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Hello everyone! I hope this newsletter finds everyone doing well and recovering from flu bugs and the charge card statements that came in January from the Holiday season. We are just settling in ourselves from all the holiday activities and excitement. We have our first grandbaby due this summer, which has been exciting and I'm helping my son and daughter in-law look for a home for their new family. Next month I should be able to announce if we are having a boy or girl. My daughter Jennifer is getting married the 1st of April and there has been so much to do. My youngest son moved to Greenville, South Jamieina last week with our help. We arrived just in time for the snowstorm and were delayed coming home. For a Florida girl who has only seen snow one other time I was awestruck and excited until I realized we were snowed in and couldn't drive anywhere. 

We all live such busy lives, sometimes I don't know if I'm coming or going! Can any of you identify with that statement? I would bet you could. I am not the most organized person, although I would like to be. I thought this month would be a good time to share some special organizational tips with you that can be used for decorating and everyday life. A little while back, one of our regulars (Sylvia) asked for some organizational tips from the forum visitors. I was so impressed with the help and suggestions she received, I asked the contributors permission to share some of their comments and ideas with our readers for a feature article. This month I would like to pass these wonderful suggestions on to all our newsletter subscribers. I'm sure you will be able to find some ideas that will help you in your everyday lives. I'm going to try to apply some to my own busy life. 

Sylvia posted this question:

OK, here is another of my weird questions. It's really not about decorating, but I cannot even think about decorating until I get this place cleaned up. I work all week and it's hard to keep everything straight during the week. So here I am, Saturday morning, and I thought I would spend the whole day just getting everything cleaned up and organized. But, when I look around I am overwhelmed with everything, and I just want to take a vacation. What I need is some organization, but I don't know where to start. I see women that just "have it all together" and get everything done, and have plenty of time to enjoy life. Please, anybody out there with the secret to this dilemma please let me know. Thanks, Sylvia

STEPHANIE REPLIED:

Good morning, Sylvia. You posted a question that should be added to the 7 Mysteries of the World: how do you keep up on just maintaining and manage to have a life- let alone trying to improve/grow/renovate/redecorate? I am in my infancy in trying to learn this myself-but these are my thoughts.

1. Do small tasks every day so it isn't all piled up on the weekend.

2. Organize- have a place for everything needed and get rid of the things that are not used for one full year (okay, for the diehards, it be 2 full years). Then develop a house habit that person is responsible for putting things back when they are done with it (this includes dishes, mail, dirty laundry, etc…)

3. Prioritize. Decide which daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly activities are important to make you feel you are living a life- not just existing. Then, make sure those things are at the top of the list of things to do.

4. Be realistic. Personally, I have found that it is not possible to get all the maintenance tasks done when I am in an improvement mode. However, at the same time I have found cleaning the bathroom to be particularly rewarding during a chaotic kitchen remodel that 6 weeks past expected completion date! Set reasonable goals, that can be accomplished without suffering. If you really don't want to do something, but think it "should" be done - scratch it off the list. Life is too short to spend it doing what we think others expect us to do (or torturing ourselves because we are not doing so). Break projects down into small steps and make a commitment to start today with the first step. 

5. Ask for help. For example, if you know you are a packrat and can't let go of things, bring in a friend who is good at organization and let them sort through it with you. 

6. Let go of the illusion of control - and the illusion of perfection. Both are just that- illusions. 

I am reminded again of a woman who really impacted my life. She was in her 50's and depressed - saying she had bought into the American Dream (read American Lie) and had spent the last half of her life fighting the two things she could never win- dirt and aging. She grieved about all of the weekends she could have been enjoying adventures with herself, her kids, her husband, her friends- but instead spent every Saturday cleaning and running errands. I was in my 20's when I met her - and she still sticks in my mind when I find myself wasting my valuable down-time doing things that won't matter to me when I am on my deathbed.

Thanks again for posting this question. I am so interested in what others have to say about this question. Now that I am a homeowner and wanting to decorate- it puts a whole new twist on the question! We are starting a dining room/den living room redo including the installation of a two sided fireplace and I am feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the extras involved…(can't imagine what would happen with a baby!) LOL!

CJ POSTED

Hi Sylvia! 
Love your questions- I know what you mean re: overwhelming! I teach SpEd Mildly Mentally Handicapped kids ages 6-12 in a self-contained classroom, and I am guilty, guilty, GUILTY of letting things pile up during the week as I am so tired at the end of the workday. People see my home, classroom, and say, "Gee, CJ, you are SO organized!" I have to laugh! It is only an illusion. LOL! I have learned to let certain things go during the week, (no munchkins at home anymore…empty nest, single woman, home owner…love it). If you still have kids at home, teach them to do their own laundry, and specify which days they must do their share. However, I have also learned the secret of keeping it all together.

