What tricks of the trade have you learned from Organizers?

zaq

Fri, Dec 31 2021, 2:56 pm

From Marie Kondo, I think: Store like with like. From zaq: But in a way that makes sense to you. Both in macro (house-wide) and micro (Smaller organizers). If you use a hot glue gun for making Purim costumes, you might put it in a sewing drawer with the snaps, buttons, safety pins, and fabric glue, because it's a "connecting" device. But if you use it mostly for household projects like fixing furniture, it would make more sense to keep it with the hammer, nails and screws.

Ms. Kondo is a bit extreme: she seems to think you should have only one of everything. You can make do with one of everything, but sometimes it makes more sense, efficiency-wise, to have multiples. If you often use a hot glue gun for children's crafts projects and dh uses it very often for household repairs (or vice versa), you may decide to have two, yours with the crafts supplies and dh's in the toolbox. Especially if your beloved is the type to abandon his glue gun where he last used it, leaving you high and dry when you need it.

No need to go too crazy with these "rules." If your meat platter doesn't fit in the cabinet with your other fleishik serveware, you obviously store it somewhere else.

#BestBubby

Sat, Jan 01 2022, 6:41 pm

mra01385 wrote:

How do people have a heart to throw out things they don’t need anymore when they spent money on it and only used it a few times or sometimes was the wrong item but never returned it?

Do you have the heart to spend money on cleaning help?

Getting rid of unwanted stuff is like paying for cleaning help -

IT'S WORTH IT to throw away useless stuff to have a clean, organized home! Smile

amother

Papaya

Sat, Jan 01 2022, 7:24 pm

For papers, scan everything you can and throw out any papers where the original is not necessary.

Have a physical folder with dividers for things like bills, medical bills, always right down on the invoice the day you made the payment.

Don't let anything accumulate out of order. Store it in the appropriate place at once.

amother

Blush

Sat, Jan 01 2022, 7:48 pm

mra01385 wrote:

How do people have a heart to throw out things they don’t need anymore when they spent money on it and only used it a few times or sometimes was the wrong item but never returned it?

I threw away a bunch of clothing I know I'll never use. And I'm not married that many years . But a few seasons have gone by to prove that I won't be using it again, I'm the same size so the issue isn't losing weight.

There's plenty new clothing in the stores.

I decluttered literally my entire apartment. Great feeling. And I realised after how much more careful I I'm now with what I buy these days, so I end up saving money. I don't want to clutter my house up again.

zaq

Sun, Jan 02 2022, 7:04 pm

mra01385 wrote:

Where do people keep clothes such as skirt or top that they want to wear again before washing it?
Also how do people find time to organise when they are so busy with work and regular daily household and family needs?

Most people have a chair in their bedroom for such clothes. It's not the best solution in the world, especially if you have a lot of such clothes. . You can designate a sliver of your closet, marking it with special hangers, putting tags on regular hangers, or making plastic circles out of coffee-can lids and putting one on each end of the "clothing-in-waiting" section. Or you can install hooks on the outside or inside of your closet door.

People make time to organize. You do this the way you do anything else, a little at a time. You don't have to redo your entire closet all at once, no matter what Closet Diva Marie Kondo says.

zaq

Sun, Jan 02 2022, 8:29 pm

dankbar wrote:

Zaq, you made a huge decluttering in your home?
I remember that you mentioned once that you still have clothing from 30 yrs ago in your closet.
Good for you if you got rid of stuff.

I never make a huge decluttering. Marie Kondo's "take every thread out of your closet and pile it on the floor" is not my style. (Are you crazy? Putting clothes on the floor? We don't do that. Not even if the clothes are slated for the shmatteh bin. My shmattes are CLEAN. They go on the floor only if they're being used to clean the floor, help furniture slide along the floor, or protect the clothing of someone sitting on the floor. )

I dejunk little by little as the spirit moves me. It may be one drawer, one shelf or one box. Today I finally got rid of some old change purses, a stash of mystery keys, and some frequent shopper cards from stores in other cities I haven't been to in years. Total space freed, less than an infant shoebox. Not enough to make anyone sit up and marvel. But tomorrow, or next week, I'll free up another infant shoebox worth, and the following week another. Meanwhile, when I flip through my frequent shopper cards, they're only for stores I actually frequent, and I know what all my keys are for.

dankbar

Sun, Jan 02 2022, 11:45 pm

Good for you.

Yes I also get overwhelmed when unpack too much at once. I guess she wants you to get repulsed by the amount of stuff you have & it should be like burni g your hand & get rid of everything immediately. It is a lot though. Watched some clips she gathers all clothes from entire house, into one pile, looks like a mountain.
For me it doesnt motivate me that way, I just run away becsuse have no idea where to start then, when pile looks like a monster ready to eat you up. I like Dana K White's method better. Little by little. No piles creating.
I was asking you about your clothing, if you got rid of the old ones yet? You used to be a fan of keeping & now I see you keep giving advice about how to get rid.

zaq

Mon, Jan 03 2022, 10:22 am

dankbar wrote:

I was asking you about your clothing, if you got rid of the old ones yet? You used to be a fan of keeping & now I see you keep giving advice about how to get rid.

Why the interest in the state of my closet? Good advice is good advice even if the advisor doesn't practice what she preaches (although I do). Most people starting threads like this are looking for "permission" to downsize or for someone to give them a kick in the pants to downsize.

