I need help orginaizing, tips?
Question:i'm currently living with one of my parents since my house had a methane leak. And her house seems almost unbearable to function and live in! different nic nacs, clothes, work papers seem so cover every square inch of the house. my mom has a popular excuse of buying things for kids on sale because she works with little kids. (preschool)
even though im only going to live in the house for a couple weeks, i still want to help orginize her mess, just to get her started. so i need some suggestions, any are good.
nb my mom is sensitive to throwing things away ( somewhat of a packrat) how can i tell her she doesnt need some of this useless junk, without hurting her feelings?
PS. 10 points for the most helpful :]
thanks :]
------i really wish i could just take handfuls of stuff at a time and throw it away, but my mom is attached to pretty much everything she has and buys. so how can i guide her through what she needs and what she doesn't?
Answers:
Well, it's always tough with parents that are fearful of throwing things away, but I can tell you that tax papers, records and other bills that are over 8 years old can be tossed with no worries...that will help cut down on some of the paper clutter. Also, you might try organizing some kind of "inbox", "outbox" system for new mail and bills. Put it in a common area and when she comes in she can put things there so they don't stack up elsewhere.
As far as other "junk" goes, you might just sit down and ask her what she's used in the last year. Things that she didn't know she had or hasn't used in the past year should go. If she works with children and buys things on sale for them and says she'll eventually get to them, ask her if there's a place at work she can take them or if she could donate them to save some space at home.
Other organizational things I've found helpful are getting little boxes and labeling them for things like photos, craft supplies and other things that tend to lay out in the house. Put them in decorative boxes and you can even display those boxes on shelves in the house!
As far as knick knacks go, I don't know what to tell you there. You might suggest it's time for a change and maybe she'd like to get some new, simpler things for the house. That's maybe a nice way of saying "let's get rid of some junk." Good luck!
~KP
Well as your mum loves all her thing´s , I don´t think you should throw anything away. You could sit down and ask her first if she would like some help sorting them out. As you don´t live with her & are only going to be staying for a short time. I think you would be wasting your time, because when you leave , thing´s will return the same way as before. If she did´t want all the things she has , she would have thrown themout, or given them away already . Don´t you think?
www.flylady.net is a really useful website full of tips to help you get organised and get rid of clutter, it should be useful for you and your mother :-)
Show your mum this website
http://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/better-hom...
Search Better Homes and Gardens with the word CLUTTER and see what comes up. Lots of stuff there you can show her and discuss with her.
Good luck!
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