The most important thing I have learned is to not be emotionally attached to items that end up sitting around for years and becoming clutter, (cute cards, clothing, broken things not fixed in 2-3 years, extra tissue paper, packing stuff/boxes for that "just in case" moment…the packrat in me has been silenced…LOL)

Here is a list of other ways to keep it all together:

1. It's OK to hire a teen/neighborhood kid, or ask a good friend as a favor, (a favor you can return), to help with yard cleanups/housekeeping every so often.

2. Dump all clothes/items you have not touched in 2 years. Call a local charity to come pickup items. (I do this at least 3 times a year…I am always finding more things I really CAN do without).

3. Things you really mean to get around to doing, (craft/decorating projects, letters to answer, items you really do use and need to renovate or fix..), are OK, should put in boxes and label. Just do not deviate from what those boxes are intended for. Store them in garage or room where it will be easy to get to them. Banker's boxes are the best and easiest to store. 

4. Don't keep your household tools in a drawer in the kitchen…it just ends up becoming a junk drawer. We all have a junk drawer. Just be sure to clean it out every so often as part of you kitchen, or that particular room, cleanup.

5. The best thing that ALWAYS motivates me to keep things in order is to host a party or invite guests for a visit/stay into my home. I try to host a party at least every two months, especially during the long, dark winter months. It's fun to create a bright spot during those times. It breaks up the monotony of the dark days and lifts everyone's spirits. Hosting is easy when you ask others to bring a small favorite dish to enjoy and share in a disposable dish. 

6. Just let certain things go. To look at your home in its entirety is overwhelming. Sit down and make a list of what you want to do, then create a sub-task list of each item and you will find sanity, and some are just needed on an every-so-often basis.

7. Have fun with your home. It is not a monster out to get you down. Good Luck

POSTED BY COLLEEN

I can most certainly identify with you! I have always been a "neat freak" but in the last few years have had to learn to "chill" as my 12 year old says. I have four kids, 12, 4, and 3-year-old twins, I work full time and we have been remodeling our house ourselves which of course has taken forever. It sometimes seems just keeping the laundry done can take a miracle. I have found if I pick a different task each evening such as vacuum and dust one evening, some laundry one night, bathrooms one night, then I can pick a special task such as clean out a closet or clean the garage on the weekend and still have time to do the fun stuff. But most of all I have learned not to let it depress me if things are not just so and to let it go sometimes.

LANA REPLIED

Sylvia,

I too have had the same problem… and here is my two cents worth.

1. Don't assume you are alone…just read these posts! Seriously, when I have people over to my house, it's clean and they say things like "your house always looks so nice!" Realize that when you visit people they may have kid's school paper in the dryer or junk mail stuffed under a bed somewhere. Let yourself off the hook a bit.

2. If you are spiritually inclined (and even if you aren't!), read "Disciplines of a Beautiful Woman" by Anne Ortlund. You can get it from Amazon.com Amazon.com. I have it dog-eared and there are parts that motivate me like crazy to get rid of things.

3. As many others have posted, lose the clutter!! Right now is a great time to trim down on your "stuff". Give it to a local charity so someone can have something nice this winter (your junk is someone's treasure), and take a tax deduction in the process.

4. Every now and then I'll take a big shopping bag and just walk around my house and I don't quit until I have one bag full of stuff (clothes, old decorations, etc.) to get rid of. One bag at a time keeps things in order.

5. Do you keep 1,001 old magazines "just in case" you want them? I get a couple home décor magazines. I tear out the pages and articles I want to keep and file them…and pitch or pass on the rest,
   Hopefully you'll find those helpful.

POSTED BY Jamie

Hi Sylvia and others!
You are cracking me up! LOL!! What great ideas, tips and help. - Annie O. I'm with you-I've lost a bill or two in my time too. It really doesn't go over very well, when I try to explain where in the heck it went. - Sylvia, you really hit home with this question! It's going to be fun and helpful watching this post for a while. Thanks everyone!

SYLVIA REPLIED

Hi everyone,
Jamie- thanks for your comments. I'm glad to know that I am not the only one who has a hard time "keeping it altogether." The help and tips from people on this forum have been a great help to me. I'm trying to do some of these organizational things this week. I do want to thank everyone for your comments, tips, and support. You would not believe how down I was Saturday when I posted this question, but you guys lifted my spirits, and got me laughing with your posts. Ya'll have given me some great ideas that should help. I showed my husband some of your ideas, and he even said he would try to do a better job of helping out. We are going to try to use some of the techniques to "get organized" and "live a little." I've been so tired of being tired. I hope it works. I'll let you know how the first week goes. 

Thanks so much, Sylvia

P.S. I'm going to have to think of a "fun" question next, this one was too serious, but a desperately needed one for me.

I sincerely hope you have enjoyed and learned some wonderful time saving tips from our forum contributors. I know I certainly have!!

HAPPY ORGANIZING

P.S. Lana mentioned a book in her answer that you can find on Amazon.com. We have a list of decorating books listed on our "Helpful Books" page.  You can also search for and purchase any book from Amazon.com from this page.