What method works best?

my biggest question might be: How might you attempt to motivate other family members to participate in the ongoing organizing? Not to ask them to declutter or formulate organizational plans, just to engage them in some way that they respect the organization and help maintain it.

At our house, it sometimes feels like an ongoing episode of The Odd Couple. There is a place for everything, but things so often do not make it back to their place.

-How can you keep your kitchen organized? It seems to get messy in a matter of minutes after cleaning it.

-How can you keep an organized home when you have kids? How can you motivate them in staying organized (i.e toys everywhere, clothes etc)

How can I get the fortitude to just get rid of stuff?

How can I get other people to get rid of stuff?

Who will come keep me company while I get rid of stuff?

Where can I find the time to get rid of stuff?

I've figured out (mostly) how long to keep papers, but I know a lot of people struggle with it.

Does anybody want my cookie cutters?

Where can I donate stuffed animals? (The kids won't agree w/ just tossing them.)

How can I store shoes? I have yet to find a way that works consistently.

WHY WHY WHY is my sock drawer a permanent, perpetual mess? I have at least partial control of almost every other drawer or shelving area or cabinet in the house.

do I need it now or in future? do I like it?

It was a gift--can I get rid of it anyway? Do I have to use it? Do I have to pull it out when the giver comes over?

Talley Sue, Yes! No and definately Not! ;)

Lol, Talley Sue- great question. In that tidying book that was discussed a lot on this forum, the author contends that the purpose of a gift is fulfilled when it is given. I thought that was an interesting way to look at gifts- more as a kind gesture than the material item.

That said though, I usually hang onto gifts I don't care for for a year or two, see if they are brought up by the giver, and then pass them on.

definately agree with that author!

my man will not put anything back in it;s place and it is frustrating. i just found a box in the shed that had misc stuff from when he cleaned out his car months ago..i wondered where those coffee cups, umbrella and my sunglasses went! .. does he have ADD for real?

I know it's frustrating when the people we live with don't share the same level of care towards staying organized. I had a very honest slightly joking conversation with him the other night about where he outs his laundry. About 11-12 yrs ago we had closet organizers put in with space for laundry. He never made it that far so instead put it in his portion of the walk in. This always frustrated me because I use the space as well. He then became frustrated that his laundry wasn't getting done. So when he asked me, with a hint of sarcasm, what I would do if he used the laundry baskets from now on. I laughed with a little bit of tears and said I'd be thrilled. He noticed the REAL importance and so far there hasn't been a drip of laundry on that floor.

I think we can agree that we both have habits that annoy one another but if we both try and agree to change those we've shown the other that their opinion matters.

Funny how a little laundry is attached to such a state of emotion.

How is it easier to put things down when you walk in the door, since all you're doing is putting off the inevitable, or risk not finding it when you want. Why not do it immediately, when you walk in the door? At least, that's what I'd like for my son to understand. He does this at the front door and again at his bedroom door. heavy sigh

Jen is right," if we both try and agree to change"

I asked my man not to come in and put his stuff on the kitchen table..he still does it.. just can't change..i know sometimes it is ok, but yesterday i had the table cleared and the bowl and rolling pin out, it was obvious i was starting to make biscuits..and he still put the mail on the clean cutting board i use to roll the dough..I keep telling myself that "they know not what they do" and go with the flow, but then it comes down to feelings of respect...

How is it easier to put things down when you walk in the door, since all you're doing is putting off the inevitable, or risk not finding it when you want. Why not do it immediately, when you walk in the door?

Yes! I call this "delegating to future Talley Sue." I'm going to have to do it eventually. So the actual ergs expended (use that word on your teenager!) will be the same no matter what.

However, if I put it down instead of putting it away, I will have to spend ergs moving it around, and ergs looking for it. It's actually much more efficient to put it in the right place right away.

AAAAND.....if that "right place" is too difficult, then it's time to reject stereotypes and create a NEW "right place" that is very easy to access.

