I was chatting with friends this weekend about some of their “stuff” issues. One wanted to know about how to help her husband (who’s starting to some tendencies of his hoarding father), and the other wanted to know how to better deal with the emotional side of purging some of belongings that reminded her of her deceased mother. What I found interesting is how many people consider themselves “hoarders” just because they have a hard time letting go.

There’s a big difference between having clutter, being a packrat, and hoarding.

Clutter happens when people are busy doing other things, or have inadequate storage, or are postponing making decisions about what to do with certain items and stuff piles up. With a little elbow grease, clutter can usually be cleared quickly and storage solutions can be put in place so everything has a home moving forward. However, clutter can sometimes be a symptom of a larger issue like chronic disorganization, ADD, depression, or feeling a lack of control.

Being a packrat means that people pile things up because they like being surrounded by it and they don’t want to throw things away unless they’re forced to. The clutter in this case has some perceived value to it, and packrats usually hold on to things because they “may need it” someday and can usually tell me several things that item could be used for. It’s creative thinking, but it makes for unhappy surroundings because those items continue to pile up even if there is ample storage because there’s just too much of it, and the owners don’t perceive the items as being in the way. Putting things in perspective generally helps here. For example, asking, “How long have you had this item and when’s the last time you used it?” Or, “Tell me a date you plan on using this item” generally help people let go if it’s something they haven’t touched in a while. Another good question to ask is, “What’s more important, keeping this item or having a functional space?” For example, “Is it more important to keep those boxes of old papers in the living room or have a space your baby can safely crawl & play?” People will usually make the right call.

Hoarding is very different and goes much deeper than having too much stuff. The National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization (NSGCD) grades 5 levels of hoarding. There are lots of reasons for hoarding and true hoarders usually require the help of a therapist, an organizer, and other teams such as mold and pest control specialists. True hoarding can be dangerous to the health of the hoarder and their family and this is the real difference between “packratism” and hoarding. Here’s an interesting article about The Hoarding Syndrome.

An organizer can help get to the root cause of any of these and put organizing systems and teams in place to create organized spaces and organized minds.

What I want to know is, how many of you consider yourself a hoarder and why?

The fireplace. The focal point of the room. Supposedly.

If your fireplace doesn’t spark your interest or isn’t the first thing you notice when you walk in the room, here are some tips for staging it.

But remember that redesign is different from home selling. Redesign is customizing the look to fit your personal style, and staging for home selling is neutralizing your style altogether. Either way, here are some tips they share:

• First, clear the clutter off the mantle and remove furniture, plants, toys, papers, and general clutter from in front of the fireplace. Start with a blank slate.
• Next, if you have a wood burning fireplace, clean it! Scoop out all ashes ,and if you have dirty brick, use soap & warm water to scrub it (and possibly a wire brush if it’s really dirty).
• Does the wall the fireplace is on draw your eye immediately? If not, think about painting the wall 2 shades darker than your existing wall color, or a contrasting tone on the color wheel. You can also pull a favorite color from accessories like pillows which will tie the whole room together when you’re done. Usually a quart of paint will be plenty for at least 2 coats with some left over for touch ups later. If you have exposed brick and it’s dating the room, paint it! Light, creamy, earthy tones are hot right now and will make the room feel larger.
• If you have a brass fireplace grate, your room will automatically look dated. Disconnect it, and for a $5 can of black heat-resistant spray paint used for grills, you’ll have a more modern look.
• Does your mantle fit the scale of the fireplace? If not bulk it up with some 2×4s or some decorative trim. Paint it to match the existing trim in your room.
• Next step is to choose one large item to place over the mantle, usually some cool artwork or a mirror. In general, I love mirrors, but when they’re hung over a fireplace, they’re really too high to reflect the room and end up showing off a white ceiling or boring ceiling fan, which is not good. If you do use a mirror, try something in a round or oval shape to offset the squareness of the fireplace. If using artwork, fit the scale of the wall. In most cases, a 24×36 will work nicely.
• Now accessorize. If you like symmetry, get 2 of the same decoration to place on the each end of the mantle, or use decorations with a similar size or color. If you like asymmetry, keep balance in mind. Your accessories don’t have to be matchy-matchy, but they should balance visually. So mix a large, light colored item with a small dark object on one side (or a collection of mid-toned items like similar colored pottery), and a single large dark item on the other.
• Family photos. Here’s where the redesign vs. home staging differs. If you’re selling the home, eliminate all family photos. People want to picture their own family in the space, not yours. If you’re just redesigning, feel free to use photos, but paint the frames to be the same color so it’s soothing to the eye and less distracting. All black or all metal look very modern.
• Use a plant or small lamp to give your mantle some life. Greenery & light energize a space. If using candles, be sure they’re lit for an open house.
• Now that your fireplace is gorgeous, it’s time to make sure people see it when they walk in. Treat the fireplace as if it’s another piece of furniture in your home and arrange existing seating around it. If you think of the fireplace as part of a wall, you’ll be more likely to cover it up. If you have a corner fireplace, try angling the sofa perpendicular to it and lining up a coffee table like a runway leading to it.
• For an open house, be sure the fireplace is lit! It draws the eye, and conveys a coziness that will make everyone want to snuggle up. The only time this is a bad idea is when it’s over 80 degrees outside, or no one will be in the home for several hours after it’s shown.

