Organizing My Small Apartment with Two Teens

http://www.declutterfast.com
This site has a lot of helpful hints - and she sends out a newsletter, not daily - but I have found it helpful.
Good luck!

Lorraine Brock of Get Organized (local professional organizer in Richardson) helped me. I have an area in the kitchen that how holds a file crate with a folder for each day of the month, then one for each month, and a few extras like "coupons", "mail supplies", "hubby", The stuff goes in the appropriate folders - you could have one for your kids to check. Stuff that's for the following month goes in the month folder, then into the day folder when the month rolls around. It's working pretty well. If you need more help than that, her rates are very reasonable. Good luck!

Not exactly for organizing, but the flylady.com is a great site with lots of helpful hints on cleaning so that nothing gets to be too big of a chore.

Why don't you put your teens to work. They should have great imaginations. Have them use tempera paint to brightly color cardboard boxes and paint the names on them like "Shoes", "books", "cds", etc. Let them come up with inexpensive ways to organize the stuff. Kids have unlimited mental energy. Use it.

D. Kimbriel
Grandma to 2 beautiful boys

Ikea has great ideas for organization in really small areas. They have mock apartments and you can buy pieces of the room they have designed for really reasonable. It's cool just to see all their ideas for such small spaces.

Even if you dont buy anything the container store can help you see all the organization possibilities!! good luck! (and i'm all talk, i need to do the same!) :) :)

B.,

I am a professional organizer. I have worked with 3 moms so far from Mamasourse... the last one this week. Please go to my website http://www.getorganized.ws/OrganizingServices/PricingandI...

This link above will spell out how it all works. I have writen many articles for the Dallas Morning News and been on a local radio station a few times. Please check out those artilce on my home page. If you would like a consultation please email me back.

Oh, and the consultation can be designed to give you the ideas so you can do the work yourself.

Thanks,

L. B.
www.GetOrganized.ws

flylady

But she'd just tell you to start with one pile, and file, sort, or throw away everything in it... then don't let that one build back up and move on to the next one.

I do love flylady, though - me, my 2 full time kids, my 2 part time kids, my absent hubby and our little 750 sq foot apartment.

S.

Dear B.,

I am a piler. My solution is that you really need storage. Get yourself a lateral file cabinet and take the weekend to get your tax info together, sort the bill stubs and staple them together. Get a cheap folder from Walmart, 25 cents, one for every month. As you pay your bills, place the stub in the folder for that month with receipts and things you want to keep. This helps me keep track of stuff, I can remember the month and I find it in the folder and pull out what I need. My piles have gotten smaller.
Also, pay your bills online, has also cut down on my paper piles because I keep the bill and throw out the envelope and junk that comes in my mail. Also, get a cross cut shredder for any paper with sensitive info on it. Good luck!

I agree with Tracie. Check out flylady.net
She has helped me tremendously!!

Definitely recommend Sandy Jones - Simply Organized by Sandy. As a single mom of two, she not only will have profeesional recommendations, but probably understands your needs first hand. Her contact info/web is: http://www.organizedbysandy.com/

Good luck and let her know I sent you. ;o)

Hello B.,

Good question! I hope you get things organized! I wonder if a two-pronged attack will work. Get help right now for getting rid of the clutter/piles that are bothering you right now, but the next challenge is to discover and conquer why you build up the piles.

I found Julie Morgenstern's book Organizing from the Inside Out helpful. I'm working on some of my problem areas! I've read a lot of books on organizing and decluttering and this one has helped me start to understand why I let clutter build up.

A.

B.,

I am a home stager out of Denton. We specialize in organzing and decluttering homes. Feel free to view my ____@____.com We can work within your budget. We can do the work or just give you a plan.

I go to thrift stores. Shelves, bookcases, filing cabinets, baskets. I watch clean sweep all the time. get manila folders and label them to put groups of papers in and then in baskets and then on the shelves.

On a Friday night or which ever you prefer, eat a good meal, have ice water on hand to sip through the cleaning, put on comfortable clothes, put on a good CD or radio station... and start going through your piles of stuff. You will need a shredder, trash bags, and a timer. Timer? Set your timer for an hour and see how much you accomplished in that hour and then proceed through the evening.

Does not matter where you actually start... but as you receive particular items think do I need this or not. Check with your local post office for the do not mail list. Also, might try getting a post office box because they will not deliver the flyers that one gets at their physical address.

Good luck.

Hi B.,

You have received quite a few good ideas, so, I only wanted to offer friendship if you need one, since your family is not here. I raised a son alone and did not have family close by and know the feeling.

God Bless you and you children.

A.

You're in luck! That is part of my business and I would love to get your home streamlined in a logical order that works for YOUR lifestyle. Check out my listing under Mamsource Business listings.

Take care!
T.
Well Organized Living

Thanks for asking this question and thanks to all who responded. One of my New Year's goals is to get my house de-cluttered as well.

Good luck to all of us!

M.
"Our pediatrician misses us. So does the pharmacist."
Visit my Mamasource profile to find out why!