The 'Shrink Rap, Cluttershrink's® quarterly newsletter, provides helpful tips and ideas on organizing your home, office and life. Frequently asked questions are also included, so please read on and enjoy!

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April 2004, Issue 4

In this issue:

• Spring Cleaning - Organizing your home maintenance schedule
• Precious Memories - What to keep and how to store memorabilia
• Water Cooler Rap - Quick tips for dealing with voicemail
• Ask the Organizer - Question & Response

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Spring Cleaning

Organizing your home maintenance schedule

Spring is here! It's that time...time to open the windows and breathe in the fresh air. It's also time for SPRING CLEANING! If you're lucky, you have the option of hiring someone to do your spring cleaning for you. If not, the task falls on your shoulders. Hopefully the decent weather and sunshine will provide you with enough motivation to forge ahead and tackle every necessary task. Regardless of your home's size, there's a lot to be done.

Follow these simple tips to make your spring cleaning extravaganza a bit more manageable:

• Don't try to do all of your spring cleaning at once or even in one weekend. Give yourself a few weeks to get through the entire process. Use whatever time you have available to conquer your spring cleaning to-do list, even if you only have 15 minutes every now and then.
• Make a list of all repairs that need to be done to your home's interior and exterior. If you're a do-it-yourself kind of person, look at your calendar and pick a weekend or day to accomplish each task. Schedule a specific block of time to tackle each repair (i.e. Saturday from 9-1pm).
  Purchase all necessary supplies before your target work date. If you're not going to make the repairs yourself, start collecting estimates from various contractors for each job.
• Make one or two trips to a discount store like Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, or Costco for your all of your cleaning supplies. Buy in bulk to save money and time.
• Inspect the areas of your home that are frequently neglected - air conditioning filters, dryer vents, gutters, and tile grout and caulk. Tighten bolts on cabinets, doors and toilets. Run your air conditioner BEFORE the weather gets too hot to make sure it works.
• Stock up on flashlights, candles, batteries and bottled water. Warmer weather often brings severe thunderstorms. If your power goes out, you want to have the essentials on hand.
• Clean and organize one room at a time, and finish each room before moving on to the next. A task list for each room should include dusting, vacuuming, clearing cobwebs, laundering or dusting the curtains and/or blinds, polishing the furniture, wiping off switchplates and outlets, replacing lightbulbs, wiping down the inside of each cabinet, and cleaning appliances. Use a lint roller to dust lampshades.
• DECLUTTER - Go through each drawer, shelf, closet etc. and get rid of anything you don't use or love.
• Use time-saving products to minimize your cleaning efforts. A Swiffer is a must-have household item!
• Switch the screens in your storm door and windows.
• Clean all lawn equipment and grills. Stock up on gas, oil and charcoal if needed.
• Keep your eyes open for bugs. They tend to move inside as the weather gets warmer. Stock up on ant killer, RAID, or any other pest control spray. Have your home inspected or treated for carpenter ants and termites.
• Check windows and doors to insure that they are properly insulated.
• Have upholstered furniture and carpets professionally cleaned if needed.
• Launder all fall and winter clothing before storing it for the summer. Send winter coats, blankets and comforters to the dry cleaners.
• Clean up any leaves and lawn debris before fertilizing and weeding your lawn. Plant some colorful flowers or trees.
• Always clean from top to bottom so the dirt from the ceiling falls to the ground.
• Create a lost and found box. As you clean and organize each room, stick any "mystery" items that you find in a small box. Small toy parts, lonely socks and wires are some items that might end up in your lost and found box. (Note: lonely socks make great dusting rags.)
• Schedule a time to have a charity pick up the items you want to donate. Or, plan a yard sale.
• Replace shower liners and use Mr. Clean's Magic Eraser to help eliminate some of the soap scum build-up in your tub. I have found that this product works great on glass shower doors too.
• Use baking soda to deodorize carpets, sinks and your garbage disposal. Club soda is a great spot remover for carpets, and it's cheap!
• Wipe out the track of each window (between the window and the screen) and don't forget to wipe down your doors.
• Invest in some rubber gloves to keep your hands safe from harsh chemicals.

