oh dear. This thread called to me. I just posted a intro.

I have one "public" problem surface (everything else is hidden) and that is the bar between the kitchen and dining room. When company comes I sometimes so a stash & dash, throw most of it in boxes and shove the boxes in a room.

I cleaned it a week ago. Right now the bar holds

a dollhouse full of furniture, that is fragile and I have no other place for it
a food scale
filing box full of bills and papers
kids' artwork
pencils, pens, dog poo bags (empty!!)
jar of dog treats, Christmas stuff that never got put away, dog collars
papers to sort
a girl scout vest that needs patches sewn on
thread
kids' jewelry
items that need to be fixes
empty baby food jars
camera

My coffee table is covered with books. Nothing but books. I put them all there (and underneath the table) to organize them.

Some of them are on a shelf in my entertainment center. Others will be shelved in other places in my living room. Only the cookbooks will stay in the kitchen, and I got rid of several of those that I never use. I'll get rid of a few more too. I prefer the Humane Society thrift store. They have a no-kill policy.

It's very tiring, and it's taken me at least three days to get to where I am with these books, and it will take me a few more days at least to get them in order, but I sure am looking forward to it!!

I meant to post to this two months ago. Let's do it now.

Floor: bed, radio, computer equipment, stacked boxes acting as shelves, several boxes of board games, and too much miscellaneous stuff that needs to be put away.

My almost just cleared table is getting cluttered again...

What is on the livingroom coffee table?
This table has a shelf under it. This is where I always keep a box of tissues, a pretty bowl that holds some little things like emeryboards, dental floss, throat lozenges, matches and a pocket knife.
The top of this table is where I put a lot of things throughout the day.
Right now it holds...
a banana
a scented candle
an incense burner
a small tin of cuticle creme
a tub of Jergens skin creme
my earrings and bracelet
my barret
half a candy cany
my eyeglass case
a small pile of set rhinestones that I plan to sew onto a couple of blouses

I am done for the day.
On my kitchen counter now...
the microwave
the trivet

The counter is ready for whatever I get up to tomorrow 😀

on my kitchen counter today...
5 roma tomatoes
a peach & nectarine
6 bananas
2 lemons
my flashlight
a tube of hand creme
paper napkin
a wooden sewing box that contains my craft paints & paint brushes
a plastic bag containing sample size pieces of textiles for the doll house
my laptop and tea
the book
Microwave and trivet

It's incredible how on certain occasions one finds something just when it will be needed, isn't it? 🙂

Time would not permit such a list at the moment. I will tell a story, however.

I had a notebook in which I'd copied down all the phone numbers that were stored in my cell phone, in case something bad ever happened to my cell phone (broke, got lost, etc.). [Good thing, because my cell phone got stolen at one point.] This notebook had been put in a clear plastic baggie. Along with it were some important notes from a doctor appointment last spring, notes that included medication recommendations that I wanted to share with a different doctor. But where, oh where did those notes go? And where was that notebook with the phone numbers?????

Well, I have a countertop in the kitchen near my front door that has a big, clear plastic container that has all kinds of stuff in it. The plastic container takes up most of the countertop. (At least that container can be picked up and moved in a moment's notice.) There is also a crockpot on that countertop and a few odd items. (I haven't been using that particular countertop space for cooking prep.) Well, a while back, I decided I needed to clean/dust that countertop. Guess where my notebook and medication notes had been all that time? Yep, right on that countertop, in easy view, within a few feet of the door through which I walk day in and day out. So close, and yet so far. I probably put them there "so I would know where they were." Well, the good news is that I have them now, and I was able to take those doc notes with me to my appointment last week. (Those notes were very helpful at that appointment.)

Maybe I do need to make the kind of list you are suggesting, Tillie! : )

Great idea!

Now on my table there are several books and notebooks, a bag with medicines, a portfolio with magazines, papers and folders (finally picked up them), an empty bottle of yoghurt (oops! It will go to the trash immediatly!), a big bag with things waiting whether to have their own place in my room or go away (they before were scattered on the same table) and one bag of sliced bread.