AboutJan Hayner Expertise I can answer any questions on Home organizing, file and paper management, organizing for parents, kids, senior citizens and on housekeeping and cleaning solutions.
Experience I have been a Professional Organizer for 9 years, I am considered an expert in my field on the internet and have written several informational books on organizing.
Organizations I am an active member of Faithful Organizers (An International Association of Christian based Professional Organizers, a past member of NAPO (the National Association of Professional Organizers)a member of an association called Women in Management, a member of Money Smart Wisconsin-Sheboygan and was a business owner for over 25 years.
Education/Credentials A high school graduated a the rest of my learning capablilities came from making a lot of mistakes in my lifetime and learning from all of them.
Question QUESTION: I inherited my grandparents house from my Mother when she passed away last April. In short, in a 1150 Sq.Ft. house and 1.5 story garage we literally have 3 households worth of stuff. We have 4 children and LITERALLY no room. We already have last summer filled a 20 yard roll off. We will be getting another this summer. There are alot of knick knacks, antiques, etc. Stuff, Stuff and more stuff in and out. We need help, suggestions, ideas. I also have no siblings to pass some on to. Thank You
ANSWER: Hi Heather;
believe it or not, your nightmare, is my dream come true! Sounds crazy right? But it is so true, if there is anything that I like, it is a real challenge and YOU have it!
I know all sounds like you are living a nightmare that will never be over, but it can all be dealt with. I sure do wish that you would live near me, I would be over in a jiffy!
Okay, here are some tips that will help you to deal with some of this. I don't want to scare you, but it is going to get worse before it gets better. Now that I have totally upset your life, let me tell you why that will happen. Once you start to sort, you have what is called an 'organized mess'. This is when you have things in various stages of completion, but there is junk all over. Yes, worse than you have now, but it won't last long and you will start to see large improvements in a short amount of time.
1. Make enough room, even if you have to pile boxes to the ceiling, so that you have a working area.
2. In this area you will have several boxes that will be labeled: Donate, Sell, Give Away, Throw Away.
The hint at this point is to make a decision on every piece that you touch. Don't say, I have to think about this, or I will deal with it later. Decide, Apply and Disperse.
3. Now take a box and start to sort it. Everything in that box has to end up in one of the boxes that are labeled.
4. As a box gets full, get rid of it. If it is garbage, put it in your garbage area, if it is donate; put it in the car and get rid of it at the earliest possible time, if it is Give Away; call whoever is going to get it and make sure it is gone by the end of the day at the very longest, a week. Don't let it take up space. If it is for a rummage sale, mark it and box it, mark the box rummage and find a designated area to pile these boxes.
Go through the entire storage area. All boxes that are empty should be pulled apart, folded and put out with the garbage. You may keep three or four for organizing or dividing things, but that is all.
Make sure that if you are keeping things for yourself, that you also organize it according to categories and label the box. Don't just put 'kitchen items' label WHAT ITEMS are in the box. Then find a designated area for these items. For every item that you keep, you have to get rid of an items that you already have.
A fun project would be to have your room set up and then have your siblings help you to go through Moms things, that way they can take their things home right away and you don't have a big mess left. Call it 'Moms Memory Weekend' and go through her memories and forward them on to someone else to make happy memories in their lives. It will make you all feel good by knowing that her cherished possessions will live on in someone elses family.
I hope this gave you a good start and that you find that it won't be as bad as you thought. The hard part is to get started. Then throw in a little laughter and organizing and it will be dealt with in no time.
Happy organizing, Jan
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QUESTION: It's me again. Would you have any suggestions about what to do with all the collectibles, i.e. tin treasures (big & small),Glass,4 lg. totes of S&P shakers, etc. I did find a home for some mags(20's & 30's)& 4 boxes of quilt squares. The local retirement home, they loved it! Heather
Answer Hi Heather----I am baaaack!!
It is hard to know what it is exactly that you have and if there is a higher monetary value on some items. That would have a lot to do with what my answer would be.
I owned an Antique Store for many years and have spent a lot of my life buying and selling, although some of the prices have changed through the years, the basic value of an item remains the same.
Such as the magazines, I would have tried to of sold to a private collector because they had value in more areas than just the name of the magazine.
Tin Collectibles also have a certain price worthiness depending on the age. If you are not sure of some things, make a list of items; tins collectibles, the description (fairy lamp, wall sconce etc.) the approximate size and then take a trip to the library or look on the Internet (ebay is a good place) for the approximate worth of the item. You may be surprised. If it is of little to no value, give it away, or sell it at a rummage sale. You may be able to sell a few things over ebay too and earn yourself some extra cash.
Salt and pepper shakers- if they are just the plain everyday salt and pepper shakers and will only sell for about 50 cents a pair, why not donate them to a womans shelter, homeless shelter or meal pantry. Some veterans groups also would welcome donations of various things. Another place to look in order to give donations and help to the importunate is through the Department of Social Services and the Office on Aging. There are a lot of older seniors that would love to have something pretty added to their homes to give them something new to look at.
Consignment shops are great for the tin collectibles too and any other items that may have some value and you don't want to take the time to sell it yourself. They charge you a small percentage to sell the item for you; just make sure that you have a very good numbered listing of the things that you decide to consign, so you can keep track of all of the items.
I hope these gave you a few ideas Heather, it sounds as though you are just humming along....good luck!
Happy organizing,
Jan Hayner
