The only way I've been able to organize my house (once it gets past the point of regular day-to-day messiness) is to group things by like kinds and go from there. Kitchen stuff in the kitchen, bathroom stuff in the bathroom, bills and mail and other office stuff together, etc. Then I go through each gathering and group it further: coffee mugs, plates, cookware, etc.; and then divide it clean/needs washing (or just wash everything just to be sure it's all clean ). Once clean, I put like things together in a cupboard or cabinet or shelf, bigger items on the bottom and smaller as they go up.

But the only thing in my own kitchen that takes up more room than I usually have is coffee mugs. With those, I went through them and decided which ones I really and truly did not like the looks of...and passed them on to my kid sister, who was at the time in college. Otherwise, I would find an organization in town that collects second-hand things in order to help those who've been burned out of their homes replenish their new residences, or places that operate to help the homeless get back into housing of their own, or who provide safe houses for battered women/families getting back on their feet. This method of giving things away attaches to it the emotional value of giving to those who have nothing, so that they have something and can get back to a more normal routine. It has worked for me.

And to the rest of my house, I parse it down in the same manner: group things of like kinds together until each is with its own, like cable bills with cable bills, water bills with water bills, Xmas and other holiday cards received with the same, junk mail with junk mail, printer paper with the printer, recycled printer paper with same, printed stuff with same, pencils & pens, etc. Then I go through each new grouping, and like with bills I'll take them out of their envelopes, organize them by date, punch holes in the edge, and put them in a 3 inch, 3-ring binder under a header page labeled for that particular category--like have a header page for each: water, cable, electricity, gas, phone, checking account, savings account, car insurance, renter's insurance (or whatever categories you've got). In my binders, I can put two years' worth in a 3 inch binder. Or I might put each year in a binder of its own. But I find the bigger binder to be easier to find in my 'office' corner. Junk mail gets tossed and/or shredded and tossed. (Printed stuff gets gone through as one of the last things in the house to mess with, since it's the bit I like the least to deal with.) Pens and pencils are gone through, and the ones that don't work get tossed, unless it's one of those fancy pens...those I have a harder time figuring what to do with.

Clothes are a more difficult matter for me, as are shoes. *sigh* But it is do-able to go through them. I managed to go through my clothes and shoes in the past year or two and get rid of over half by asking myself: how long has it been since I wore this? how often did I ever wear this? what did I think of this when it was given to me? am I tired of wearing this? has this worn-out beyond wearability? And for things of the last sort, I either cut the good parts of fabric out for future quilt squares (I will someday have enough to make a quilt), or I give them a funeral. Sounds silly, I know, but it works. I'll either lay the item gently in the bathroom trash can (the least icky in the house), or in a trash bag slated for the purpose which is then tied closed well and put gently with the other household refuse can outside. Or if I lived where able, I'd build a fire and treat the items like retired flag and give them a burning ceremony. It's the emotional attachment to the ceremony that makes it work. And for clothes and such which are still useful, I wash them up and donate them to the local shelters, or to Salvation Army. Some donation places send clothing overseas to third-world countries for the people there to make use of.

As for things I've collected over the years which is creating clutter and isn't being in active use...I give it to the shelters which provide housing to people and families getting back on their feet from the ground up, for they are the ones who are starting out again with absolutely nothing. To help people in such situations provides the emotional ability to part with the things I like but am simply not using, or that I have such an emotional cling to. But of course, I never part with antique heirlooms, nor with extra-special items that I want to hand down in the family.

My mom, on the other hand, is much tougher to convince on all of this. *sigh* I think she is to the point of not seeing past the clutter, and sees each object by its connotations. I used to be like this, too, so I know what it is like...my childhood stuff in my old bedroom is still somewhat in this state. But with her, it is the entire house. And what gets me is that she didn't used to be like that. But I guess over time, especially after us kids, it got harder for her to part with things. It is going to take some work, but I think I can get her to resolve her need to cling. If I can just get her to sit down and spend some time at it!! 'Course, we both work, and are tired when we come home from the day, but there's weekends.... And of course it is Winter, so it's difficult to want to do any major object clean-out just through instinct. But this Spring...or as soon as the weather starts talking of Spring...I think I'll make a concerted effort to get the act in gear. Last Summer I managed to make quite a dent in my brother's old bedroom and got rid of much which had sat in there for 30 years and more...stuff which had gotten put in there when that room was just a storage room for stuff from a previous move from a much larger house. What a time travel trip that is! And it is still ongoing. *sigh* But I'll get back to it this Spring. I want to finish that job!