I’d love to see some pictures of your rooms and hear your design tips!

If the stacks of business cards you’ve collected are beginning to look like the mountain in Close Encounters, or your wallet rivals George Castanza’s, oh yes, it’s time to do something. But who’s got time to key in all that info to your contact database, or scan & categorize all those receipts? Wish you could just hand the stack to someone and for less than dinner out one night, it’s all taken care of? YOU’RE IN LUCK!

My favorite service for this is Shoeboxed.com and they’ll scan, automatically categorize & send back or recycle your receipts (depending on your tier). It works like Netflix where you get an envelope that you stuff full and mail back (postage is already taken care of) and they send you a new envelope for your next wad.

They recently added business card scanning to their list of services too!

After they scan, everything is downloadable to Quicken, Excel, PDF, or CSV so you can import to your contact database or financial system. The IRS now accepts scanned receipts for tax purposes, and if ever there’s a dispute, you can click on a full size picture of the original receipt.

They’ve also have a great reporting tool so you can see spending charts to get a handle on your budget.

So if you want to clear the stacks of cards and be able to sit without leaning because your wallet’s too fat, click here to learn more or sign up.

I want to know, what do you keep in your wallet? Is it fat or skinny? What are your essentials for leaving the house?

How do you keep track of your passwords? All in your head? Written on scraps of paper? How often do you lose them? Ever had one stolen?

I can’t even tell you how many clients homes I’ve done where important passwords are written on a paper scrap and taped on the computer. I try not to panic when I see this, but it’s SO DANGEROUS. With my background in eCommerce, I’ve seen my fair share of identity theft victims, and I can’t help but think how easily some of them could’ve prevented it.

So how many passwords do you have? If you’re like most people, it’s between 4 & 40. 4 is manageable, but tack on just a few more and suddenly people’s brains explode. Personally, I have 64 passwords at the moment and my memory’s not what it used to be, so I need a little help keeping track. Especially for the sites I only go to a couple times a year. So what do I use?

I use my electronic password organizer. It works like an address book so it's alphabetical (Visa password goes under "V", eBay goes under "E", etc.). I can paste in the site URLs for the login pages which saves me time, and I keep my usernames, passwords, notes like answers to my secret questions, etc. You can also follow the instructions to password protect the file so if anyone sneaks onto your computer, they can't just open it.

For those of you who are "paper people", this password book by Innovention Lab is terrific and is less than $20.

Tips for Creating Secure Passwords

• Use 8 characters or more; 14 is ideal.
• Combine both upper and lowercase letters with numbers and symbols such as a period, @, #, and $
• Pick letters from a phrase that’s meaningful to you to create a “pass phrase.” (“Do you know the way to San Jose?” could be D!Y!KtwTSJ?)
• Select a unique password and not one that you are using for some other purpose, such as your PIN at the bank or your password to another system.
• Change your passwords every 72 days or less.
• Avoid sequences or repeated characters like “12345678,” “222222,” “abcdefg.”
• Avoid sending your password over email.
• Test the strength of your passwords with a password strength checker.

According to this BBC article, more than 70% of people would reveal their computer password in exchange for a bar of chocolate. Read that again. A BAR OF CHOCOLATE. So if you’re part of that 70%, what do you do when you get ripped off?

