I never understood bookshelves that are sorted, in particular shelves that are used daily. Since elementary school, I didn’t enjoy keeping my books in any specific order besides the order I have been using them. It was a way to sort them. So if I had history and religion on the same day, those books were likely to be together, and they would always end up in the depths of the shelf because there were more math and science courses.

The appeal of an ordered bookshelf to the eye vs the efficiency of picking up books in bulk without even thinking… My mother, who spent time looking at the books preferred the former, while I, the one who was using them, argued about the latter. She would say if you sort it once and stick to that order, it would merely be equally efficient. It would have a bonus of the appeal.

I couldn’t stick to that order -alphabet, thickness, length, colour- so many parameters to think about. Luckily, if you consider that luck ( one would want to know who wrote the book that is supposed to teach something to you) the authors of the books were not that important for the course literature that I was spared from thinking about that one feature. “A. Meltem” and “A. Aylin” for example would be the end of me. It would be a wild goose chase, trying to find what “A” stood for, I wouldn’t simply sort them by Meltem and Aylin. “A” was a name, and it was required in full to be classified.

Who was right? I cannot say. But I do know that sorting with features of the data does not come naturally to me. I moved into an apartment with fewer wardrobes and cupboards. The hoarder I am, I have a ton of stuff. I decided to do something different this time. Let’s try to fit into all I have to what’s already there and have one bookshelf extra. My mother is the genius of keeping many things in smaller areas, inventing spaces even. Let’s bring out the mother to fit. It sort of worked, I have bought these cube storage shelves to divide large cabinets and to create a cabinet like space in some walls (only because of luggage, otherwise those would be in the wardrobe). It was a modular and portable solution. For storing stuff in the cupboards… Following my mother’s sorting algorithm, I have placed smaller pots into larger pots, turned their lids upside down, and they took less space.

I was proud of myself. I have done an excellent job; everything looked so well organized. That is until I started using the stuff. Why should I waste time pulling out pots from pots if I am using them weekly? It’s 15 seconds of my time vs. having more space to store them stacked with their lids on. Time vs. money. Time wins, I will likely lose money. The only thing keeping me is the desire to buy a computer to play games on.

One shouldn’t spoil herself with so much; it’s the need that leads to the invention after all.  I shall live and see what solutions I will come up with for storing all those stuff ( translation: how long can I hold on until I buy cabinets?).