In the meantime, I'm working with my sister's clutter she left here after college and after she moved up to NYC. And I'm trying to get the kitchen in order...but that's a HUGE job since my mom has let it get to a point of you-wouldn't-believe-it and the fact that stuff just gets dropped wherever it happens to get dropped. I'm currently fighting the dining room table (which is in the kitchen) so I can get back to sewing projects I MUST finish (they're on a deadline, of sorts). The table is in a battle with paper clutter, books, and Thanksgiving/Xmas/daily dish and pot & pan clutter. *sigh* I'm getting overwhelmed a bit, literally. And the fact that I now live amid her clutter doesn't make it better. Oy!! And she is stuck between the does/doesn't want to deal with any of it, so who is left to deal? You guessed it.

I do know what you're dealing with, Waves. I'm guilty of this to some degree, too. My mom is completely. Her mom was the toss-it-out freak, so my mom's reaction was a bit of rebellion once she got out of her mom's household. Only now it reaches a troublesome level--especially after having lived with my dad's hoarded mess (remember me telling about it long ago?), and after having three kids and making up her mind to keep all of our stuff and letting us deal with it. Well, dealing with it was nearly impossible with our dad dragging it back into the house once we'd tossed it. So that just made it 100 times more difficult now, though a large portion of us kids' stuff got dealt with once he got ousted from the household.

As the daughter of a true hoarder, and being prone to OCD tendencies myself, I urge caution in the urge to pick items up. I struggle with this myself at times...especially with pretty sparklies that might have a craft use. Much will power gets used sometimes, 'cause I DON'T want to turn into my dad. Please, please resist the urge. I know it's hard, but do it anyway. For me and for you. I came to much grief at work in the craft area due to my save-it-for-later tendencies. My supervisor is the total opposite of me. Made for much clashing. Needless to say, I decided to get out of theatre craft work because of that (and other reasons). But hoarding can be successfully fought...one just has to keep oneself from going too far. Clutter is the bain of my existence, and I just need to keep picking away at it and keep going at that until the de-cluttering is done. I will conquer clutter...don't know when, but I will.(I don't care if anyone wants to quote that.)

Hugs to all.

--RW

--Curious--I, too, am of the artistic mind, and am prone to being too interested in other things to bother with the state of my room/house. And for years in school, my things would fall into much disarray (don't even talk about the state of the interior of my desk and backpack!) What would work for me (I had to learn mostly for myself), and probably for your daughter, too, would be to involve her in the organization of room and school stuff. To get her to work with you in straightening her things up, to involve her in putting things together where they need to go and to make organization things for her notebook and backpack. It'll take some time for her to get into the new habits, but she will eventually get into them. I still have trouble getting my clean clothes folded and into their drawer sometimes, but they do make it there when I'm in a better cleaning mood/mode. Even better if she is younger in age than I was when I began my change of habit.

--MrsD--Yes, I'm dealing with the same. And though my workspace might look like a mess to others, it has its organization. Everything has its place and gets returned to its place, even if it doesn't necessarily make sense to other people. It grates my nerves when someone else tells me how they would organize my space and then go to doing it for me. That's one reason my mom's house is going slowly. I need her input on where things ought to live before I can put things in their proper places. Trouble is, she's been in this house 35+ years and there's no longer space for all that she's accumulated. I gotta try to get her to part with items so that things fit in the space available. We do that, and de-cluttering the house will go easier and faster. And I can get to the point where I can do the CLEANING of the house that so desperately needs to happen. I do not remember the last time all the windows were washed, or when the floors were all swept, or the window ledges dusted, etc. And my memory is very long, even if the short term is a crapshoot. It hasn't been done in the past 25 years at least...THAT much I know. I little bit here, a little bit there, but nothing which would return it to what I remember when I was a little kid. *sigh* If only I can get the clutter done...then I can move on to Step 2. Step 3 is to get her to keep it up once cleaned...don't know if I'll succeed on that or not. But maybe there's hope for it since she'll be retiring soon and will be once again here all the time. Maybe, maybe, maybe....

Glad to see you back Mrs. Doubtfire!!