Waxed Out

Can’t get enough of them. Candles make for wonderful decorative accents. They can create atmosphere, change the mood or facilitate fantasy. A bedroom transforms itself to a boudoir. A bathroom becomes a Roman spa with 20 or 30 glowing cylinders.

Be honest. How many candles do you think you own? Don’t forget those itty-bitty tea lights that are purchased by the hundred, the tapers, birthdays, pillars, Chanukahs, votives globes, the scented and the fragrance-free. Then think of all the accessories designed to display them.- candelabras, hurricane lamps, candle sticks and hanging lanterns for the garden, to name a few. Ca-ching, Ca-ching! No wonder they are the darlings of the home party circuit. Who can resist all of that warmth and beauty, not to mention the irresistable twinkle? Don’t tell us that you don’t stock up on them when they are on sale at the outlet malls. The candle matter is not simply another case of wretched excess, although for the hard-core candleholics it is. We continue to be confounded by their apparent obligation to hoard those faded peach coloured tapered candles from the 80's that don't even match their decor any longer. However, our beef resides with those who inexplicably cling to the half-melted specimen. Nothing is as unattractive as a coagulated pool of liquefied paraffin topped off with a charred wick that has managed to unite permanently with its holder, now glued to your coffee table. Let's face it, candle burning is inherently messy. If you manage to dig out the residue, are you holding on to the stunted remnants to get you through a major power failure?

Challenge
Give some thought to your guests’ reaction at your next dinner party. What if alongside your china, crystal and silver you were to grace your table with a few of these candles cum sculptures? Start your personal “operation snuff” with the rim of your bathtub. Then turn your attention to the blobs adorning your bedroom. Proceed with garbage bag in hand to every corner of your abode and eradicate the offending items. Use a chisel to remove the drips. You could actually forget to blow your candles out some evening and accelerate the entire clutter clearing process. This may seem harsh, but it is worth it. If it’s the ambiance you crave, buy a dimmer.

(One last note ... they usually don't hold up well in direct sunlight either.)

Battery Cram

For better or for worse, batteries have become indispensable sources of energy powering everything from cell phones to sex toys. They come in a bewildering array of sizes and composition, some re-chargeable and others which go lifeless in what seems like a matter of seconds. Some people dedicate entire drawers to store them. Mostly they wind up in myriad locations around the house, generally wherever there is a spare inch of space, like the dog’s bowl or the vegetable crisper. Our issues are not with the batteries that are still in their packages waiting to be impressed into service. It’s the discards. Because people are unsure of how or where to recycle them responsibly, they become victims of neglect. Rather than dispose of them, the tendency is allow them to lie around indefinitely. You will come across them while digging in a drawer looking for a pen that works and ask yourself, is this battery expired or not? The sensible thing would be to test them out, but generally that falls under the category of “too much trouble”. Consequently, they are left in a state of perpetual limbo, neither embraced nor rejected.

Challenge
Bite the bullet. Declare today as battery round-up day. Get everyone in your household to empty their night stands, junk drawers, desk drawers, wicker baskets and other usual stashes for small objects that you use for emergency clean-ups when company is at the door. You can retire the duds while identifying the ones that will breathe life into a Gameboy. You might save enough money from this endeavor to treat yourself to a pedicure.

TOP 100 THINGS YOU NEED LIKE A HOLE IN THE HEAD

We are what we keep. In an age characterized by over-consumption, it appears that objects earn our affections, as opposed to people. As real life professional organizers we confront, head-on, the results of this acquisition phenomenon. Much of it defies logic, not to mention the laws of physics. After 5 years toiling side-by-side with clients, we have come to realize that the problem with too much "stuff" is directly linked to the repeat offenders!! We are talking about the things we see over and over again in homes that, to us, constitute the majority of peoples' clutter. Join us as we take you on tour of The Top 100 Things You Need Like a Hole in the Head.

Join us as we identify some of these items you will find in the *Kitchen*.

