Waste not, want lots!
By Christa TerryFor years, I threw all my office waste into the same bright teal bin I’d been using since I moved into the university dorms. There was a huge wave of dried nailpolish that appeared to be oozing down the side and a splash of orange paint that got there when I spilled an entire can over the contents of my desk. That didn’t matter much when I kept it out of sight in a corner, but I started getting a little embarrassed when I moved and it became the bathroom wastebasket. There were no cabinets or corners in which to hide it, and it didn’t exactly go with anything else in the room.
Naturally, I did what I always do in such situations, which is move forward without ever once looking back. The old bin went straight into the recycling can, and I slogged through Amazon pages until I found a new, better wastebasket (rather like the one in the upper middle position) that fit right into my decor scheme. Then, when I moved, I put it under my full bath’s sink where it would be out of sight.
I actually think that anyone with sufficient storage space should just keep the smallest possible wastebasket tucked away under the sink or in the bathroom closet. Visitors to one’s home don’t particularly want to see one’s used cotton swabs or wadded up tissues. Failing that, I recommend buying the loveliest possible bin and emptying it frequently — however tiresome the thought — when you know there will be guests about.
August 2nd, 2008 at 1:13 pm
Or get one with a lid. That way no one has to look at the contents unless she is actually contributing to them.
I am thrilled with my new kitchen trash can. For two and a half years, whenever I visited my fiance’, I had to put up with his awful kitchen trash can. It was short with a lid that had to be mashed on the lid, not at the base, to open, so any time I wanted to peel an onion, I had to lift my foot 18 inches to step on the lid at least twice to get it to open, then I had to bend down to make sure the onion peel made it into the trash can instead of falling to the floor.
When we got engaged, I told Chris I didn’t want a ring but I wanted a decent trash can, which, as you know, are not inexpensive. Not as expensive as a diamond ring, but more than getting your oil changed. Now we have this gorgeous high silver tube with a lid that rests in the corner of the kitchen and looks very nice.
August 2nd, 2008 at 8:51 pm
I have to say, class factotum, that I never did meet a lidded bathroom-sized trash bin that I liked. The lids always get icky, and not kitchen icky, either, which I can deal with. Onions, yes. Random brown bathroom stuff? NOOOOO. I’ve only seen them in other people home’s, however, so perhaps they are simply not as keen on housekeeping as I am?
August 3rd, 2008 at 9:19 am
NTB, I hope it’s the housekeeping issue. That’s just gross. What? It’s so hard to wipe off the top of the trash can after you’ve cleaned the mirror? Ick, ick, ick.