prime example.

The Container Store has neat and clean storage for everything you can think of--or almost.  I did ask them for a clothespin hanger container to go on the line, and there wasn't one sold separately from the pins themselves.

Traveling anywhere?  Here you go.

Organizing handbags in a small space? One fun idea.

Want nature combined with a mobile closet?  Voila!

Looking for an item as practical as cellophane bags for cookies or treats?

A confession:  I once had daughter Blair bring me a rolling Elfa file cart in her suitcase.  I couldn't find one here.  Isn't she fab!

Oh, Container Store, please expand to Europe!  I need you so.

How about you?  Are you an organizer or just the opposite?  What is it about some brains that love everything having its exact place?

                                      ---Beth Arnold in Paris

Related articles by Zemanta

• Container Store Teams Up With Oprah (monicaricci.typepad.com)
• Dotz Cord Organizers Keep Your Cords Tidy and Labeled [Office Supplies Fetish] (lifehacker.com)
• Desperately Seeking Sam (3quarksdaily.com)