Polygamy
We might possibly be entering the age of the demise of the ubiquitous plastic bag. These environmental pariahs have come to symbolize a genuine blight on the collective landscape. Retail outlets are making efforts to replace them with re-usable cloth alternatives. Still, wherever we go, we still find hundreds under the bathroom sink, in broom closets and bags of bags plugging up the floors of wardrobe closets. It is astounding how many can be squeezed into the tiniest of spaces, similar to the surprising number of clowns that emerge from a VW Beetle in the circus. We had one client who lived in a 350 square foot apartment who was stockpiling them for when he got a dog. His landlord did not even allow pets! After a decade or two, poly bags start their own form of decomposition. Ones that once bore food develop unpleasant odors and a slimy feel. It you store things in the opaque ones, its likely that the contents will never see the light of day. You can save a couple for legitimate uses like preventing your hair gel from oozing out all over your clothes in a suitcase or for lining a garbage can.

Challenge: We have one sure-fire solution for getting rid of a big wad in one “swell foop”. When you are working on purging your collectables and bric-a-brac, why not wrap the fragile and breakable items in them, prior to taking them to consignment or thrift store. This allows you to accomplish two organizing tasks at the same time. Your junk will arrive at its ultimate destination unblemished. You will be bag free in no time. Otherwise, invest in a dog. Better still…don’t bring them home with you anymore. Try to remember to pack those reusable cloth bags in your car. Afterall you’ve been purchasing them at various outlets since they hit the marketplace. They’re the ones you remember you have tucked away in a closet at home, when you’re at the check-out counter at the local grocery store.


Mug Shots
Where would most of us be without coffee? We are among the first to admit the importance this precious liquid boasts for our productivity, not to mention regularity. Yet, the question must be raised. What is the appropriate number of coffee cups an individual need own at any one time? Yes, we acknowledge that not all coffee cups are alike. After all, there are cups with saucers, mugs, and ones for demitasse. What we see repeatedly is an army of coffee mugs hung on trees, suspended from under the counter hooks and lined up in formation in our clients’ kitchens. Some folks consider them to be collectable, hoarding cartons full of them in storage spaces. If truth be told, we probably have not even paid for most of them. They find their way in like other promotional items –giveaways at golf tournaments or mementos from conferences and trade shows. Others arrive as part of festive food baskets filled with hard candy. Some are gifts from people who lack imagination. Still others are inherited. One thing’s for sure. In all probability, you won’t find any two that match!

Challenge: If you have an entire cabinet devoted to mugs, you have your work cut out for you. The first cut are any that are chipped, cracked or have a smiley face on the surface. If you have a pellet gun, you can use those for target practice. Then toss the ones that have been through the dishwasher so many times that you can no longer make out what the picture or writing are supposed to mean. Unless you harbor a strong affection for your auto insurance broker, add any bearing the name or logo of his company to the discard heap. If your best friend asks what happened to the lopsided mug she made in her ceramics class for you, tell her it broke. She will never know.

No Can Do!

Believe it or not, canned food does not last forever. There is a lot of guesswork around figuring out the vintage of a particular can, especially if the illegible numbers are as indecipherable as some ancient code. We know there is a shelf life to every can. We prefer the term used by the British. They refer to it as "the death date". We have witnessed unspeakable cupboard disasters, the result of cans left far too long. Sometimes they explode and leave a residue similar to the consistency of asphalt. Other times they are sneaky, corroding from the inside-out, and leach their way into cementing themselves onto your shelves. We know this from experience.

Any organizing job we encounter entailing the sorting and purging of the contents of a long-lost kitchen cupboard, is administered by us in garb reminiscent of a gear donned by a bomb squad!! Exploding cans of food can cause extreme damage. OK, maybe we haven’t seen a detonation in action. But we can attest to the fact that the ooze from leaky cans is far superior than contact-cement for gluing down ceramic tiles...forever! Paper shelf-liners are no defense. We caution you to be particularly watchful of pineapple and tomato based products. They are the most dangerous.