Take it one step at a time. Turn on some music and sing at the top of your lungs. Dance with your mop. Do whatever you can to make spring cleaning more enjoyable. In the end, you'll feel a sense of accomplishment and your home will be ready for summer barbeques and entertaining.

Precious Memories

What to Keep and How to Store Precious Memorabilia

We all have things we want to keep - reminders of our first date, art made by our precious children, heirlooms passed down by our relatives. But how do we go about storing all of this memorabilia safely?

First, we must ask ourselves why we are keeping what we are keeping. Do these items genuinely remind us of good times and happy memories? Do we have a use for each item or at least a way to display it? If all of us kept everything that we ever had a sentimental attachment to, we would all be living in complete chaos. It's impossible to store everything "sentimental". So, we must carefully pick and choose the items that mean the most to us and then give those things a place of honor in our homes and our hearts.

What we want to avoid is taking a cherished item and stashing it inappropriately in some dark corner. If you're storing a quilt your grandmother made you under a dusty bed, I have to ask you how much you really value that quilt. Do you even remember that it's there most of the time? Is your grandmother's hard work and memory being honored by treating her quilt with such disregard?

Find the things in your home that you love and cherish and put them to use or display them appropriately. Knowing that you don't probably won't have the space (or time, money and energy to clean and maintain every sentimental item) will help you figure out which items to donate or sell. Always consider giving family heirlooms to other family members who may appreciate them. (Please note: This does not mean that you should offload everything you don't want on your children. Allow them to choose the items they're interested in, and donate the rest to charity. Your children might not have room for these items either!)

How to store the things that mean the most to you:

• When storing papers or photographs of any sort, be sure to use acid-free, archival safe photo albums, scrapbooks, envelopes or storage boxes. Otherwise, the documents will turn yellow and disintegrate. Separate pieces of paper with acid-free tissue. Unfold all documents before storing. Do not store valuable documents in plastic or cardboard, as these materials release gases that destroy paper over time.
• Store fabric, dolls and stuffed animals in bags or boxes made of archival safe materials. Don't fold clothing unless you have to and make sure to leave enough space between each doll or stuffed animal.
• Use a shadow box with an archival paper backing to display valuable items like sports memorabilia, ballet slippers, a special baby outfit, photographs, dried flowers etc.
• Organize your child's artwork by asking him/her to make a giant collage using all of the artwork you have collected over the year. Have your child stand in the middle of the collage. Stand on a chair and take a picture of your child and the art. Have the picture developed and enlarged. Now you have a document of your child's artistic talents and can discard the artwork. Frame a collage from each school year and start an art gallery for your child, adding a new picture each year.
• Have a quilt made out of pieces of fabric from old baby clothing or concert t-shirts.
• Display a quilt by turning it into a wall tapestry.
• Record a display of your favorite memories/items on a DVD or VHS tape. Then you'll have a permanent reminder of the things that are important to you and won't feel the need to keep everything in your house. I have suggested this to many mothers who have difficulty parting with their kids' stuffed animals and toys. After the toys are tossed or donated, moms can enjoy more space and children can look at their toys on TV.
• Read old letters out loud and record them on an audio cassette tape.
• Repurpose an old suitcase or a stack of large, hard covered books and use as end tables.
• Turn game boards into display shelves for small items by mounting them to the wall with L brackets. Attach one of side of the board to the wall so the playing side is visible if you're looking straight ahead. The fold of the game board should rest against the wall with the second half of the board's playing side jutting out perpendicular to the wall and resting on the brackets.
• Store photo albums and scrapbooks upright to prevent warmping.
• Keep paper out of direct sunlight, and store all memorabilia in a humidity controlled environment. Avoid storing items in locations with extreme temperatures (i.e. an attic).
• Get an insurance policy for valuable collectibles and keep all receipts for each purchase.