I have never advised keeping things you don't need and won't use. OTOH, neither am I a fan of wanton destruction. What I am a fan of is reduce-reuse-repair-recycle, extending the life of possessions as long as possible rather than replacing items that can be fixed. If an item is worn out beyond any practical use, by all means discard it (in recycling if appropriate) if you've determined that it can't be fixed, repurposed or cannibalized for parts. OTOH, if it's still in good condition but you have no need for it, give it away so someone else can benefit.

What I can say of my closet is that it is not overfull. Hangers slide easily along the rod, it's not a struggle to hang anything up or take anything out, and clothes don't get crumpled just from being in there. At one time I stored out-of-season clothes in cartons on the floor of the closet; now everything is hung up and there are no cartons of clothes. Which is not to say that I don't have any old clothing. A slave to fashion I'm not; I wear my clothes almost forever, including a few blouses that are closing in on their 35th birthday. But, you see, I wear them. They're not just hanging there as a nostalgic reminder of my glory days or a grim rebuke for unwise impulse buys.

I like to think that my excess possessions have found a good home and are making someone else happy.

Crookshanks

Mon, Jan 03 2022, 3:32 pm

mra01385 wrote:

How do people have a heart to throw out things they don’t need anymore when they spent money on it and only used it a few times or sometimes was the wrong item but never returned it?

Give it away to someone who will use it. Especially if it's someone who doesn't have a lot of money. That always makes me feel better when parting from expensive possessions.

zaq

Mon, Jan 03 2022, 3:49 pm

One thing I have never done but that would be awesome if it worked out is a swap meet. It can be limited to clothing or expanded to anything. The kicker is , what do you do with items nobody takes? If you don't make provisions for people to take back anything they brought that remains at the end of the day, whoever is hosting the meet is left holding the bag...and the skirts and the tops and the ugly vases.

LittleDucky

Mon, Jan 03 2022, 6:31 pm

A slob comes clean.
I bought her first book after reading her blogs for a while. Dont know if I need her newer ones because my issues are time related (no time to do X) rather than lack of ideas/concepts right now.

She has a step by step plan for decluttering which changed how I do it. No more pulling out everything to sort. This way if kids need you or you cant finish it is no worse off. (No giant pile staring you in the face for weeks that gets kicked around, spread to other rooms...)

Pick 1 spot. She recommends something that is visible. Not some random closet we never look at. Start with garbage (bring a garbage bag and a box for donations that you will donate too). Pull out obvious garbage. Then pull out easy stuff. A pen, coins, a book. Anything you automatically know where it goes without thinking. Put it there now. 1 by 1.
Then when that is all done (and you dont see more garbage) start with harder stuff. For the stuff that makes you think ask 2 questions.
1. If I needed it, where would I look first? Put there now.
2. If you cant pick a spot easily, ask "if I needed it would I even know I had it?"

Simplified things for me so much. I am not perfect- the fact we tossed a bag of garbage yesterday from the cleanup we did shows that- but at least it is better. And I am on the path to even better.

zaq

Mon, Jan 03 2022, 6:43 pm

Dankbar, I think you may have misunderstood my past posts. I don’t urge holding on to things you don’t use use and don’t need. What I object to is gratuitous use of disposables; I advocate acquiring “real” dishes, tablecloths, roasting pans and so on and reusing over and over, ideally for a lifetime. In the long run it’s less costly and less damaging to the planet on which we live and which we will pass along to our children.

dankbar

Mon, Jan 03 2022, 11:25 pm

Zaq. You are right. You are giving very clever advice. Kudos for you if you can still pull it off to wear your old stuff, meaning they still fit you & in good condition.
I couldn't do that. 30-35 yrs ago I was a young girl or teen. I probably weigh 100 lbs more than then.

I am not such a trendy dresser either, stick more to basics, classics that flatter me. Rather something that looks good on me than being stylish but looking like as house. I don't replace my clothing every season. I don't deem it unusable after a year.
I do have a hard time buying new clothes for myself because if doesn't slim me down than I leave it in store.
My closet is small but overstuffed. My issue is more about letting go of clothes that don't fit because I am up & down with the weight, so hold onto clothes for when I lose weight.

Zaq, usually people who are big on decluttering & minimalists don't hold onto clothes that are 30 years old, that's why it was surprising to me that you are expert on decluttering.

zaq

Tue, Jan 04 2022, 8:57 am

dankbar wrote:

Zaq, usually people who are big on decluttering & minimalists don't hold onto clothes that are 30 years old, that's why it was surprising to me that you are expert on decluttering.

Ah, but there's a difference between being a decluttering expert and being reckless. I use things forever. The cookware I got as wedding gifts is older than half the women on imamother, I still use a few items that were my mother's and are about 60 years old, and one that is at least 70 years old. I live in terror of eventually scouring a hole right through that one. When and if that happens, though, it will go right into the metal recycling. It will not be kept around as a shrine, or as a museum piece, or in the hope that one day I'll bring it to the Medieval and Renaissance festival and ask the blacksmith to repair it.

dankbar

Tue, Jan 04 2022, 9:19 am

Actually stuff from yester years were made with better quality materials meant to last unlike todays products that are junk and meant to be replaced shortly.

I am down to the last few pieces of my china dishes that I received as wedding gift. I also still use my kitchen products from my wedding & some towels lasted till now as well, and it's a number of years.

My Farberware pots are not the same quality as my mom's or the older Bosch machine & newer ones are not comparable. My mom's lasted for years & mine broke down much faster. Same with her Electrolux vacuum & mine.

She used to repair her machines, today it doesn't pay to do that. Sometimes repair cost as much as a new one almost.