Expired canned food is most likely to be found in the impossible corner kitchen cabinet that lies between your sink and your stove. You know the one we mean. It's the cupboard that only a contortionist can fit into. It is probably also known as the burial ground for long lost gadgets like broken toasters, the juicer you bought on the home shopping channel or the yellowed and cracked ice cube trays from your old refrigerator from 70's.

Challenge
Don’t for one second think about giving that expired food to the food bank! Take an hour or so to comb through the cans. Dented ones go first. Anything with a coating of dust is a sure throw-away. If you can’t read the “Best Before” date and can’t remember where, when or why you bought the chick peas, remember to err on the side of caution. After all, this is your life we're talking about!

The 10 Condiments

One of the greatest things about our fast food nation is all the conveniently packaged freebies we get to load up on. No Chinese take-out meal would seem complete without the requisite assortment of sauces and fortune cookies. A visit to the local burger establishment would be deficient minus a ketchup packet or 3. We love them because they are so hygienic, unlike the big containers we have in our refrigerators that get crusty and fused shut along the handy flip-top cap. Still, you normally wind up using only a portion of what these eateries have generously supplied. Whatever is left over is simply slipped into a drawer to frolic with renegade toothpicks, old bottle caps, loose twist ties and a couple of paper napkins. Over time, you can accumulate quite a stash. Around the time that you are no longer able to close the drawer, you should mull over the idea of thinning them out. After all, they are food products that eventually do expire, despite the presence of an illegible date. Safety first!!

Challenge
Repeat after us. Thou shalt not save any of the following from this point forward:
Soy sauce packets
Sweet and Sour sauce packets
Artificial sweeteners from the coffee shop
Tartar sauce packets
Tiny coffee creamers
Mustard packages
Mayo packages
Salt and pepper shakers from airplanes (available in first Class or on foreign airlines only)
Wasabi packets
Oyster crackers that come with soup

Other People

There is a point that almost everyone eventually reaches, when say they say "Enough"! The storage capacity is maxed. There’s no room in the closet for another thing. There are boxes that have remained unexplored for so long, they sport layers of dust and mold. The reasons and timing may differ, but the conclusion is the same. They must do something about the stuff that prevents the home from being a comfort zone.

Only, often they don’t know where to begin. We suggest evaluating how much of the clutter is actually yours versus someone else’s. Who do you know that has been using your basement, extra bedrooms, garage, attic or storage locker to preserve their stuff for immortality? Yes. We are talking about children or friends who are avoiding making decisions, typically hanging on to vestiges of former lives, due to your generosity. Of course, some may be away at school or travelling and may be saving furniture and other possessions for when they have larger living quarters. But the vast majority of excess belongings that we encounter at our clients’ homes don’t fit into those legitimate categories. They are the rusted bed frame left behind by an old friend who has since moved to another city. Or, they are abandoned collections of mildewed magazines and stuffed animals, that have been simply forgotten. Or perhaps binders that should have been returned to an organization for which you had once volunteered.

If you want to get serious about getting your clutter under control, you would be well served to contact those people who have been the beneficiaries of mini-storage at no charge and request that they come to confront and remove their personal artifacts from your premises. You need to communicate a sense of urgency, specifying deadlines and your intentions regarding future use of the space. Treat it like an appointment. Don’t be afraid to explain that unclaimed items would be donated to charity. You will be amazed at how much space you will free up, by reducing the volume of storage used by the "other people" in your home.

Failure to Launch

Back at the end of March, Good Riddance’s services became the subject of piece in our local Vancouver newspaper under the rubric of Do It Better (www.theprovince.com/doitbetter). The reporter wanted to shoot a video that would showcase our de-cluttering process. Our clients, members of the Baby Boomer generation, looking forward to retirement and allegedly “empty nesters” agreed to become the case study for the report. I say allegedly because although their twenty-something children had left home, their belongings had not. In their son’s case, he had moved downtown, but his bedroom remained frozen in time, housing his clothing, music, sports equipment, books and memorabilia that he hadn’t the room for in his small apartment. Their daughter had likewise moved out on her own, only to return several years later with her craft supplies, collectables and wardrobe. When she came home, she deposited her bags and cartons in the finished basement, converting a would-be media room into warehouse space. We were brought in to organize the “wrecked’ room into a rec room.

