For young girls in the 80s like myself, rainbows were everything! Rainbow Bright influenced our clothing styles and early on we learned that ROYGBIV could add wonders to a crayon drawing.
Later, in college, I would sit in my lectures, with my multicolored pens lined up on my desk and take the most beautiful notes. I’m sure the cute guy next to me with his black ball point pen thought I was crazy, but hey, I aced my classes because of those notes.
Well, fast forward to adulthood and somehow the power of the rainbow had slipped away. Those glorious bright colors had faded into mundane afternoons and endless to-do lists. That is, until one day, my friend asked me if she could organize my bookshelf.
We were having a playdate at my house. The kids were running around making a mess as we attempted to chit chat, probably about how we felt like we were failing our kids or how my son would never get potty trained. She got up and walked over to my children’s bookshelf, hands on her hips, and asked, “Kate, can I organize your books?”
“Wait what? Like Dewey Decimal system organize?”
“Ummm, sure?” I hesitantly replied.
I then watched her take all the books off the shelf. Well, half were already thrown on the floor from when my toddler tornadoed through our living room earlier. She sat down and proceeded to put them back on the shelf in rainbow order, one by one, color by color, just as ROYGIV instructs.
It was beautiful. It was magical. It made me happy to look at it.
She took my shelf, which was a mess of books sitting in every direction, much like how I was feeling as a mom, and turned it into a cheerful display that I wouldn’t be ashamed to show off if someone unexpectedly stopped by.
Today, I continue to keep this shelf organized by color. About every few weeks I have to redo it because either my toddler takes every book off the shelf as toddlers do or the boys don’t put them back exactly where they got them in the blue section but that just means the boys are interested in books and we actually DO read a lot.
Plus, it can be kind of therapeutic and relaxing to take the chaos in my house and put some order to it.
I started looking around the house and seeking out more places that needed a burst of rainbow. And I found some.
- My Ikea children’s plates and bowls add a pop of cheer to my cupboards.
- Dave Pilkey books make the best rainbows.
- My closet turned into an organized burst of color as well.
- Art supplies just beg to be sorted.
So, in motherhood, we might feel like we are books that have been thrown on the ground, not able to find our way back onto our unorganized shelf, but with a little time to reset, we can shine as bright as rainbows again too!
So simple, yet brilliant! What a fun and easy way to look instantly organized :).