I have in my mind always loved organization & when things around me get unorganized, it really bugs me. My husband is the most disorganized, messy, lazy person I could have matched myself up with. (I tolerated it for 32 years & am finally getting separated for more reasons than just this, but this is a big part of the problems).

When I moved into our California house 20 years ago, I made sure that everything was organized....everything had it's place & like things were always put together. Papers were filled by what they were....always have a filing cabinet!!!!!

Well, 13 years ago, I fell apart & ended up with horrible anxiety attacks & then into depression as I realized my career as an aerospace engineer was over. That was who I was & so I was no longer. Initially when I was out of work, I decided to work on the house & keep it going & clean since I could no longer afford a housekeeper. But as time went on, my husband would just come home & throw things down & the mess & lack of cooperation started to make me angry. My depression got me into the hospital many times & when I would get home, the mess would pile up even more, so I QUIT!!!!

Well, about 2 1/2 years later, my Mother died & I ended up going through her house & bringing the things I wanted to keep into my house & sold her house. I made sure that when I was packing up her house that I boxed like things in the same box (that was the start of trying to organize).Even with that, all the boxes & furniture added even more to the mess & confusion & things were getting thrown all over the place. There was so much stuff (I couldn't call it junk) that if something was layed down, it was immediately lost because something would be laid on top of it.....never to be seen again.

The house got so bad that I actually couldn't walk in the rooms.....some rooms you could only step inside the door, others had a path through them. The house was actually very dangerous if there ever had been a fire, there would have been no way to get out quickly. The house felt like a trash land fill held together with 4 walls & a roof. If the walls & roof. ever came down, the trash would have covered the city at least 1 foot deep.....a complete disaster area.

With this as the background & the fact that I hate disorganization, you can imagine how it all added to my anxiety & then to top that off, the PTSD issues I was dealing with after my Mothers death. The worst part was that I was frozen....I couldn't move & I couldn't even think. My head was as messed up as the world around me.

After my Mothers house sold, I decided that I could finally afford to buy property so I could have my horses at my house with me. However with the anxiety & the PTSD symptoms & needing a large dose of seroquel to keep the nightmares away, my frozen state was even worse.....& the farm was only a dream (at least it wasn't a nightmare...just the getting there was). After my Mother died, I knew i was going to be moving somewhere, sometime, so tried to start throwing away junk & packing but just couldn't get anywhere....spinning wheels was about the only description...& you know how spinning wheels dig in deeper in sand....well....that pretty much explains it.

Well, I finally made the trip to Kentucky & found the farm of my dreams. I purchased it & 15 days later, escrow closed. Now I have to move the massive disorganization. I have to get organized.....there is no other choice & the time has come. While I was in Kentucky for the 2 1/2 months getting the house painted & carpet layed, it was a good chance to start fresh with the accounting, so I got notebooks to file all my expenses in....& organize the expenses so I knew exactly who & what I spent every dime on. I was able to get the drawers cleaned & I organized all the tools I purchased to work around the house. I was hoping that while I was gone that my husband would do something at the California house, but that was too much to wish for. That time away made me realize just how bad the relationship really was & that I couldn't live his messy life style. I realized that he would never change & I couldn't handle that for the rest of my life, so he will not be coming to KY with me.

So I get back to California & nothing much was done....so the organization is all up to me....so here are some of my suggestions that work for organization.

First of all, boxes, patience, & a trash can are the key. I pick a room & then I pick a starting place. Initially, I take piles of things off tables & shelves all around the room & just throw (carefully if they are breakable) them into a box or boxes. That gives the clear places around the room & that maked the mess start to look better immediately which helps me feel better & that motivates me even more. At that time, I also dust & clean the shelves because they usually haven't been dusted for years (yes, that's years). The clear shelves give me somewhere to place things I want to keep out & then I can start going through the box(s) of stuff. By using the boxes, it also helps me work on smaller chunks at a time so I don't get so overwhelmed. Usually try to clear up at least 1 box a day.....which gives me a goal that is small enough to accoplish.

I take trash...old papers & things that aren't of any use & throw it away. Surprisingly that gets rid of quite a bit...I never realized how much trash is part of the clutter. Then I have boxes, drawers, filing folders & cabinets....whatever is needed for storage. I find a place for everything & I mean everything that I get my hands on from the box of stuff I threw together. I put like things in the boxes....a place for photos, a place for each bill & I also add a give away (or garage sale) pile for things that aren't trash, but someone else might want it. While I'm at it, there are some things that I just didn't bother to put away in the first place & it already has a place....so I make sure that everything is also put away. Sometimes, I will have a box out for things in the kitchen or bathroom & while cleaning the room, put all those things together in the box, so that I can take the box of things to the room where they belong & then put them away, or leave them boxed until I get to organizing that room.

When I finish that room, I go onto the next room, then the next. I find that boxing things up I'm not using really helps get rid of the clutter & when the clutter is gone, I don't loose things as easily....believe me....my house is full of black holes that swollow up everything that is sat down in the room.

This also works for my car....I take everything out & throw in into a box so I can sit down & sort through it while I'm watching TV or a DVD....that way, it isn't so much work & can be an enjoyable time to go through things.

Storage boxes to get the clutter & things that aren't needed all the time out of the way for me is the only things that works. I love the clear plastic boxes, but they can be rather expensive, so cardboard boxes work also. I have found some very awsome storage things like one where I can store all my wrapping paper & the gift bags.....boxes that hold wrapping paper & all kinds of Christmas storage boxes. When i don't have enough closet space, i actually box up some clothse for the other season & them change them out as the weather season changes. I do beading & scarpbooking, so I found many different organizational things for those crafts.....I found that the most important thing for me is to just keep out what I need to decorate & everything else has it's place where it's stored away until needed.

I hope this can give you some ideas that might work for you or that you can adapt to your needs. If you have any questions or would like to bounce any thoughts off me, just PM me, I'm glad to help if I can.

Good luck & may you have all the patience you need,
Debbie