Ever since the release of the comedy, “Failure to Launch”, much has been written about this phenomenon of the “boomerang” kids and the economic, social and psychological drivers responsible for the behavior. After a point, what parents don’t fantasize about reclaiming the house for their own purposes – converting bedrooms into home offices, gyms, and meditation or craft rooms? Is it not a reasonable expectation that when they do leave, that adult children take their possessions with them and not leave them with Mom or Dad for time immemorial? As professional organizers, we encounter many situations similar to the one described above. Parents often walk a thin line in making their adult children feel welcome while postponing their own plans for a post-child centric abode. We believe it is important for parents to address this with adult children. Expectations must be communicated, lest resentments build. Adult children need to understand that their family home should not be treated as a giant storage locker. Clutter is everyone’s responsibility, no matter what age. Use it or lose it!

For Now=Forgetaboutit

Are you one of those people who is constantly on a search and find mission, always re-buying the same necessities because you don’t know where they are and feeling frustrated because you can’t seem to break the cycle? If this sounds remotely like you, chances are that you may suffer from the “For Now” syndrome.

As you are likely to be a busy person, pre-occupied with the things that really matter like performing well at your job, being a nurturing spouse, friend or parent, keeping yourself in shape or finding parking, you may not be placing significant focus on what happens to things when they enter your home. Just coming in the front door you are generally greeted with mail and periodicals. You probably have packages in your hands. The phone is beeping. On your way out, there are even more distractions. So, what generally happens is that things get placed "temporarily" until you have the time to deal with them properly. You tell yourself, I will put this here for now – a drawer, a table, a pile, in a plastic bag – instead of in the room or cabinet where they actually belong. And there’s the rub.

When your things don’t have a permanent home, they have a tendency to become forgotten. You pay the price in lost time, productivity and low self-esteem. Fitting everything into a busy schedule is challenging enough without spending another 25 minutes hunting down missing keys, permission slips and overdue books.

In 2008, make the extra effort to develop and maintain logical locations for new purchases, important papers and indispensible tools like telephones. Don’t fall into the “for now” trap. Those are two words to eliminate from your vocabulary and you’ll stay on top of your clutter

Top 10 Packing Tips

The recent hike in fuel costs has resulted in airlines having to increase costs and pass them onto the consumer. Most notably many airlines are now charging a fee for luggage over 23 kilos. Don't even think about trying to check 2 pieces of luggage as more than likely, you will be charged for that 2nd piece. This alone can add more stress to an already stressful endeavour. That said, now more than ever, we are being approached by the media for our opinion on how to pack a suitcase. So, we have come up with our top 10 packing tips:

1. Make sure your suitcase is a newer, lighter model and choose a medium size
2. Give yourself enough time to pack (it takes longer than you think)
3. Roll your clothes
4. Employ the use of compression bags or space bags
5. Only pack clothing and shoes that you love...don't pack things you think you might wear.
6. Use small containers for your shampoo and cosmetics
7. Separate toiletries into ziplock bags that you can tuck into small spaces in your suitcase
8. Ensure your on-board bag has a change of clothes just incase your suitcase doesn't arrive
9. Bring only 3 pairs of shoes
10. Stuff socks into shoes to maximize space

We hope this helps you for your next trip!

100 Things

OK - we haven't commented for quite some time...I guess life got in the way. Susan and I have been very busy with several projects and in March I decided to take a trip to Italy for 2 weeks. Then upon my return immediately move to a new condo. Whew! Glad that's over. There's nothing like downsizing to keep you honest. All that "stuff" my husband and I thought we needed but now really don't....

things like this that we used to really love or that we always meant to refinish. But the greatest reward from downsizing is that you can't take it all with you. This is a very liberating experience because the process forces you to make the best and wisest choices. Simply put, you must let go of some of your things. Speaking of things, you must visit this website http://www.guynameddave.com/. His challenge is to bring his personal possessions down to just 100 items by November 2008. He will then live for one year with just 100 personal "things". What a challenge! His blog is interesting and includes lists of the items he currently has as well as some categories of things that are exempt from his 100 count. His latest count brings him to 97 items but he feels he has forgotten a few things. We're looking forward to keeping tabs on his progress.

