Plugging up the Entry Door

One of the challenges I have with living in community goes like this. We all organize an outbuilding. Could be a shed or a garage or something like that. We find a place for everything and put everything in its place. We start using the stuff, and put it back. Then, something happens. Someone takes something from further back in the building. They use it and then return it. Except that they don't put it all the way away. They leave it closer to the door. Then the next person comes to get something out. Something that is further back. So they manage to get their thing out, past the first item. They use it, then return it. But when they return it, they leave it closer to the door than the other thing. Because that other thing is in the way. So now there are two things in the way. When people are starting a project, no one wants to clean up after other people. And when they have finished a project they just want to dump their stuff under cover. Before long, you can't get in or out of that building because the pile of stuff has crept forward to the door. The door is "plugged up."

Meanwhile, if you look past the pile, you often see things nicely organized. You Just can't get to them.

I don't know what a solution would be. I don't know if the problem could be a solution. I am just acknowledging a problem.

Good Luck with that, Jeremy.
That has been a lifelong problem around here.
I'm guilty, the wife and kids are guilty...
Nobody means to create a mess, but... it just happens.
I go in and clean it up, and it all starts over again.

I've  doodled designs for sheds that had access doors on all 4 sides.
It would really be more like enclosed shelves than a shed, and it would mean keeping all 4 sides of the shed clear from stacked up materials.

I don't think there's a solution to this problem, apart from one of the guilty parties giving in and doing a tidy.  I'm guilty. . . although when something is out of place, I know where it is - not so much when it's in its proper place.  

I know nothing about community living so I feel everyone would have their own space.

If they are borrowing stuff then there would be a system in place like in a library.

Organization to me is the key.

If I borrow something do I get to keep it?

Jill said, I don't think there's a solution to this problem, apart from one of the guilty parties giving in and doing a tidy.  I'm guilty. . . although when something is out of place, I know where it is - not so much when it's in its proper place.

Maybe the solution is to have a proper place?

Having lived in community quite a bit:

Label everything,
A place for everything,
You can't 'win',
Keep at it,
Grace is hard but necessary.

So it seems that there are two problems:

1) people not putting stuff back properly

and
2) People not tidying up after other people.

If 1) happened properly then 2) wouldn't be so much of a problem.....so it seems to me that improving the 'putting stuff away' would really help.

If we look at possible causes of not putting stuff away.

Not knowing where things are supposed to go:
Anne's suggestion of 'having a place for everything' is essential here. Making them logical and clearly labelled so that it is easy to tell where things are supposed to go. I definitely have this problem when 'borrowing' my husband's tools. Theoretically because I took them from where they were I ought to be able to put them back there, but it somehow is not always that easy!

Not being able to put them there:
I'm not sure, but the ergonomics of not being able to reach higher shelving, lift heavy or bulky objects, (or having other stuff in the way!) might be obstacles for some people.

Just not bothering:
This is the most tricky one! We all have occasions where we think - "I'll just leave this here and get lunch and put it away later" or "I need this again after the rain so I'll leave it handy"

Everyone needs to be aware and accept that there is a problem before you can move on. It isn't fair if the same people always tidy up after the rest. Maybe a communal 'shop tidy' event where the issues can be discussed and relevant obstacles eliminated may help?

All good points.

I like the idea of having a communal tidy up: we used to do this when all five of the children were together.

We called it "having a womble", which is highly culturally specific of course!

"Meet the Wombles, shy, retiring creatures who live on Wimbledon Common and tidy away the rubbish people leave behind."
https://www.storymuseum.org.uk/1001-stories/the-wombles

This is not an immediate solution, however, keep a quick sticky note of what is usually getting left up by the door. Then have a team reorganize day putting most frequently used to a new position nearest the door. My husband tends to use the air compressor a lot and in a pinch, however after he rescues our situation, we run off and the poor compressor is left out! Then I trip on the cord and the little kids mess with all the shiny attachments. So, we had to relocate the air compressor and switch-up other things to accommodate the change but it really helped our daily running of the home. A lot of times, preferred organization does not include point and frequency of use.

As Thomas indicated, it would appear you are dealing with human nature.  If you were dealing with one other person, you might successfully address it. I strongly suspect that if you are dealing with many people, in the end they may decide you are the problem.

I think there are lots of good ideas here:

1. I too have doodle ideas like William's "inside out shed" - all sorts of cupboards to store things facing outwards. I have a vague idea that someone did similar, upcycling old refrigerators as walls to a shed?

2. I also agree that things that are used frequently need to be the easiest to put away. However, awkwardness also had to be taken into consideration. Hubby was horrible about putting away the hose for the air compressor until he finally mounted a cranked winder on the outside of the barn. I admit I had to nag a bit until he mounted similar for the power washer on the well shed. For regular hoses, a simple hoop head height on a wall allows me to hang a hose in 4-5 turns rather than double that if the hoop is at hip height. The holders can be upcycled metal wheel hubs and are great for extension cords as well.

3. I also agree with the good  labelling part. Colour coding may help too.

4. If some tools get used regularly in significantly different areas, there is a place for duplicates. Hubby was a little ticked when he gave me some vice-grips for Christmas, and I put them in my kitchen tool box and painted my initials on them! It's not like he doesn't have his own. But he's much worse than I am about not counting a job "finished" until the clean-up is done.

Ultimately, human nature is human nature, and designating certain "clean-up" times and places, to catch the problem weekly rather than when it's past the frustration point, may be the only way. Identifying "clean up" as part of the job, and thanking people when you see them cleaning up, so they feel their efforts are noticed, may also help.

I have a bin near the door that says"if you truly don't know where it goes, or you are too lazy to put it away, put it here."
At least this way there is one place to look for items not at home.

Thank you all for all of your responses! I have a few more observations that makes this different from other kinds of messes. In a messy kitchen, the mess is worst around the workstations; the sink, stove or table. It's the same in a working shop. But in a building that is used to store tools and projects, I often see this pileup at the doors. Wheeled vehicles or carts are often part of it. But I often see a pile of shovels and rakes that creeps out the door.

Community cleanup days are very helpful. Because then everyone gets input on the organization and gets to see where everything goes and why. But I think the community I have in mind does this so well that it increases the problem. Folks think, "I can leave this here. We will put it away next time we have a cleanup day. It won't be here for long." The thing is, the cleanup days are billed as something that will help us do projects as a community. But then we don't get around to doing any community projects until the shed is so crapped up that we have to do another cleanup day.

Your suggestions are good. Having a sticky note by the door to keep track of what ends up there is a great idea! A winder on the outside of a building for the air hose is also genius! We keep an air compressor near one of the main doors, and the hose is always on the floor. I would like to plumb it to different locations in the building, but poking it outside as well would be really useful.

We had a great system for storing hoses in winter that was just like Jay describes. But then that space was put to a different use.

I am learning to label any container that you can't see through. Mostly the drawers of toolboxes. That way we know where to look for things and where to put them away. So it helps you twice!

The public bike shops I have been to keep their tools on pegboard. They draw the outline of each tool on the pegboard. So anyone can put the tools away. We have some pegboard, and I did that to one of them. We could do more of that.

William, your idea of a shed with doors all around is solid. You could add on to it in any direction and have a built-in opening! We have a little electric van thing with doors on all sides of the back. The idea of putting shelves in it and using it as a self-propelled toolbox has come up. But it's one of those community projects that hasn't happened yet.

You are dealing with human who are so predictable.

This reminds me of a thread about Wheaton Labs where dirty dishes were found in draws and other places after folks left.