If you need archival safe storage containers, check out www.thecontainerstore.com, www.centurybusinesssolutions.com, www.exposuresonline.com, and www.lightimpressionsdirect.com.

Water Cooler Rap - Simple Tips for Daily Living

Quick Tips for Dealing with Voicemail

Schedule specific times of the day to check and respond to your voicemail. Checking your voicemail multiple times per day (i.e. every time you see the voicemail light blinking) causes you to lose focus and waste time. Checking voicemail 3-4 times per day will usually suffice unless you are waiting for a specific message from a client, prospect etc.

When leaving a voicemail message, be concise. State your name, number and the purpose of your call. Doing so will give the person you are calling an opportunity to gather the information you require before returning the call (i.e. the address of the restaurant where you're supposed to meet for dinner). Also state when you will be available, so the person does not call back only to receive your voicemail.

Your outgoing voicemail message should ask callers to state the best time to return their call. If they do, you'll know when to call them back and can avoid playing phone tag.

Ask the Organizer

We're excited to include another submission to The 'Shrink Rap's "Ask the Organizer" section. Please continue to submit your questions by e-mailing them to crystal@cluttershrink.com. Every submitted question related to organizing will be included in a future issue of The 'Shrink Rap.

Q: I have lots of baby clothes that I want to save (for future children). However, I need a creative way to store them. I don't want to just put them in a box labeled baby clothes because when I do take them out for the next child I would like to do so by age/size. Could you please suggest something for me? I would like it to be something nice for storing (not a cardboard box) and also easy to take out and then put away again as needed. Thank you for your help.
- Alisha in FL

A: Alisha,
You're definitely wise not to store clothing in cardboard boxes, as cardboard does not provide adequate protection from extreme temperatures and humidity. Additionally, bugs are attracted to the glue that holds the boxes together. If you were storing adult clothing, I would recommend purchasing hanging garment bags, storing the clothes in a garment bag on a hanging rod, and organizing the clothes by size and season. However, because children's clothing is so small, using hanging garment bags would be a waste of space and money. Instead, I would suggest clear plastic storage containers (like Rubbermaid or Sterilite) or airtight space saving bags (www.spacesaverbag.com). The plastic storage containers are stackable, providing easy access. The space saving bags can be stored in closets or under beds and obviously help to conserve space.

After you decide which option will work better for you, sort the clothing by size to figure out how many containers or bags you will need. If you have different clothing for boys and girls, create a separate pile for each (i.e. Boys/3-6 months, Girls/3-6 months). Seeing how much you have in each size will also help you determine what size containers or bags you require. Make sure that all clothes are laundered before putting them in storage, as the human scent attracts rodents and insects. If clothing is stained or torn, it's probably best just to get rid of it. Fold all clothing from each size neatly and store it in its own container. Using a label maker, computer labels or tape, label each box to indicate its contents. Store the containers or bags with the smallest sizes in the most accessible place since you will need those first when you have your next child.

Note: If you have a cherished piece of clothing, like the baby's coming home outfit, and you want to keep it for memorabilia purposes, refer to the article above for safe storage options.

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Need more help getting organized? Call Cluttershrink® for more information on receiving hands-on assistance organizing your home, office or relocation. Phone consultations, customized seminars, mentoring for new organizers and gift certificates are also available. Call 215.431.0590 or e-mail Crystal Sabalaske at crystal@cluttershrink.com.

In the next issue (July 2004)

• Relocating - Transitioning into a new home with less stress
• Garage Sales - Enhancing your sales (and getting rid of your clutter!)
• Water Cooler Rap - Quick tips for organizing a bathroom
• Ask the Organizer - Question & Response

Thank you for reading the 4th issue of The 'Shrink Rap! Cluttershrink welcomes feedback and questions. If you have a particular organizing topic you would like to learn more about in a future issue, please contact crystal@cluttershrink.com or provide feedback here.

If you like these tips and ideas and would like to share them with your friends, feel free to forward this newsletter to them.

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