Skeletons in the closet

Buried deep in the closets of many Canadian homes are treasures from the past. But are these treasures weighing you down or are you enjoying them? Our clients tell us they can’t believe what their closets hold until they have to pack them up to move. You’d be surprised to realize how many boxes worth of stuff are jammed into our closets. If your son or daughter is married and have kids of their own and you are still holding onto you’re their grade 3 paper-maché art projects you may want to ask yourself why? Are you living in the past or the present? Sometimes we have comical reasons why we keep things. OK – true confessions! In my jewelry box I still have a lapel pin my 4 year old son made for me…he’s now 22! I never wear it but I do keep it as a reminder of what a great little artist he was and still is. At least it doesn’t take up too much room. On the other hand we’ve seen some clients keep every piece of art work their kids ever made. This can result in boxes not only being stored in the closet but also in the spare bedroom, the attic and the garage! Do you have a true confession? Please share!

Not a moving experience!

She was at her wits end when we got the call! This past November we worked with a woman who recently moved to Vancouver from Hamilton to be closer to her children. What should have been a transforming experience turned out to be chaotic, disappointing and botched by unqualified, uncaring movers. Though the company (who shall remain unnamed) has been in business for many years, my client and I discovered after doing a bit of on-line research and blogging, her debacle was not an uncommon occurrence with others who had used this company.

We won’t go in to absolute detail but her story is as follows. After deciding to move to the Coast her daughter thought she’d found the perfect company to assist with moving her Mother across the country. My client knew she was in trouble when the day before her scheduled move, they called to confirm the time the movers were to arrive. The agreed time did not sound right and she questioned whether they’d have enough time to pack all of the contents of her apartment. “Oh, we have to pack your items too?” said the guy on the line. At this point, it was too late to make any changes and Jane (not her real name) hoped for the best. After all, the company has been in business for a long time.

When the movers arrived the next day, Jane left the apartment so as not be in the way of the movers. Now, let me explain, Jane is a senior, has MS and is in a wheelchair and felt she would simply be in the way.

We will spare you all the details – suffice it to say her items did not arrive in tact nor did they arrive on time. Jane had to take up residence at the local YWCA because they couldn’t find her items and therefore she could not move into an empty apartment. She had to hound them daily by phone to ask them to find her stuff. Many times her calls were not returned by anyone from the administration office. Finally when her items arrived, furniture had not been packed properly and had been damaged in the move, items were missing, components of some of her furniture were missing (like the glass shelves from her china cabinet and the hose from her vacuum cleaner), items had been dumped into boxes with opened powder detergent resulting in spoiled contents of boxes. This is just a sampling of problems that were encountered. We simply want to make a point because our client realized she had made one grave error. She had not done her homework on the company she was employing to move her. Secondly, she realized she should have never left the premises and assumed the contents of your home were being handled with care.

It wasn’t until after this harrowing experience that Jane realized that there are many blogs filled with complaints and horror stories from others who have used this company. If this helps at least one person – then our job is done. Remember – do your due diligence before employing anyone to help you move.

If You Were Not Born with the Organizing Gene - Move to Another Room

If you are not among the fortunate 35% of the population that have been organized since birth, do not despair. The trick to having an organized home (life) is simple. The reason that organized people don’t spend half their waking hours searching for things, is not they possess photographic memories. They understand intuitively that they can retrieve whatever they need, as long as those things reside in the areas in which they are used.