1. Place a fraud alert on your credit reports, and review your credit reports.
2. Close the accounts that have been tampered with and dispute any transactions, and open new accounts.
3. File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.
4. File a report with your local police or the police in the community where the identity theft took place.

For more in depth info, click here. If only the thieves would put their creative skills to use for good and not evil…….

We all got ‘em….old diaper boxes, computer component boxes, Amazon.com shipments….so let’s reduce/reuse/recycle by putting them to good use and control our clutter!

Keep an empty box in every closet of the house:

• Front hall closet: keep a box for “outgoing” items like store returns, library books, or items that belong to someone else. Next time you go out, grab the box!
• Kitchen pantry: keep a box for things that belong in another room like kid’s toys or loose papers. When it gets full, take 10 minutes and transport them to the right room then put the empty box back in the pantry so it’s ready for the next batch of clutter.
• Clothes closet: keep a box for items you no longer wear and want to donate. When it’s full, drop it off.
• Kid’s playrooms: keep a box in your kid’s rooms or playrooms for toys they no longer want to play with. Donate them when it gets full.
• Home office: keep a box for shred items. If you own a shredder, shred while you’re watching TV. If you don’t own a shredder, take it to a shredding service. Check with your town hall to see if your town has quarterly “shred-a-thons.”
• Craft rooms: keep a box for fabric & ribbon scraps, bits of yarn, and left over cotton polyfill. In early spring, set the box outside for a month and let birds use the bits to make their nests!

(TIP: If you’re on a tight budget or don’t have a box lying around, your local ABC store will let you have boxes for free. They’re already put together and they’re a manageable size to fit anywhere and still be light enough to lift when they’re full.)

One of my tips for clients who are facing a task they don’t want to do is to use a timer. Pick a time, say 20 minutes, set the timer, and get to it! When the timer goes off, STOP! It helps break a daunting, boring, or overwhelming task into manageable pieces, makes people feel like they’ve accomplished something, and prevents burn out. This trick works on everything from cleaning to filing to folding laundry to yardwork.

Don’t have a timer? Don’t worry! TV commercials can act as great “timers” for getting things done quickly while limiting the time a task will take.

During a commercial, here are 10 things you can get done:

1. Dust the den or living room (TIP: Keep preloaded wipes in the room in a basket or drawer!)
2. Have a treasure hunt with your kids by having them pick up items that don’t belong in the room. Whoever puts the most stuff in the treasure chest (aka, an empty box in the closet) wins!
3. Do sit ups, push ups, or lunges
4. Cuddle with the kids or your spouse
5. Make a grocery list
6. Send a thank you note
7. Call a friend to touch base quickly
8. Clean out the fridge
9. Throw in some laundry
10. Fold or put away clothes

These quick hits will prevent having to schedule big clean ups because messes never get the chance to accumulate or become overwhelming, which is why most people procrastinate. Try it and let me know how it works for you!

Who’s got time for Time Management? We all do. Time management is really all about what I like to call the “in between” minutes — that is, the few extra moments you have while you’re waiting for something else to get done.

Here are my top 5 favorite tips to use your “in between” time to keep on top of housework:

1. While waiting for the coffee to brew, wipe down the kitchen countertops. (Estimated time: 1 1/2 minutes)
2. While breakfast is cooking, empty the dishwasher. When breakfast is done, load the dishes in your empty dishwasher so nothing stacks up in the sink. Run it before bedtime, and it’ll be ready to unload again in the morning. (Estimated time: 4 minutes)
3. While your shower water is heating up, use disinfecting wipes to clean the bathroom sink & toilet. (TIP: Keep wipes under every sink in your house so they’re ready when you are!) (Estimated time: 1 minute.)
4. Keep a magic eraser or sponge in your shower to wipe it down before you get out. There’s no more gross scum build up, and no need to schedule a time to clean! (Estimated time: 3 minutes.)
5. Next time you’re on the phone, sweep the kitchen floor. (Estimated time: 2 minutes.)

I find that people think small tasks take longer than they actually do, so next time you do a chore, try timing yourself and you’ll probably be surprised at how long it doesn’t take. And once you see how much gets done “in between,” you’ll have plenty of extra time to do something fun!