(Like, move the coat rack to right beside the door; move the backpack corral to right beside the door)

cybersecretary:

it was obvious i was starting to make biscuits..and he still put the mail on the clean cutting board i use to roll the dough.

Is there a trend for what gets set there? Can you establish some other place that those things can be officially "set down," that's on his pathway through the room but NOT the table?

The thing my husband wouldn't do that nearly destroyed our marriage (truth, I'm not kidding; I'm still working through the mental and emotional damage it did) is that he wouldn't hang up my work T-shirts, work shirts, work pants, work tops when they came out of the dryer. (He's home during the day and did the laundry.) He'd dump it all in the laundry basket, and it would get wrinkled.

I tried everything, verbally. I tried mentioning it. I tried a heart-to-heart in which I pointed out that it was becoming emotionally damaging; I was in a rough place at work, and I needed support, and words weren't enough; unwrinkled work clothes were. (in your case, I'd have been trying to say, "this is a matter of respect, actually--I feel that you are -refusing- to acknowledge that I even exist in the room! You want to do what you want, and I don't even impinge on your consciousness; I'm just an object like a chair or something, not a living, breathing, pie-crust-rolling human whose activities are of interest to you."

He was better, he really was, for two rounds of laundry.

I finally decided I would like to stay married, and I went a bought my own hamper and do my own laundry.

He *might* have been better at it if he hadn't had to make the extra step of remembering to get the hangers out of the closet. Maybe.

So, if you can find a logistical way to solve the problem, that would help. But the other person has to care enough to think about it.

Oh, this is my burning question: how organized is organized enough? I feel as if I am constantly thinking I'm "almost there," but "there" never comes. Will it? My older friends say it will when the kids move out, and then the chaos will be replaced with orderly loneliness. Not a great mental picture! Well, actually, the orderly part is... :) So I guess another question is, "How organized can a family with little kids hope to be without housekeeping taking over everyone's lives?"

@Katrina re: How much is too much. getting home organized in a family setting with different personalities is a huge challenge and the key is to get members to adopt "doable" habits for keeping their space neat. If you yell as your teenager for not folding teeshirts the way you showed him (and you are right, your way is the most space saving way), you've gone too far. If he's folding shirts, be grateful and not freak out b/c he didn't do it "right". If he's discarding old clothes, don't freak out if he didn't put them in the giveway section you created. That's what I call crossing the organizational line.

Yikes, who wants orderly loneliness? Not me. Like Vossy said, getting everyone moving in the same direction is key. Be content that clean laundry isn't on the floor, an orderly appearance inside of drawers is considerably less important.

I love Talley's comment about delegating work to the future Talley-Sue. It seems that I have a house filled with people who delegate tasks to future-me. This morning, my DS complained about all of the stuff on the coffee table. Not much really, but it's an issue to him. Yet moments before, he took the "pens and pencils" box out of the supplies cupboard, grabbed a few pens, and left it on the kitchen counter. Of course when I pointed this out, he immediately put the box away and said nothing. Good for him! In some respects, it's difficult that certain members of my family do not regard my time while they have plenty of their own to accomplish simple put-it-away tasks. But I'm done with nagging. I'm grateful when things get done, even poorly done, and have finally learned to shut my mouth when it comes to pointing out less-than-perfect results. Life is too short to be angry about the little things. As long as I'm not guilty of slave-driving my future self, I'm good.

#1 Can I get rid of this?

"this" being whatever has been hanging around for the last n years without being touched -- from taxes and other financial paperwork to CDs to old clothes to memorabilia to random awards from old jobs...

#2 Do I need to buy even more stuff to be organized?

Whether it's file boxes or trays or whatever. And if I need to buy stuff where do I find quality stuff that I won't need to replace too often.

talley_sue_nyc,

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I've figured out (mostly) how long to keep papers, but I know a lot of people struggle with it.

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Can you share what you found on this?

Where do you put daily essentials in a modren/contemporary kitchen to keep counters pristine and clutter free like the photos in HOUZZ?