Try to imagine a shopping experience in your home. Does your house or apartment resemble a department store? Stores are designed to assist people in finding what they need. A large store would no sooner combine kitchen gadgets with lingerie than they would offer baked goods and snow tires at the same counter. When applying this concept to your own living space, think of how you organize your storage, closets and rooms. Do you have closets that are repositories for cartons of books, gift wrap, mountains of greeting cards received over the years as well as clothing? Are you storing paperwork in your kitchen cupboards, bedroom side tables and your home office? Do you scatter tools in every room in the house? Are there extra dishes in the bathrooms?

Do a walk through in your own home. Bring a large box or shopping bag. Root out those possessions that don’t belong in the rooms where they currently reside and move them to another room – the room where they are actually utilized. You will save time, money and feel in control.

Hoarders

Everyone was talking about it …. the two part Oprah show entitled “Inside the Lives of Hoarders” which aired November 15th and 16th. Kudos to Oprah for shedding light on this misunderstood topic as it may be more common than you think. http://www.oprah.com/foodhome/home/repair/slide/20071115/repair_20071115_350_101.jhtml
This was a fascinating show depicting the struggles of one woman whose hoarding affected her entire family. If you saw the show, we welcome your comments.
Our experience tells us one thing – you cannot help a hoarder until they are ready to help themselves. The worst thing to do is to step into their home uninvited and think you are doing them a great service by clearing their clutter and organizing their space. That’s the worse thing you can do! They have to be mentally ready to part with their “stuff”. A hoarder normally has very deep-seeded reasons associated with this behavior and should seek professional help. The National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization (NSGCD) has created a Clutter-Hoarding Scale as an assessment measurement tool. Visit them at http://www.nsgcd.com/

It’s Your Move…

We recently discovered a great thing and want to share it with you. When moving is right up there with death and divorce when it comes to stress, anything to make it a more pleasing experience is worth sharing! The company is called It’s Your Move. They make packing and moving easier and environmentally friendly too! They address the question: “What do you do with all those boxes after your move? Instead of using cardboard boxes they rent out stackable, plastic boxes on a dolly. They deliver the boxes to you AND pick them up at the end of your move after you’ve emptied them. Their prices are reasonable and comparable to what you would pay for cardboard boxes. Visit their website at http://www.saynotoboxes.com/

Moving Mom and Dad – When it’s Time

Our earlier blog topic addressed the pro-active strategy on downsizing. However, many of us see our parents in homes they have lived in for 25 years or longer. If poor health, mobility or cognitive problems are prompting you to discuss moving your parents to a smaller more manageable space or an assisted living residence, how do you begin to broach the subject? There’s no question this can be a tender topic. Many times family dynamics can interfere with the decision making resulting in inertia. Here are some suggestions on how to open the conversation: Are your parents lonely? Is there social circle dwindling? Are they happy? Are finances an issue – can they still afford their large home on their pension income? Or, can they still keep up the physical maintenance on their home? Are they taking care of themselves and eating properly? As always, conducting the conversation with tact, love and understanding is paramount. When it comes time to sell their home we recommend engaging a caring Real Estate Agent – one who truly enjoys working with Senior’s and is sensitive to the major life transition they are facing.

It’s never too early to start thinking about downsizing

Last week we received a call resulting in us doing a consultation for a new client who is looking to downsize within 2 to 3 years. Her reasons to start early make a lot of sense. She and her husband have 3 children. Her daughter has already graduated from University and has more or less moved out on her own. Her other 2 boys are 14 and 17 years old. Admittedly, she is a long-term planner and can foresee that her 4 bedroom home will simply be too large once her boys graduate as well. As Professional Organizers and Downsizing Experts, we all too often see the opposite. We see couples who have been rattling around in their family home for many years after their children have left. From these clients we hear the same statement. “Why didn’t we do this sooner!” Some clients unfortunately wait too long and find themselves impeded by ill-health when they finally decide to make the move.

Though written in June of 2005, the following link addresses some of the questions and imparts some excellent advice

http://money.cnn.com/2005/05/16/real_estate/re2005_smaller_0506/

Being pro-active about downsizing is simply the best strategy. How many of you are grappling with the same decision or have parents you have been trying to convince to start downsizing?