# A place for everything and everything in it's place?



## ejagno (Jan 2, 2008)

Whoever wrote this apparently had no creativity, no kids, no job, lived in a 6,000 sq. ft. house and was definitely OCD.

Just cleaning out my multipurpose (office, laundry, sewing/fiber arts/crafts) has me literally frustrated and near tears. 

Let's start with the office area: There is a 4 1/2' built in desk with one smaller drawer on top and a file drawer and overhead cabinets. Once you put a flat screen monitor, keyboard and printer/fax/scanner there is only a small area to the left of the keyboard to consider as actual desktop space. This houses a stapler, tape dispenser, rolodex and bill organizer. Under the desk is the paper shredder and computer. 

Okay, so please tell me where in the world do you keep archived files such as tax documents, abstracts, vehicle titles, insurance policies, birth/marriage documents and all the rest of the vital records that aren't necessarily used daily but certainly not something you want to store in the attic or lose track of in the event of an emergency evacuation? That small action file cabinet cannot possibly hold a lifetime of important vital documents. I do have separate binders for each room that contains receipts & warranties for everything in that room, measurements, paint colors, flooring samples and such. I also have binders for health insurance, banking, school (one left in college), tools, lawn and garden tools and equipment. What about office supplies such as extra paper, notebooks, binders, labeling equipment, laminating equipment......................................?

BOOKS: I'm not a book collector but I do love my reference materials. I have books on gardening, knitting, sewing, crocheting, painting and of course computer software program tutorials. These are books that I constantly refer back to when I need a refresher on a technique. Do you keep them all together? The built in cabinet above my desk does not have adjustable shelving and most of these books are too tall to fit in there upright. 

I'll share the issues with the laundry, sewing and crafts areas later.


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## MontanaKJ (Aug 10, 2009)

To start, a pic of the area would be helpful so that we can really see what we are dealing with.

1) you mentioned a scanner. Scan all of your important warranty information and save it onto a USB zip strip - Label each strip for it's purpose, i.e. tax documentation, warranty info, living room etc. These strips are inexpensive and usually go on sale again right before tax time (around $5) Purchase a small fireproof safe (the document ones can be purchased at the box stores for $10-15). Put all of the zips in there and the are now protected, all in one place, and quick to grab in an emergency. Items such as birth certificates & vehicle titles that need to be kept as originals will fit easily in here as well.

2) Do you have the option to put up additional shelving? Fill every inch of available wall space with corkboard, shelves, etc. That way you can get items off of the desk (This will also help in the future when you tackle the sewing and craft center).

3) Don't keep paper items if you don't have to. The first instinct is that you may need that some day, but if the warranty is expired on an appliance, the warranty information is not going to help you anyway. Tax items only need to be kept for 7-10 years and as long as you have scanned copies, you should be safe (talk to a tax consultant for your state to be sure, but we have never had issues here). Istruction manuals for every type of equipment are now available online. Download the pdf to your computer and throwout the hard copy.

I know how you feel. I moved twice in 5 years. Started in a 3500 sqft home - moved to a 2500 sqft home - now a 1400 sqft home. I am still sorting and throwing away. Sometimes it takes a little creativity and a lot of brutality, but I have faith in you. YOU CAN DO THIS!!


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## dragonchick (Oct 10, 2007)

Electronic copies are great but they do degrade and hard drives can crash over time. I would not count these as reliable backups. Fireproof safes are good but electronic media can not handle heat well and those things can get hot inside.


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## Kris in MI (May 30, 2002)

You need to find a way to squeeze in a file cabinet. Your filing needs sound very much like mine; I started w/a large steel desk (inherited from fil and dh will never part with) that had 1 filing drawer. After a few years, that wasn't enough and we were able to get ahold of a 2-drawer filing cabinet. Many years later, we just lucked into a free 4-drawer cabinet. What I had filled 3 drawers, and the fourth one I used to store the extra packages of notebook paper, folders, notebooks that I stock up on in the fall to last all school year (3 kids in school currently).

All my very important documents (marriage certificate, birth certificates, hs diplomas, dh's engineering degree, soc. sec. cards, car and trailer titles, mortgage deed) are stored in a fire-proof locked box in the back of a closet.

Books, I have all over the house, it seems like. We have 3 bookshelves in our (heated) basement, one in ds's bedroom, I have a stack under my bed (my quilting/sewing/x-stitch/crochet books), and still another stack in the room w/the desk & file cabinet. When we built the house, that room was supposed to get a floor to ceiling bookshelf on one wall. Dh didn't get too far w/that yet :fussin:


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## UUmom2many (Apr 21, 2009)

I dont' have much advice. We're really bad about organizing. but i did want to say that I agree with you! We have 5 kids and when I actually get one part of the house organized, labeled the whole shebang the only way to keep it that way seems to NEVER TOUCH IT AGAIN and even that's not fool proof.


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